Painted limestone funerary slab with a soldier standing at ease

2nd half of 3rd century BCE

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 162

A soldier wearing a long blue cloak stands alone, with a spear in his right hand and a tall ovoid shield at his left. Celtic groups from Europe migrated eastward in 279 B.C. and established independent kingdoms in Thrace and central Asia Minor. Known as Galatians, they were used extensively as mercenary soldiers. Inscriptions identifying at least three Galatian soldiers who must have served under the Ptolemies occur on loculus slabs in the rather simple tomb found in 1884.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

References

Title: Painted limestone funerary slab with a soldier standing at ease
Period: Hellenistic
Date: 2nd half of 3rd century BCE
Culture: Greek
Medium: Limestone, paint
Dimensions: Height: 15 1/2 in. (39.4 cm)
Other: 3 3/4 in. (9.5 cm)
Width: 11 5/8 in. (29.5 cm)
Classification: Miscellaneous-Paintings
Credit Line: Gift of Darius Ogden Mills, 1904
Object Number: 04.17.5
Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

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