Sculptures - Sarcophagus, with a Sculpture of the third century, representing the Portrait of the deceased surrounded by Minerva and the Muses, now the Tomb of Monsignor Spinelli in the Church of the Priorato on the Aventine

The sarcophagus is executed in high relief, with the portrait rendered in a naturalistic manner typical of late imperial sculpture. The attendant figures are stylized, each holding attributes such as scrolls or books that denote their respective domains.

The tomb was repurposed for Monsignor Spinelli, a 19th‑century cleric, and photographed between 1864 and 1879 as part of a large documentary project overseen by John Henry Parker. The image forms part of a collection of over 3,300 photographs of Roman monuments, now partly held by the Victoria and Albert Museum.

During the 19th century, systematic photographic recording of Rome’s ancient and early‑modern heritage aimed to preserve visual information amid urban change. This sarcophagus, originally a pagan funerary monument, illustrates the continuity of reuse of classical artifacts within Christian settings.