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Grave stele of Aristomache
Greek
Late Classical or Early Hellenistic Period
about 330–320 B.C.
Place of Manufacture: Greece, Attica, Athens
Medium/Technique
Marble from Mount Pentelikon near Athens
Dimensions
Overall (including base): 127 x 52 x 4.5 cm (50 x 20 1/2 x 1 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Dr. Herbert A. Cahn
Accession Number66.971
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsSculpture
Catalogue Raisonné
Sculpture in Stone (MFA), no. 066; Sculpture in Stone and Bronze (MFA), p. 108 (additional published references).
DescriptionThe grave stele depicts a standing female who wears a braided tiara, a chiton with buttons down the right shoulder and a large himation or cloak draped over her body and slung over her left arm. She holds a limbless doll in her right hand and in her left hand she grasps a bird. The figure is set in high relief between two pilasters and a Greek inscription in the frieze above reads, 'Aristomache (daughter of) Euphranor' (ARISTOMACHE EYPHRANO[OS]). A Siren, a creature with the female body and the legs, feet, and wings of a bird, stands above the inscription with its right arm on its chest.
Condition: Missing are the rest of the pediment including the head and left arm of the Siren. The lower half of a figure, perhaps a Sphinx, is visible on the left near the Siren. The upper right corner including the capital of the pilaster and its shaft to Aristomache's left elbow are restored in plaster. The lower left section below the folds of the himation at the waist is also restored in plaster. Marble surfaces chipped, incrusted, and stained a reddish brown.
Condition: Missing are the rest of the pediment including the head and left arm of the Siren. The lower half of a figure, perhaps a Sphinx, is visible on the left near the Siren. The upper right corner including the capital of the pilaster and its shaft to Aristomache's left elbow are restored in plaster. The lower left section below the folds of the himation at the waist is also restored in plaster. Marble surfaces chipped, incrusted, and stained a reddish brown.
InscriptionsΑΡΙΣΤΟΜΑΧΗ
ΕΥΦΡΑΝ[ΟΡΟΣ
ΕΥΦΡΑΝ[ΟΡΟΣ
ProvenanceBy 1958: with Münzen und Medaillen A.G., Malzgasse 25, Basel, Switzerland (auction 18, Kunsthalle, Steinenberg 7, Basel, November 29, 1958, lot 6); Dr. Herbert A. Cahn Collection; gift of Dr. Herbert A. Cahn to MFA, December 14, 1966