EPITAPH OF LUCIUS CORNELIUS CARPUS, ROME Alison E. Cooley AEC/ASHL ANChandler.3.119.xml Oxford Ashmolean Museum ANChandler.3.119 AshLI 118

A rectangular slab of grey-veined white marble (0.247 0.22 0.035) (in a modern mount). The rear is unfinished. It has a simple frame, and is decorated at the top in the centre with what was once probably a wreath tied with ribbons trailing to each side. It may originally have had a curved pediment, but this is hard to judge now since part of the stone is missing along the top, as it is also at its bottom and top left corners, whilst its right edge is rather chipped.

It is inscribed on the front surface. The text is carved at a slant, sloping slightly down to right, and no particular care has been given to its layout. Triangular interpuncts appear rather sporadically.

0.018 Rome possibly first or second century AD (from use of tria nomina: Solin 2003, vol. 2: p.971). This inscription was first recorded seen in the palazzo of Cardinal Rodolfo Pio da Carpi (1500-64) on the Campo Marzio (Manutius, followed by Ligorio and Gruter), who as a collector was especially attracted to inscriptions, like this one, which appeared to lend ancient distinction to his family name (Solin 2009; Vagenheim 2004). Although much of his collection was manufactured by Ligorio, there seems no reason to doubt the authenticity of this inscription. On the death of the cardinal in 1564, his inscriptions were bought by other collectors. This inscription was recorded in the gardens belonging to the Villa Mattei on the Caelian (Marquard Gude [= Gudius] and Franciscus Tolomeus [= Ptolemaeus], according to CIL), before it ended up in the collection of London antiquary John Kemp (1665–1717: Goodwin 2008) until his death in 1717 (Ainsworth 1720). It may earlier have been part of the collection of John Gailhard, much of whose collection was bought by John Kemp in 1695 (Nichols 1812: p.249). In his will, Kemp stipulated that Robert Earl of Oxford or his son should inherit the collection and books for 2,000 pounds, but the bequest was not accepted on these terms. Kemp’s collection was subsequently sold in 293 lots for £1090 8s. 6d in total at an auction in the Phoenix Tavern, Pall Mall, Westminster, between 23rd-25th and on 27th March 1721: the auctioneer’s catalogue for March 1721 includes several entries for ‘Latin inscriptions’ (Online Catalogue, Sir John Soanes Museum). It is later then listed in the sale catalogue (Langford 1749) for the collection belonging to Christopher Wren, Esq., of Hampton Court (son of Sir Christopher Wren) sold at auction in London as lot 50 on 5th April 1749, after his death. Lot 50 comprised seven marble inscriptions in frames (but only six listed in the catalogue: also C3-107, C3-114, C3-115, C3-124, C3-125). This lot was bought by Richard Rawlinson: he is listed in the sale catalogue as one of the buyers at the auction, and also himself writes later that year of having bought Latin inscriptions from Mr Wren’s sale (Enright 1956: p.306 - Rawlinson Bod. MS. C 989 f.123, 16 Nov 1749, letter to Bodleian’s librarian). All of these Latin inscriptions are in the Ashmolean as part of the Rawlinson Collection, which was given to Oxford University in 1753, and at first kept in the University Collection in the Bodleian Library (Enright 1956: p.340). It is included in a list of antique marbles transferred from the Ashmolean Museum basement room to the marble rooms of the Randolph Building in January 1888 (Archive MS. ‘Marbles sent from Ashmolean Museum’ p.34, no.171). It is currently in a storeroom. photograph
Lucio Cornelio Car po Cornelia Onomaste con iugi bene me renti posuit

Cornelia Onomaste set this up for Lucius Cornelius Carpus, her well-deserving husband.

Given that husband and wife share the same gentilician name, it is possible that they were both freed by the same patron, or that Onomaste was freed by Carpus, but their status is not certain.

Manutius (1566) p.236, no.48; Ligorio Turin ms., vol. 6, 88 s.v. ‘Cornelia’ (following Manutius); Gruter (1707) p.775 no.7 (following Manutius); Ptolemaeus sched. 2, 11 (according to CIL); Ainsworth (1720) p.42 no.25; Chandler (1763) Part 3, Pl.III.cxix, with drawing; CIL VI.3 no.16171 [Hübner] (1886)

Online: EDCS-12001068 [accessed 29/10/15]

Ashmolean Museum Department of Antiquities Marbles sent from Ashmolean Museum Sir John Soane's Museum, Collection Online / Monvmenta vetustatis Kempiana http://collections.soane.org/b9499 [accessed 29/10/15] Ainsworth R. 1720 Monumenta vetustatis Kempiana London Vaillant Chandler R. 1763 Marmora Oxoniensia Oxford Clarendon Press Enright B.J. 1956 Richard Rawlinson: collector, antiquary, and topographer (Bod. MS. D.Phil. d.1786) Goodwin Gordon 2008 Kemp, John (1665–1717) rev. Philip Carter, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford University Press (online edn) accessed 24/07/14 Gruter J. 1707 Inscriptiones Antiquae Totius Orbis Romani Amsterdam Langford A. 1749 A catalogue of the genuine and entire collection of medals and statues of Christopher Wren Esq, late of Hampton Court, deceased; together with the collection of drawings of architecture of the late Sir Christopher Wren, his father (London 1749) http://artworld.york.ac.uk R. Stephens The art world in Britain 1660 to 1735 Ligorio P. Antichità romane Vol. 6. C.(Photocopy of Turin MS – Archivio di Stato, Torino, 15/5/1975, Warburg CXP 145 L33 Photo. Coll.) Manutius A. 1566 Orthographiae Ratio Venice Nichols J. 1812 Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century. Vol. 5 London Nichols, son, and Bentley Ptolemaeus (Franciscus Tolomeus) 1666 MS. Biblioteca Siena Solin H. 2003 Die griechischen Personennamen in Rom. Ein Namenbuch (2nd edn) 3 vols Berlin De Gruyter Solin H. 2009 La raccolta epigrafica di Rodolfo Pio Studi di antiquaria ed epigrafia per Ada Rita Gunnella C. Bianca et al. Rome Libri, Carte, Immagini 2/ Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura 117-52 Vagenheim G. 2004 Pirro Ligorio e le false iscrizioni della collezione di antichità del cardinale Rodolfo Pio di Carpi Alberto III e Rodolfo Pio da Carpi. Collezionisti e mecenati M. Rossi Comune di Carpi, Museo Civico Carpi 109-21