This piece is one of the most famous ancient Roman tombstones in Austria. It is the depiction of a coach. You find it in the wall of the Marienkirche, a church in Maria Saal. Though it doesn’t show a mail coach, it is sometimes called so.
Roman coach in Maria Saal
The ancient stone origins from the Roman settlement Virunum. The ruins of this city lay under the soil of the modern Zollfeld. On the walls of the Marienkirche in Maria Saal, you see several unearthed stones. The coach is probably a depiction of the journey to the netherworld.
Even though the relief doesn’t portray a mail coach, it became popular to name it mail coach relief (Postkutschenrelief). I don’t know the reason. Well, the cover of the coach looks a bit like a sealed envelope. Perhaps this evoked the idea of being the tombstone of a postmaster.