The Sarcophagus of Covarrubias (Burgos, Spain). Images of Eternity between Paganism and Christianity

Abstract

The sarcophagus preserved in the Collegiate Church of Covarrubias was used as the tomb of the Countess Sancha of Navarre, who died in 959. Since the 18th century, several authors have dealt with this piece from the point of view of the reuse of ancient sculptures in later historical periods, which has allowed us to discern that it is a sarcophagus used in Hispanic territory as early as antiquity. Scattered publications delayed its chronology from the beginning to the end of the 4th century and doubted its production in the Metropolis. This article analyses its iconography in detail and, with the help of the observation of its technical elaboration, confirms its late chronology and its manufacture in a workshop in Rome. The opulence of their portraits and the neutral, non-Christian message conveyed by the combination of their images reveal that their owners belonged to a pagan provincial elite hostile to the Christian beliefs about the afterlife prevalent at the time.