Collection Online as of June 1, 2023

Marble

Overall: 41.5 x 36 x 18.5 cm (16 5/16 x 14 3/16 x 7 5/16 in.)

John L. Severance Fund 1965.238

Location

104 Late Antiquity

Fun Fact

The fearsome creature spitting Jonah out of its mouth is a creation of the artist's imagination derived from the ancient Greek <em>cetos</em>, a sea monster. Like other mythical beasts, such as the griffin and the sphinx, this monster combines elements of several different animals. Which ones do you see when looking at this fantastical creature?

Description

After disobeying the Lord’s command to proclaim judgment on the city of Nineveh, the Old Testament prophet Jonah was cast into the sea and swallowed by a sea monster. He spent three days praying inside the beast before being cast ashore. Here, the beast spits Jonah out of its mouth.

Provenance

According to William Wixom, one unconfirmed report tells us that the entire group (1965.237-1965.247) was found in a single, huge pithos or jar.

?-1965

(J. J. Klejman, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

1965-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

"Sculpture-Jonah and the Shepherd" Time (September 21, 1966). p. 56-7

Burton, Richard "Fifty Years of the Cleveland Museum of Art: Some Golden Anniversary Acquisitions," The Connoisseur (October 1966). p. 129

"'Golden Anniversary' Acquisitions by the Cleveland Museum of Art." The Burlington Magazine 108, no. 764 (1966). p. 579, fig. 53 www.jstor.org

"Accessions of American and Canadian Museums, January-March, 1966" The Art Quarterly XXIX, no. 2 (1966). p. 173, no. 2

Stechow, Wolfgang. "Cleveland's Golden Anniversary Acquisitions." Artnews 65, no. 5 (September 1966): 30-64. Reproduced: cover, p. 5; Mentioned p. 32

"Ancient Art - Byzantine, Accessions of American and Canadian Museums, October - December, 1966" The Art Quarterly XXX (Spring 1967). pp. 63 & 67

"Early Christian Sculptures at Cleveland." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 54, no. 3 (1967). pp. 67-88 www.jstor.org

MacKendrick, Paul Lachlan, and William L. Langer. Western Civilization. New York: American Heritage Pub. Co, 1968. p. 314

Du Bourguet, Pierre. Early Christian art. New York: Reynal, 1971. p. 106

Cooper, Barbara, and Maureen Matheson. The World Museums Guide. London: Threshold, 1973. p. 78

Gough, Michael. The Origins of Christian Art. London: Thames and Hudson, 1973. p. 38, pl 37

Weitzmann, Kurt, and Margaret English Frazer. Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art Third to Seventh Century ; Based on the Catalogue to the Exhibition "Age of Spirituality", Metropolitan Museum New York, 1977. [New York, NY]: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1977. pp. 406-411 books.google.com

Kitzinger, Ernst. Byzantine Art in the Making: Main Lines of Stylistic Development in Mediterranean Art, 3rd-7th Century. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1977. pp. 20-1, pls. 30, 32, 48

Kitzinger, Ernst, "The Cleveland Marbles". I Monumenti Cristiani Preconstantiniani (1978). pp. 653-678

Vyverberg, Henry. The Living Tradition: Art, Music, and Ideas in the Western World. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1978. p. 30

Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), Margaret English Frazer, and Kurt Weitzmann. Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art Third to Seventh Century. New York: The Museum, 1977. pp. 407-411

Huxley, Francis. The Dragon: Nature of Spirit, Spirit of Nature. London: Thames and Hudson, 1979. p. 46

Vermeule, Cornelius C. Greek and Roman Sculpture in America: Masterpieces in Public Collections in the United States and Canada. Malibu, Calif: The J. Paul Getty Museum, 1981. pp. 224-29, cat. no. 189, pl. 18

Domolka-Fuchs, Gudrun, "Eine Beinschnitzerei mit Joanasdarstellung aus dem Limeskastell Iatrus bei Krivina (Nordbulgarien)." Forshungen und Berichte no. 22 (1982 ). p. 201

Myers, Bernard S. Encyclopedia of World Art. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1959. fig. 105

Demisch, Heinz. Erhobene Hände: Geschichte einer Gebärde in der bildenden Kunst. Stuttgart: Urachhaus, 1984. p. 289, fig. 407

Illinois Medieval Association. Essays in Medieval Studies: Proceedings of the Illinois Medieval Association. Chicago: Illinois Medieval Association, 1987. p. 88, fig. 3

Porada, Edith, Ann E. Farkas, Prudence Oliver Harper, and Evelyn B. Harrison. Monsters and Demons in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds: Papers Presented in Honor of Edith Porada. Mainz on Rhine: P. von Zabern, 1987. plate xxi, fig. 1

Time-Life Books. Empires Besieged: Time Frame--AD 200-600. Alexandria, Va: Time-Life Books, 1988. . p. 55

Meurger, Michel, and Claude Gagnon. Lake Monster Traditions: A Cross-Cultural Analysis. London: Fortean Tomes, 1988. p. 259

Milburn, R. L. P. Early Christian Art and Architecture. Aldershot: Scolar, 1988. pp. 80-2, fig. 50

Snyder, James. Medieval Art: Painting-Sculpture-Architecture, 4-14th Century. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1989. pp. 22-3, fig. 12

Vyverberg, Henry. The Living Tradition: Art, Music, and Ideas in the Western World. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1988. pp. 117-8, fig. 5-4

McColl, Donald Alexander. Early Christian Sculptures at Cleveland in Their Eastern Mediterranean Context. 1991.

