Detail of a Marble Stele of a Woman in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, May 2012

Marble stele (grave marker) of a woman
mid-4th century B.C.

Greek, Attic


Object Details

Title: Marble stele (grave marker) of a woman

Period: Late Classical

Date: mid-4th century B.C.

Culture: Greek, Attic

Medium: Marble

Dimensions: H. 48 1/16 in. (122 cm)

Classification: Stone Sculpture

Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1948

Accession Number: 48.11.4

This noble image of a woman brings to mind the philosopher Aristotle's description of commonly held beliefs about the dead: "In addition to believing that those who have ended this life are blessed and happy, we also think that to say anything false or slanderous against them is impious, from our feeling that it is directed against those who have already become our betters and superiors" (Of the Soul, quoted in Plutarch, A Letter to Apollonius 27). Larger than life and seated on a thronelike chair, this figure assumes almost heroic proportions.


Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/254597