Cippus of the sculptor Amabilis

The sculptor Amabilis is a bearded figure, wearing a hat from which protrude at his neck thick curls of hair, and clad in a tunic of Gallic type (sagum). Sculpted in high relief and seated on a bench, he is set against the background of a deep niche, sculpting one of the angle capitals. With his right hand he prepares to hit with a mallet the chisel he is holding in his other hand, and seems to be sculpting his own funerary monument, dedicated to him by his brother Amandus. The epitaph is inscribed on the rounded pediment and the upper and lower edges of the niche:

D(IIS) M(ANIBVS) . M(ARCO) SE(CVNDINIO ?) AMABILI SCV(LPTORI) . AMANDVS FR[A(TER)] CVRAV[IT] .

"To the two Manes, Marcus Secundinius (?) Amabilis, sculptor, Amandus his brother have taken care (to erect this monument)".

The capitals of the pillar that adorn the four angles are sculpted in the flat. The tool traces are numerous and reveal the use of the pick and chisel... and have perhaps been left deliberately evident, like traces left after his death by the sculptor.