Greek funerary stele for Dorias daughter of Poseidonios, c.325-275 BC
Marble
Dimensions: 77.3 x 34.2cm
9770 EL
£ 115,000
The tall stele has a scene in shallow relief showing a woman with bound hair, wearing a chiton and himation, seated on a cushioned diphros, her feet resting on a...
The tall stele has a scene in shallow relief showing a woman with bound hair, wearing a chiton and himation, seated on a cushioned diphros, her feet resting on a foot-stool. A young woman stands before her, similarly fashioned; in an intimate gesture the pair reach their right hands toward one another, their fingertips touching. Between the two a young girl with short hair and chiton is kneeling, lifting both hands to the seated figure. This tender scene is set beneath an inscription; DORIAS POSEIDONIOU, 'Dorias, daughter of Poseidonios'. The scene is surmounted by a simplistic pediment with acroteria. Intact, some chips and surface wear.
Greek funerary steles were grave markers, often lining the roads into a city as a public statement of wealth and remembrance. This stone presents an unusually tender scene, demonstrating the high regard in which Dorias, the young woman whom it commemorates, was held. Women did not commonly feature on steles, and her comparatively large scale reiterates her importance.
Greek funerary steles were grave markers, often lining the roads into a city as a public statement of wealth and remembrance. This stone presents an unusually tender scene, demonstrating the high regard in which Dorias, the young woman whom it commemorates, was held. Women did not commonly feature on steles, and her comparatively large scale reiterates her importance.
Provenance
Found in Chalcis, EuboeaRecorded in the notes of Eduard Schaubert (1804-1860) in 1844
Private collection, France; acquired prior to 1994
Eduard Schaubert was State Architect & Director of Public Works at the court of Otto, the first king of modern Greece. He travelled through Greece from 1830-1850 and recorded this stele in his notebook in 1844. Several years later, in 1850-51, the scholar and diplomat Alexandre Rangabé (1810-1892) also embarked on a tour of Euboea and made a study of his discoveries. This stele was found in the North-Eastern cemetery in Chalcis, the only one out of the nine recorded by Rangabé at this time to feature a relief. He dated this and seven of the other inscriptions to the age of Alexander the Great. Rangabé was appointed Professor of Archaeology at the University of Athens. He headed the Archaeological Society in Athens, with the ambition of rediscovering and preserving ancient sites and the antiquites found there. Together with Heinrich Schliemann, he worked extensively on the Acropolis and on research into the treasure of Troy.
Literature
Compare 'Grave stele for Mynnia, circa 370 B.C.', The J. Paul Getty Museum (Malibu), inv. no. 71.AA.121Compare C. Vermeule and N. Neuerburg, Catalogue of the Ancient Art in the J. Paul Getty Museum - The Larger Statuary, Wall Paintings and Mosaics (Malibu, 1973), no.11, p.8
Publications
A.R. Rangabé, ‘Mémoire sur la Partie Méridionale de L’Ile D’Eubée’, Mémoires présentés par divers savants à l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres de L’Institut de France, séries 1, Vol.III (Paris, 1853), pp.197-201A.R. Rangabé, Antiquités Helléniques ou Répertoire D’Inscriptions et D’Autres Antiquités, Vol.II (Athens, 1855), no.2476c
E. Ziebarth (ed.), Inscriptiones Graecae Insularum, Vol.XII, fasc.9 (Berlin, 1915), ‘Inscriptiones Euboeae Insulae’, no.1012
