Marble grave stele of a little girl | All | Greek and Roman Art | Collection Database | Works of Art

Description

This stele was found on the island of Paros in 1775. The gentle gravity of the child is beautifully expressed through her sweet farewell to her pet doves. Her peplos is unbelted and falls open at the side, and the folds of drapery clearly reveal her stance. Many of the most skillful stone carvers came from the Cycladic islands, where marble was plentiful. The sculptor of this stele could have been among the artists who congregated in Athens during the third quarter of the fifth century B.C. to decorate the Parthenon.

ProvenanceFound on the island of Paros in 1785 (Museum Worsleyanum 1794, pl. 35).

1785, found on the island of Paros; by 1785-1787, collection of Sir Richard Worsley; from the early 19th century, collection of the Earls of Yarborough at Brockelsby Park; acquired February 21, 1927, purchased from the Fourth Earl of Yarborough.

Selected BibliographyMuseum Worsleyanum; or, A Collection of Antique Basso Relievos, Bustos, Statues and Gems. 1794. London: Shakespeare Press, vol. 1, pl. 35.

Michaelis, A. 1882. Ancient Marbles in Great Britain. Cambridge: University Press, pp. 229-30, no. 17, ill. facing p. 229.

Furtwängler, A. 1883-87. La collection Sabouroff: Monuments de l'art grec. Berlin, vol. 1, p. 7.

Antike Denkmäler. 1891. Vol. 1. Berlin: G. Reimer, p. 44, pl. 54.

Richter, G. M. A. 1927. "A Greek Relief." MMA Bulletin 22: 101-5, figs. 1, 2.

Arndt, P., and G. Lippold, eds. 1929. Photographische Einzelaufnahmen antiker Skulpturen. Ser. 11. Munich: F. Bruckmann, pl. 3007.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1934. Guide to the Collections. Pt. 1, Ancient and Oriental Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 30.

Richter, G. M. A. 1953. Handbook of the Greek Collection. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, pp. 79, 302, n. 8, pl. 60, c.

Richter, G. M. A. 1954. Catalogue of Greek Sculptures. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, pp. 49-50, no. 73, pl. LX, a.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1979. Greek Art of the Aegean Islands. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, pp. 229-31, no. 185.

Buitron-Oliver, D. 1992. The Greek Miracle: Classical Sculpture from the Dawn of Democracy, the Fifth Century B.C. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, p. 141, no. 28.

Beaumont, L. A. 2003. "The Changing Face of Childhood." In J. Neils and J. H. Oakley et al., Coming of Age in Ancient Greece: Images of Childhood from the Classical Past. New Haven: Yale University Press, pp. 73, 75, fig. 11.

Kaminski, G. 2004. "Reliefplastik." In P. C. Bol et al., Die Geschichte der antiken Bildhauerkunst. Mainz: P. von Zabern, vol. 2, p. 59, fig. 59.

Kreikenbom, D. 2004. "Der Reiche Stil." In P. C. Bol et al., Die Geschichte der antiken Bildhauerkunst. Mainz: P. von Zabern, vol. 2, p. 232, fig. 59.

Picón, C. A., et al. 2007. Art of the Classical World in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 431, no. 132, ill. p. 120.

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