Travertine cinerary urn

Period:
Hellenistic
Date:
2nd century B.C.
Culture:
Etruscan
Medium:
Travertine
Dimensions:
Overall: 22 9/16 x 5 1/8in. (57.3 x 13cm)
Classification:
Stone Sculpture
Credit Line:
Purchase, 1896
Accession Number:
96.9.224a, b
  • Description

    The reclining woman on the lid holds a fan in her right hand and a pomegranate in her elongated left hand. The frieze below depicts the murder of a woman, perhaps Ismene, youngest child of Oedipus and sister of Antigone, or perhaps the Matricide of Alkmene, mother of Herakles. At least twenty other urns, most from Volterra, have been attributed to the same workshop, the so-called Officina di Poggio alle Croci. Vestiges of the original polychromy are visible on the hair of some figures and on the footstool at bottom center.

  • See also
    What
    Where
    When
    In the Museum
    Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
130006741:1

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