The
casket's dimensions are: height: 11.5 cm, length: 40.3 cm, width: 15.5–16 cm, and weight: 1.72 kg. It is made of carved
ivory and
bone panels showing scenes from
classical mythology. On the lid is a depiction of the
Rape of Europa. On the front are scenes from the stories of
Bellerophon and
Iphigenia. On the back is part of a
dionysiac procession, with two figures identified as
Mars, god of war (the Greek Ares), and
Venus, goddess of love (the Greek Aphrodite). The ends bear scenes of
Bacchus, god of wine (the Greek Dionysius), in a
chariot drawn by
panthers, and a
nymph riding a
seahorse. There is a carcass of wood, metal fittings, and the lid is hinged. As the Empire had been
Christianised for centuries, these
pagan motifs presumably represent a revived taste for classical style and imagery. The size and quality of the casket suggest it was made for someone in the inner court circle. The casket from Veroli is one of some 43 caskets, in addition to dozens more separated panels, that show a fashion for "pseudo-antique motives derived from silver plate or manuscripts, put together with little understanding of the original significance," as
Sir Kenneth Clark observed of the group as a whole, during the medieval eclipse of the
nude. He wrote: "Between the nereids of late Roman silver and the golden doors of
Ghiberti, the nudes in Mediterranean art are few and insignificant ... a few
objets de luxe, like the Veroli Casket, with its strip-cartoon Olympus..." It is also one of the Byzantine type known as "rosette caskets" from the use of rows of carved
rosettes in the sections outside the scenes with figures; the quality of the carving makes this "the finest" of the group. File:Veroli casket front.jpg|Alternative front view showing lid carving. File:Veroli casket lid detail.jpg|Lid detail showing the
Rape of Europa with
Jupiter as the bull (on the left) and
Hercules playing the lyre (on the right). File:Veroli casket, Bellerophon detail.jpg|Panel detail with
Bellerophon and
Pegasus. File:Veroli casket end panel.jpg|End view showing nymphs with seahorse. File:Byzantine - Rosette casket - Fitzwilliam M.18-1904 01.jpg|A different Byzantine rosette casket, 12th-century, wood ==Notes==