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 14 archive.org

Dresken-Weiland, Jutta. Reliefierte Tischplatten aus theodosianischer Zeit. Città del Vaticano: Pontificio Istituto di archeologia cristiana, 1991. pp. 156, 158

Jordan-Ruwe, Martina, and U. Real. Bild- und Formensprache der spätantiken Kunst: Hugo Brandenburg zum 65. Geburtstag. Münster: [éditeur non identifié], 1994. pp. 187-201

Thiele, Carmela. Skulptur. Köln: DuMont, 1995. p. 43, fig. 78

Burt, J. R. F. Ancestral Voices: Proceedings from the Conferences of the Pictish Arts Society, 1993-4. Edinburgh: The Society, 1996. p. 22, fig. 4, 5, plate 2

Cormack, Robin. Oxford History of Art. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. p. 15, fig. 7

Dyrness, William A. Visual Faith: Art, Theology, and Worship in Dialogue. Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Academic, 2001. p. 28, fig. 2

Lehman, Karen M. "Sacred and Profane Hellenizing Marbles of the Late Third Century Roman Empire: Secular Portraits and Religious Narrative Sculptures in the Cleveland Museum of Art Reviewed in the Cultural Context." M.A. thesis, Kent State University, 2004. Mentioned: p. v; Reproduced: p.107, fig. 24

Johnston, Sarah Iles. Religions of the Ancient World: A Guide. 2004. p. 595

Stokstad, Marilyn. Medieval Art. Boulder, Colo: Westview Press, 2004. p. 19, fig. 2.8

Stokstad, Marilyn, David Cateforis, and Stephen Addiss. Art History. Volume One Volume One. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2005. fig. 7-7

"Phrygia." Biblical Archaeology Review (Nov/Dec 2006). p. 3,88

Boardman, John. The World of Ancient Art. London: Thames & Hudson, 2006. p. 258, fig. 449

Snyder, James, Henry Luttikhuizen, Dorothy Verkerk, and James Snyder. Snyder's Medieval Art. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2006. p. 4, fig. 1.4

Cleveland Museum of Art, and Holger A. Klein. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 34-37, no. 1

Spier, Jeffrey. Picturing the Bible: The Earliest Christian Art. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007. p. 191, fig. 2

Eikelmann, Renate, Holger A. Klein, Stephen N. Fliegel, and Virginia Brilliant. The Cleveland Museum of Art: Meisterwerke von 300 bis 1550. München: Hirmer, 2007. pp. 28, 31, no. 1

Cormack, Robin, "Byzantium at the Royal Academy" Minerva; the International Review of Ancient Art & Archaeology vol. 19, no. 6, (Dec. 2008). p. 32, fig. 8

Cormack, Robin, and Maria Vasilakē. Byzantium, 330-1453. London: Royal Academy of Arts, 2008. p. 52, cat. no. 1

Cleveland Museum of Art, David Franklin, and C. Griffith Mann. Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2012. pp. 52-3

Fliegel, Stephen N., and Stephen N. Fliegel. A Higher Contemplation: Sacred Meaning in the Christian Art of the Middle Ages. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 2012. p. 20, fig. 14

Eastmond, Antony. The Glory of Byzantium and Early Christendom. 2013. p. 16, fig. 3 & 4

Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 260

Meyer, Mati. Omanut yeme ha-benayim be-Eropah uba-biznaṭyon. Raʻananah: ha-Universiṭah ha-petuḥah, 2017. Reproduced: p. 69, #26

Hornik, Heidi J. "Freestanding Sculpture." In The Routledge Handbook of Early Christian Art.Jensen, Robin Margaret Jensen and Mark D. Ellison, editors. Abingdon Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2018. Reproduced: p. 75, fig. 5.3

Gertsman, Elina and Barbara H. Rosenwein. The Middle Ages in 50 Objects.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. Mentioned: p.2-5; Reproduced: p. 3

Rumscheid, Frank, Sabine Schrenk and Kornelia Kressirer. Göttliche Ungerechtigkeit?: Strafen und Glaubensprüfungen als Themen antiker und Frühchristlicher Kunst. Petersberg: Dr. M. Imhof,2018. Reproduced: p. [292], IV.2.3, Kat. 4; p. 301, IV.2.3, Abb. 7-8a; Kat. 4

Boardman, John. "The Age of Heroes: Greeks and Phoenicians on the Wine-Dark Sea." In Assyria to Iberia: Art and Culture in the Iron Age. Joan Aruz, and Michael Seymour, editors, 206-215. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2016. Reproduced: p. 212

Cormack, Robin. Byzantine Art. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018. Reproduction: P. 13, fig. 7

Mikolic, Amanda. A Field Guide to Medieval Monsters.Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2019. Reproduced: p. 6

Bol, Peter, Carola Reinsberg, Renate Bol, D. Kreikenbom, Hans-Ulrich Cain, Heike Richter, and Britta Özen-Kleine. Plastik der römischen Kaiserzeit vom Regierungsantritt des Antoninus Pius bis zum Ende der Antike. Worms : Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft mbh, 2019. Mentioned: p. 191, 193, 194; Reproduced: textabb. 101, p. 194

Armstrong, Karen. Porque me has visto has creído: el Nuevo Testamento en el arte. 2020. Reproduced: p. II of color plate section.

Béthune, Sarah, and Paolo Tomassini. Fantastic beasts in antiquity: looking for the monster, discovering the human. 2021. Reproduced and mentioned; pp. 155-156, fig. 2

Exhibition history

Golden Anniversary of Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 10-October 16, 1966).

Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. National Museum of Bavaria, Munich, Germany (May 10-September 16, 2007); J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (October 30, 2007-January 20, 2008).

Byzantium, 330-1453. Royal Academy of Arts, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (October 25, 2008-March 22, 2009).

Medieval Monsters: Terrors, Aliens, Wonders. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 7-October 6, 2019).

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Jonah Cast Up

late Roman, Asia Minor, early Christian, 3rd century

Location

Fun Fact

Description