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Grave stele of a young woman
Greek
Late Classical Period
about 355–345 B.C.
Place of Manufacture: Greece, Attica, Athens
Medium/Technique
Marble from Mt. Pentelikon near Athens
Dimensions
Overall: 72 x 34cm (28 3/8 x 13 3/8in.)
85 LBS DV
85 LBS DV
Credit Line
John H. and Ernestine A. Payne Fund
Accession Number1973.169
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsSculpture
Catalogue Raisonné
Sculpture in Stone (MFA), no. 067; Sculpture in Stone and Bronze (MFA), p. 108 (additional published references).
DescriptionThe lady wearing a chiton and himation, doubtless a young mother, is holding a dove in her right hand, extending it down toward the ground in front of her. The wings of the mourning siren and other details have been finished in paint. The scene is framed by a naiskos which is probably composed of an anta to either side crowned by a shallow architrave; the left-most side of the relief is broken and missing. The surfaces are somewhat weathered.This is a canonical form of second-level Attic funerary monument.
Scientific Analysis:
University of South Florida Lab No. 8459: Isotope ratios - delta13C +2.2 / delta18O -4.6,
Attribution - Mt. Pentelikon (near Athens). Justification - C and O isotopes, fine grain, pure white, Attic style and type.
Scientific Analysis:
University of South Florida Lab No. 8459: Isotope ratios - delta13C +2.2 / delta18O -4.6,
Attribution - Mt. Pentelikon (near Athens). Justification - C and O isotopes, fine grain, pure white, Attic style and type.
ProvenanceBefore 1959: E. and M. Kofler-Truniger Collection; by 1959: with Ars Antiqua AG, Haldenstrasse 5, Lucerne, Switzerland (Ars Antiqua auction 1 [Jacob Hirsch auction, part 2 and other collections], Hotel Schweizerhof, Lucerne, May 2, 1959, lot 45); by 1973: with Münzen und Medaillen, A.G., Malzgasse 25, Basel, Switzerland; purchased by MFA from Münzen und Medaillen, A.G., March 13, 1973