Funerary stele with young female figure
Γ473
Stone (Limestone)
Mostly preserved except for lower part with feet.
Height: 18.5 cm. Max. Length: 58 cm. Max. Width: 23 cm.
Kounavoi - Eltyna
Plot adjoining the Geometric cemetery
Αρχαϊκή-Classical period:
510-480 BC:
Gallery:
XIXCase:
Not in caseExhibition thematic unit:
Geometric - Archaic - Classical period (10th-4th c. BC). The CemeteriesDescription
This sculpture was a funerary stele set over a tomb of the Late Archaic period. The deceased woman is carved in idealised form. She is shown standing, wearing a garment with rich drapery represented by triangles on the sculpture. Her hair is tied with a band. She is holding a flower, a symbol of the maiden’s youth and purity, in one hand, and a wreath of small metal spheres (probably made of lead) in the other. Her wrists are adorned with bracelets. The young woman’s features are carefully but somewhat conservatively rendered, with the typical Archaic smile. The Cretan sculpture of this period does not appear to have attained the daring innovations observed in other parts of the ancient Greek world. However, it certainly includes many Ionic elements introduced from Attica and the East Aegean islands over time. The spread of funerary stelae coincides with changes in mortuary practices. Burial customs shift from mass burials and cremation to the development of the individual tomb which stresses the personal features of the deceased.Bibliography:
Lebessi Α., “Δύο επιτύμβιες υστεροαρχαϊκές κρητικές στήλες”, Antike Plastik 1973, 7-13. Lebessi Α., Οι στήλες του Πρινιά, Athens, 1976, pl. 42β (and comparison). Boardman J., Ελληνική Πλαστική. Η Αρχαϊκή Περίοδος, Athens, 1982, 200, pl. 246Α. Kokkorou-Alevra G., Η τέχνη της αρχαίας Ελλάδας, Athens, 1994, 98, fig. 32. Mylopotamitaki Κ. Α., ed., Έλτυνα Sconavi Κουνάβοι. Από τα Αρχαϊκά στα Νεότερα Χρόνια, Kounavoi, 2007, 27-32.Author:
S. P.Photographs' metadata