This substantial volume examines the reuse of ancient sarcophagi in the medieval Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula, combining an extensive theoretical discussion of spolium with a regional study and a catalogue. Building on the work of S. Moralejo, the author reconstructs what she terms a ‘funerary topography’ of reused ancient sarcophagi and their medieval recontextualisations. The ambition of the project is considerable, and the book represents a comprehensive synthesis on this material for the Iberian Peninsula.
The volume is structured in two main parts. Part 1 establishes the conceptual framework. Chapter 1 offers a longue durée historiography of spolium, from antiquity through the Middle Ages and into modern scholarship, organised around notions of continuity, distance and shifting attitudes towards the ancient past. The discussion functions both as a history of reuse practices and as a genealogy of the concept, with particular attention to its semantic instability and to the fact that reuse long predates its modern theorisation. Throughout, spolium is treated as a complex, polysemic and necessarily anachronistic historiographical category, whose analytical value lies not in describing a technical act but in enabling the study of intentions, appropriations, and visual and ideological discourses connected with the past.
Drawing on authors such as S. Settis, T.M. emphasises that antiquity should not be understood as a closed system, but rather as a field governed by auctoritas and continuous adaptation. Late antique reuse is therefore presented as continuity rather than rupture, since classical models remained operative through recontextualisation. The traditional historiographical emphasis on the fourth century as a decisive turning point – linked to Christianisation and the emergence of basilical architecture – is critically reassessed through attention to structural factors such as the abandonment of pagan buildings, the transfer of the imperial capital to Constantinople and the reorganisation of imperial workshops, which facilitated the large-scale availability of ancient materials. Spolium thus emerges as both an ideological strategy and the product of concrete historical conditions, without being reducible to purely utilitarian explanations.
A further strength of this section is the critical reassessment of classical historiography, particularly the work of F.W. Deichmann. While acknowledging his pioneering role, T.M. questions his tendency towards rigid compositional rules in the arrangement of spolia and his implicit interpretation of medieval varietas as aesthetic decline. More recent scholarship, notably by L. De Lachenal and M.F. Hansen, is invoked to show how such readings project modern expectations of order, rationality and coherence onto medieval practices governed by different cultural logics, in which heterogeneity functioned as a conscious and meaningful engagement with the past.
Within the medieval context spolium is further reframed through the notion of distanza: antiquity is recognised as past but remains actively present through preservation, reuse and resignification. Ancient remains are conserved in cathedral treasuries, integrated into Christian symbolic frameworks, or reused in ecclesiastical and secular architecture. T.M. highlights the role of the papacy from the twelfth century onwards in regulating access to ancient ruins and fostering the professionalisation of the marmorarii Romani. The figure of the spoliorum cupidus encapsulates an active and self-conscious attitude towards the appropriation of the past, while ruins are conceptualised as repositories of spolia, anticipating later Renaissance practices.
Chapter 2 focuses on the Iberian Peninsula, reviewing scholarship on reuse from Roman Hispania through the medieval period and into the Renaissance and Enlightenment, before concluding with a survey of medieval Hispanic written sources that employ or imply concepts of reuse. T.M. stresses that the apparently uneven distribution of spolia in the peninsula is partly a result of scholarly history, reflecting patterns of scholarly attention rather than the absence of reuse practices. Literary and archaeological evidence attests to the symbolic and material value of marble in Hispania, particularly in the fifth and sixth centuries, while the peninsula’s complex political and cultural history – especially after 711 ce – generated distinct patterns of reuse that resist simple generalisation and caution against the uncritical application of Italian models.
Part 2 turns to the material itself. Chapter 1 surveys ancient sarcophagus production, typologies and reuse in the medieval West, positioning Iberian evidence within a wider European context. Ancient sarcophagi are presented as artefacts of persistent importance, owing to their material quality, rich decoration and funerary semantics, which made them especially suited to processes of spolium. Their medieval reuse – particularly in royal, aristocratic and saintly contexts – allowed their original associations with memoria and commemoration to be reactivated and reoriented within Christian frameworks. Chapters 2 and 3 examine the known reused sarcophagi in specific political-territorial settings, first in Asturias, León and Castile, and then in Aragón and Catalonia, considering royal, aristocratic and ecclesiastical contexts, including dynastic burial, monastic patronage and the cult of saints. An epilogue addresses late medieval forms of reuse characterised by ‘negated visibility’ and ‘ornamental utilitarianism’, while the conclusions situate Iberian evidence within broader debates on medieval attitudes to antiquity. The volume concludes with a catalogue of the 32 sarcophagi discussed in the main text.
The book’s principal strength lies in its extensive but often dispersed bibliography. T.M. brings together a large body of scholarship – particularly Spanish-language literature that has often remained marginal in international debates – and provides a carefully documented point of reference for future research. The sustained engagement with Moralejo’s legacy is notable, as is the effort to integrate Iberian material into wider European discussions of reuse, renascences and ideological appropriation. The catalogue entries supply valuable data on provenance, chronology, contexts of reuse and historiography.
At the same time some questions of balance arise. Part 1, especially Chapters 1 and 2, is exceptionally long, often reading as an exhaustive literature review rather than a tightly argued conceptual framework. While the survey on the history of scholarship is undoubtedly useful, some sections could have been more effectively condensed, allowing T.M.’s own interpretative stance to emerge earlier and more clearly. This is particularly evident in relation to the definition of spolium, which only becomes explicit in the conclusions, where T.M. cautiously questions its adequacy as an all-encompassing label and gestures towards alternative terminology.
A related issue concerns engagement with recent theoretical debates. Although T.M. demonstrates impressive familiarity with foundational scholarship – from Deichmann and A. Esch to Settis, D. Kinney and J. Elsner –, the discussion is primarily synthetic rather than interventionist. The book therefore functions more as a state-of-the-field synthesis than as a decisive reframing of debates on reuse, recycling and material appropriation, which increasingly intersect with questions of materiality, sensory perception and object agency.
From an art-historical perspective the focus on sarcophagi as objects is at times more limited than the scope of the study might suggest. Iconographic analysis is generally secondary to questions of context, visibility and function, and there is little sustained discussion of the visual impact of relief imagery in medieval settings or of how pagan iconography was perceived or reinterpreted. Likewise, although marble material value is acknowledged, the book does not fully explore the stone’s cultural meanings, its symbolic capital or sensory qualities, beyond occasional references (and brief attention to porphyry). Given the growing interest in the materiality and semantic weight of stone in both ancient and medieval contexts, this represents something of a missed opportunity.
The historical sections of Part 2 are among the most engaging portions of the book, particularly where individual cases are embedded within broader dynastic, devotional or ideological frameworks. The comparative perspective and contrast between Castilian-Leonese and Catalan-Aragonese patterns of reuse is illuminating, though at times dense historical narrative risks overshadowing the material focus.
The catalogue entries are well executed, though their presentation reinforces the impression – implicitly acknowledged by T.M. – that the book derives from a doctoral thesis. Illustrations and tables are serviceable, but uneven for a work of this scope.
The volume constitutes a solid contribution to the study of medieval reuse of ancient sarcophagi in the Iberian Peninsula. Its principal achievement lies in the systematic collection and critical assessment of a complex body of material and scholarship. Although less strong in terms of theoretical innovation and sustained art-historical analysis of objects and materials, it provides an indispensable foundation for future research and will be a valuable reference point for scholars interested in spolium, medieval funerary practices and the reception of antiquity in the western Mediterranean.
