Painted limestone funerary slab with a soldier taking a kantharos from his attendant

2nd half of 3rd century BCE

Not on view

A boy with dark brown skin, standing at the left, holds out a black cup to a tall soldier in a long blue cloak, at the right. The boy holds a lance and supports the soldier's large oval shield against his chest. Almost all the preserved evidence for painting in the Hellenistic period comes from funerary monuments. Some like the vaulted tombs of Macedonia and Thrace show large scale figures and friezes. More modest painted stelai like the ones displayed here have been found in many places in the Eastern Meditereanean.

Artwork Details

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Title: Painted limestone funerary slab with a soldier taking a kantharos from his attendant
Period: Hellenistic
Date: 2nd half of 3rd century BCE
Culture: Greek
Medium: Limestone, paint
Dimensions: Other: 14 13/16 × 9 5/8 × 3 3/8 in. (37.6 × 24.4 × 8.6 cm)
Other (Panel): 9 3/4 × 7 7/8 in. (24.8 × 20 cm)
Classification: Miscellaneous-Paintings
Credit Line: Gift of Darius Odgen Mills, 1904
Object Number: 04.17.6
Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

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