During the fifth and fourth centuries B.C., memorials to the dead sometimes took the form of monumental marble lekythoi. The shape was appropriate, for the lekythos–a vase used exclusively to hold oil–played an important part in funerary preparation and ritual. The figure of Kallisthenes, whose name is inscribed, is shown in low relief clasping the hand of a seated man, while a woman raises her hand to her chin in a customary gesture of mourning.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
Artwork Details
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:Marble funerary lekythos of Kallisthenes
Period:Classical
Date:ca. 400–390 BCE
Culture:Greek, Attic
Medium:Marble, Pentelic
Dimensions:H. 62 in. (157.5 cm)
Classification:Stone Sculpture
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1947
Object Number:47.11.2
Inscription: "Kallisthenes"
Said to be from Athens (Richter 1947)
[Until 1925, with Michel Roussos, Athens]; [1925, purchased from M. Roussos by Joseph Brummer, Paris and New York (P1511)]; [1925-1947, with Joseph Brummer, New York]; acquired in 1947, purchased from Joseph Brummer.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1947. "An Athenian Gravestone." Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 5(7): pp. 179–84.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1950. The Sculpture and Sculptors of the Greeks, 3rd edn. pp. 174, 518, fig. 496, New Haven: Yale University Press.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1953. Handbook of the Greek Collection. pp. 138, 278, pl. 118c, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1954. Catalogue of Greek Sculptures. no. 87, p. 59, pls. 70a–b, 71a-b, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Schmaltz, Bernhard. 1970. "Untersuchungen zu den Attischen Marmorlekythen. Ph.D. diss." Ph.D. Diss. p. 119, A6. Universität des Saarlandes.
Forsyth, William Holmes and The International Confederation of Dealers in Works of Art. 1974. "Acquisitions from the Brummer Gallery." The Grand Gallery at the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Sixth International Exhibition presented by C.I.N.O.A.. p. 2, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Clairmont, Christoph W. 1993. Classical Attic Tombstones, Vol. 3. no. 3.131, pp. 63–64, Kilchberg: Akanthus.
Schmaltz, Bernhard. 1997. "Typus und Stil im Historischen Umfeld." Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, 112: p. 85 ns. 33, 36.
Bodel, John P. and Stephen Tracy. 1997. Greek and Latin Inscriptions in the USA : A Checklist. p. 184, Rome: American Academy in Rome.
Picón, Carlos A. 2007. Art of the Classical World in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Greece, Cyprus, Etruria, Rome no. 163, pp. 144, 435–36, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Hemingway, Seán. 2021. How to Read Greek Sculpture. no. 24, pp. 34, 110–113, 115, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Zanker, Paul. 2022. Afterlives : Ancient Greek Funerary Monuments in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. no. 28, pp. 98–100, New York: Scala Publishers.
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than 30,000 works ranging in date from the Neolithic period to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312.
