Grave Stele

400–350 BC

Grave Stele, 400–350 BC. Greece, first half of 4th Century BC. Pentelic marble; overall: 128.3 cm (50 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. Leonard C. Hanna 1924.1018 Carved in high relief, the original composition of this Attic grave marker can be reconstructed by comparison with more complete examples elsewhere (such as the Stele of Hegeso in Athens [National Archaeological Museum, 3624]). The standing figure at left likely represents a maid or servant, her hair mostly contained within a sakkos (haircloth). Holding a pyxis (small container) in her left hand, she approaches the more fragmentary seated figure at right. This woman, draped and casting her eyes downward, represents the deceased, perhaps Phanostrate, as one scholar has restored the partial name Phan... inscribed in the fragmentary epigram on the preserved portion of the lintel. The fragmentary seated woman at right represents the deceased.