Roman sarcophagus fragment is poster child for ISAW's Time & Cosmos exhibition

Time and Cosmos in Greco-Roman Antiquity, an exciting exhibition on ancient conceptions of chronology and cosmology, is currently on show at NYU's Institute for the Study of the ancient World (ISAW).

Curated by Alexander Jones, director of the ISAW, the exhibition brings together over 100 ancient objects from museums worldwide, from Greek calendars marking stellar phenomena  to Roman sundials, astrologers' boards, zodiacal friezes, and — yes — sarcophagi.

A fragment of an early Antonine Roman sarcophagus showing two Cupids playfully interfering with a sundial is one of the exhibition's highlights.  But what business do they have on a sarcophagus?  Likely they are trying to reset the sundial, suggests Alexander Jones in a fine write-up for Hyperallergic — attempting to reverse the march of time  that has taken a life.

On loan from the Louvre, the fragment stands as the exhibition's cover image.  It does make for a lovely poster child.

Fragment of a Roman sarcophagus showing Cupids playing with a sundial (140–160 AD), marble (courtesy Musée du Louvre, Paris, Département des Antiquités grecques, étrusques et romaines, © RMN-Grand Palais / Hervé Lewandowski Art Resource, NY).