DESCRIPTION

No R 03
White marble archaic bas-relief slab from the
neighbourhood of Kodi Keui.
Museum Istanbul, no. 524 (1136).

The relief, surmounted by a dedication in lettering 550-500 B.C., portrays a man, looking to the left, seated on a high-backed throne. A woman standing behind the throne places her right hand on his head, her left hand on his left shoulder.

Another woman standing in front of the man clasps his hands in hers.

The group is flanked by two other figures: females depicted on a somewhat smaller scale. One of these stretches out her hands, the other raises her right hand to her head as if in bewilderment.

A long time this representation has been considered as a "birth of Athena", but since the inscription has been deciphered we know it is a tombstone.

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