Martin Clist talks about the representation of nature in Roman marble sculptures

The first object is a Roman cinerary urn. The front is exuberantly carved in high relief. The inscription 'MEMNO' is flanked by two birds in flight, their wings raised as they face each other and hold up the ends of a heavy garland of leaves and fruit., with two long ribbons fluttering downwards. The left and right sides are carved with an acanthus calyx, spreading into four symmetrical scrolls, each terminating with a rosette. The lid is composed of a gabled roof with leaf-shaped tiles, and at the edged are baluster-shaped adornments carved as opening flower buds, the circular ends at the front carved with rosettes, and a pediment in low relief with two birds facing a budding plant. The back of the urn and lid are roughly flattened with a series of short chisel strokes. The next objects are two Roman columns. They are an evocative and highly decorative pair of matched columns with an intricate foliate design. The surface is carved in low relief with laurel branches which spiral around the shafts, the leaves delicately rendered to show their undulating surfaces. The laurel fruits are scattered amongst the foliage at the tips of small off-shoots. And lastly, a floral architectural element from the 1st century AD. Carved in high relief, the fragment is composed of four incurving leaves or petals, encircling a small hole, set within six open and downward curling leaves.