This stele from a tomb outside Alexandria, Egypt, depicts a man (the deceased) seated on a raised stool clasping the hand of a tall woman. Scientific examinations identified a sophisticated painting technique involving the building-up of color. Red cinnabar was applied to the nose, ears, and cheek as a bright foundation for additional layers of pigment. Egyptian blue served as a base color for the man’s hair and beard, as seen in the image below, which created a rich, deep brown when blended with ochers.
#1235. Painted limestone funerary stele with a seated man and two standing figures, Part 2
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1235. Painted limestone funerary stele with a seated man and two standing figures, Part 2
2613. Investigations: Art, Conservation, and Science, Part 1
2614. Investigations: Art, Conservation, and Science, Part 2
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
Visible-induced infrared luminescence image of stele painting, showing the distribution of Egyptian blue pigment
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Detail of stele painting in regular light, showing thick multilayered painting of the female figure’s drapery. Image: Mark Abbe
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Detail of the seated man’s head in visible light, showing red underpainting
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Detail of the seated man’s head in visible-induced infrared luminescence, showing Egyptian blue
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Detail of stele painting in raking light, showing thick multilayered painting of the female figure’s drapery. Images: Mark Abbe
Artwork Details
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Title:Painted limestone funerary stele with a seated man and two standing figures
Period:Early Hellenistic
Date:late 4th–early 3rd century BCE
Culture:Greek
Medium:Limestone, paint
Dimensions:Height: 29 1/4 × 18 3/4 in. (74.3 × 47.6 cm) Other: 4 1/4 in. (10.8 cm) Width: 18 3/4 in. (47.6 cm)
Classification:Miscellaneous-Paintings
Credit Line:Gift of Darius Ogden Mills, 1904
Accession Number:04.17.2
Found in a tomb near Alexandria, Egypt, in 1884
1884, found in a tomb in Alexandria, Egypt; 1884, purchased by Elbert E. Farman, New York; after 1887, purchased by Darius Ogden Mills from Elbert E. Farman; until 1904, collection of Darius Ogden Mills; acquired in 1904, gift of D.O. Mills.
Merriam, Augustus C. 1885. "Inscribed Sepulchral Vases from Alexandria." American Journal of Archaeology and of the History of the Fine Arts, 1(1): p. 18 (general mention).
Merriam, Augustus C. 1887. "Painted Sepulchral Stelai from Alexandria." American Journal of Archaeology and of the History of the Fine Arts, 3(3/4): no. V, pp. 265–66.
Gillett, Charles R. 1896. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Catalogue of the Egyptian antiquities in Hall III, Handbook no. 4. no. 871, p. 59, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Gillett, Charles R. 1898. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Egyptian Antiquities in Halls 3 and 4. no. 871, p. 59, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Reinach, A. J. 1910. "“Les Galates dans l’Art Alexandrin.”." Monuments et mémoires de la Fondation Eugène Piot, 18(1): no. 2156, p. 52.
Pagenstecher, Rudolf. 1919. Nekropolis: Untersuchungen über Gestalt und Entwicklung der alexandrinischen Grabanlagen und ihrer Malereien. no. 19, pp. 43–4, Leipzig: Giesecke & Devrient.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1927. Handbook of the Classical Collection. p. 192, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1953. Handbook of the Greek Collection. p. 132, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Brown, Blanche R. 1957. Ptolemaic Paintings and Mosaics and the Alexandrian Style. pp. 15, 20, pl. I, Cambridge, Mass.
Cook, Brian. 1966. Inscribed Hadra Vases in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Papers of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Vol. 12. pp. 12, 16–8, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Picón, Carlos A. 2007. Art of the Classical World in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Greece, Cyprus, Etruria, Rome no. 214, pp. 186, 447, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Leona, Marco and Dr. Seán Hemingway. 2009. "The Materiality of Art: Scientific Research in Art History and Art Conservation at the Metropolitan Museum." Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 67(1): p. 7, fig. 6.
Latini, Alexia, Paolo Moreno, Mario Grimaldi, and Elisa Chiara Portale. 2011. "Riflessi della mortalità neonatale e materna nella pittura ellenistica." Pittura ellenistica in Italia e in Sicilia, Linguaggi e Tradizioni: Atti del Convegno di Studi (Messina, 24-25 settembre 2009), Gioacchine Francesco La Torre and Mario Torelli, eds. p. 65, fig. 25a, Rome: Giorgio Bretschneider Editore.
Abramitis, De and Mark Benford Abbe. 2019. "A group of painted funerary monuments from Hellenistic Alexandria in the Metropolitan Museum of Art." Techne : Journal of Technology for Architecture and Environment, 48: pp. 60–71, figs. 1–10.
Zanker, Paul. 2022. Afterlives : Ancient Greek Funerary Monuments in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. no. 51, pp. 160–61, New York: Scala Publishers.
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