Detail of a Lion on a Strigil Sarcophagus in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, July 2007

Strigilated sarcophagus, Late Severan, 220 A.D.
Roman
Marble
Purchase, Ruth E. White Bequest and Leon Levy Foundation, Philodoroi, Reneé E. and Robert A. Belfer, The Concordia Foundation, Dr. Lewis M. Dubroff, Roger and Susan Hertog, and The Joseph Rosen Foundation Inc. Gifts, 2005 (2005.258)

Originally, the sarcophagus would have been furnished with a lid and placed in a monumental tomb, probably in a niche or on a ledge with its plain back against the wall. The ferocious-looking lions' heads stand out powerfully against the restrained, almost soothing effect of the strigilated panels on the front. This distinctive type of decoration is restricted largely to sarcophagi produced in the city of Rome. The marble is Proconnesian, imported from northwestern Asia Minor.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/TOAH/hd/rsar/hod_2005.258.htm