Front of a garland sarcophagus.
This sarcophagus has three busts, two for women and one for a man, which have roughed-out portraits only. The reason for this is unclear but a number of hypotheses have been proposed. One option is that the commissioner intended to have them completed at a later date, perhaps after their death, but for some reason this never happened. Another option is that they purchased this sarcophagus already finished and did not want or could not afford to have the portraits done. Finally, this might have been a deliberate statement, reflecting a wider belief that it was not appropriate or respectful to have such portraits finished.
