Mattei sarcophagus I

From the age of Caracalla onwards, carved sarcophagus production shows a kind of reaction to the "pittoricism" of examples from the preceding era (late 2nd-early 3rd century), such as the Portonaccio sarcophagus), with a return to richer plasticity, as is also documented in Roman portraiture between 215 and 250.

Hugely influenced by their use in the Eastern Empire and the Middle East, hunting scenes in Roman art had started to become popular in Hadrianic art and the popularity of their use on sarcophagi spread thanks to Caracalla's predilection for Alexander the Great and his hunts (the Mattei example is one of the earliest with such scenes).

In the Roman world it acquired a new meaning as a signifier of military values, as shown by the Virtus-Roma figure in Amazonian dress standing behind the mounted hunter in this scene.

To the right, above the live lion, is a beardless mounted hunter in a tunic and another nude standing figure.

The use of drilling and the abundant chiaroscuro of high relief are typical of the expressionism of the turn of the 2nd/3rd centuries, though the solid plasticity and consistency of the figures indicate a continuing classicism.