The beauty and the grandeur of the ancient world often survives today only in fragments, hints and clues of former perfection. This small corner of carved molding, perhaps part of a sarcophagus or a pedestal, is such a clue. We can tell that the marble was of a high, fine-grained quality, and that the carving was delicate but firm. The motif is called the egg and dart, which connotes fertility. What greater beauty has been lost to the world, we can only guess. This lovely fragment reminds us of the melancholy toll that time takes on all beauty.