Category:Sarcofago dei barbari prigionieri (Pio-Clementino)

G. Spinola. Guide cataloghi Musei Vaticani, 3. Il Museo Pio Clementino, 1. Città del Vaticano, Roma, 1996, pp. 94—96, cat. no. PN 15. (translation):
"The sarcophagus was already part of the Vatican collections in ancient times, with the function of a fountain basin in the original Ariadne niche; in fact, already in 1512 it was mentioned by Pico della Mirandola. At the time of its display in the Cortile delle Statue in Belvedere it was believed that the war exploits represented on the sarcophagus were to be attributed to the emperor Trajan, with whose noble figure Pope Julius II was associated several times; Precisely for this reason it was considered a work worthy of being exhibited in such a precious place. The sarcophagus, perhaps intended for a high Roman officer of the Antonine age, depicts the submission of a defeated and captive barbarian people - presumably the Sarmatians - to a general of the "philosopher" emperor Marcus Aurelius (ca. 180 AD); the victorious commander is seated and crowned by Victory. On the left side, two soldiers carry a prisoner with her little son on a wagon; on the right other prisoners (a tied man and two crying women) are carried on a ferculum (a kind of sedan chair) in a military triumph. Of note is the emotional participation expressed towards the drama of the defeated." [1]