Lot 624 D

Janus is a deity very widely represented in ancient Rome. It represents beginning and end and has no equivalent in Greek mythology. With this Janus epitaph, Koenig dispenses with spherical forms and 'clamps' two figures reduced to stereometric bodies between longitudinal beams. For this epitaph Koenig 'finds an astonishing form,' says Dietrich Clarenbach,' insofar as he combines the type of the double-headed Janus with the type of the four-headed Janus, allows a square pillar to click in across the corner and places two identical figures of segmented round bar elements in the angle niche. This Janus is vigilant on all sides; from every point of view, you can always see at least one of the two figures that hardly extend beyond the outline of the pillar.' (Dietrich Clarenbach, Fritz Koenig. Skulpturen Werkverzeichnis, Munich 2003, p.25).