GREECE
Lekythos
Greece, Athens
Ca. 370 B.C.
Marble (79.144)
Gift of Mrs. Elsa Brummer
Head of a Girl
Greece, Athens
Ca. 360 B.C.
Marble (59.17) Handbook: no. 59.17
Gift of Mr. H.W. Prentis, Jr.
These two sculptures represent typical Greek funerary monuments of the 4th c. B.C. Marble
lekythoi were frequently set up as tomb markers, or sometimes in pairs, one at each end of a
family grave plot (see drawing). This lekythos shows a family group, carved in low relief. A
father stands on the right, facing his wife, with their little girl between them. On the far left, a
maidservant holds a baby. The figures are identified by inscriptions: Timophon, Kleippe, and
Lysistrate. The marble monument copies a common vase shape, a frequent funerary offering. The
photo shows a complete marble lekythos; examples of pottery lekythoi, or oil flasks, may be seen
in the Greek vase case (nos. 5, 6, 7 and 12).
The head is broken from a funerary monument called a stele, a carved or painted
rectangular slab. In the 4th c. B.C. stelai were often in very high relief. The small scale, upward
gaze, and covered hair of the head suggest that it comes from the figure of a maidservant,
probably shown with her deceased mistress. Although only one side of the head would have been
visible, it is carved fully in the round, an example of Greek sculptors' attention to detail.
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MAA 11/96