Art Institute of Chicago
Fragment of a Funerary Naiskos (Monument in the Shape of a Temple)
Greek; AthensLinkedCulture matchlcp-96247048df89
- Date
- about 330 BCE
- Medium
- Marble
- Culture
- Athens
- Department
- Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium
- Institution
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Object ID
- 55887
Travelers in ancient Greece and Rome regularly encountered large stone monuments like this along the roadsides, marking the burial sites of elite families. They were made in a range of shapes and sizes and often preserve visual hints about who the deceased person was in life. In this example, three larger-than-life-sized figures are chiseled so deeply into the stone that they are carved nearly in the round. The two male individuals are shown clasping hands—a parting gesture common in funerary scenes. While there is no text to conclusively identify the figures, the standing man is likely the person who died, shown sharing a final farewell with his loved ones, perhaps his mother and father.
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Provenance & credit
As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.
- Credit line
- Alexander White Collection
- Provenance
- Edward Zoumpoulakis, Athens, Greece; sold to Joseph Brummer (1883-1947), New York City, 1926 [Brummer Gallery Inventory Card]; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1928; price reimbursed by Alexander White, 1928.
Linked open data
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- Object type
- AAT300234126
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