The series »Antike Plastik« is dedicated to the fundamental publication and comprehensive photographic documentation of outstanding works of Greek and Roman sculpture. In contributions by international scholars, important new finds of ancient sculpture are presented for the first time or already known pieces are newly discussed with improved documentation. The current volume 32 of the series "Antike Plastik" contains the following articles: Carola Reinsberg, The Late Archaic Polyxena Sarcophagus; - Klaus Fittschen, The Commodus Malibu from Castle Howard.
In a fundamental monographic study, Carola Reinsberg deals with the oldest pictorial sarcophagus in Greece. It was created around 500 B. C. intended as a tomb for a young girl. The relief frieze shows images of life and myths. In addition to dating and landscape classification, the focus is on the decoding and overall interpretation of the depictions. The sarcophagus is a unique testimony of Ionian sculpture in the field of tension between Eastern and Western cultures and significantly expands our knowledge of the art of the Anatolian west coast.
Klaus Fittschen deals with the outstanding quality bust of Emperor Commodus in Malibu, formerly in Castle Howard, which is published here for the first time comprehensively. The article also contains a detailed discussion of the type of portrait and all preserved replicas. In the same article, Jens Daehner examines the unusual pedestal technique of the Commodus bust in Malibu.