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Tomb relief with the head of a bearded man
Palmyrene
Imperial Period
about A.D. 170–190
Medium/Technique
Hard limestone
Dimensions
Overall: 26.7 × 31.8 × 20.3 cm, 20.19 kg (10 1/2 × 12 1/2 × 8 in., 44.5 lb.)
Credit Line
Gift of Edward Perry Warren
Accession Number96.682
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsSculpture
DescriptionFragment from a loculus relief with the head of a man. The portrait is broken below the neck but would have once included the bust as indicated by the fragment of drapery over the proper left shoulder. The man has curly hair and a beard. His hair is arranged in three rows of snail-shell curls around the head and some longer curls at the crown. The beard starts in the middle of the cheeks and is composed of tight snail-shell curls and slightly wavy moustache. The almond-shaped eyes are incised and the eyebrows are represented as a slightly arched line in relief. On the right side is a fragmentary inscription in Palmyrene Aramaic in four lines, the first of which seems to spell “Alas!”, a traditional interjection for funerary inscriptions. The next lines probably named the man and his ancestors.
The relief is broken on all sides, except the top right edge. A U-shaped crack runs through the forehead, the eyes and bridge of the nose. There is no trace of pigments.
The relief is broken on all sides, except the top right edge. A U-shaped crack runs through the forehead, the eyes and bridge of the nose. There is no trace of pigments.
ProvenanceBy date unknown: Collection of S. D'Ehrenhoff, Swedish Minister to the Sublime Porte; by date unknown: with Edward Perry Warren (according to Warren's records: From S. D'Ehrenhoff's sale . . . No. 6 in catalogue where it is stated to have been bought at Ephesus.); gift of Edward Perry Warren to MFA, 1896