151-160

Fragment of a relief in Paros Archaeological Museum

Σύμμεικτα

• Κουραγιός, Γιάννος
• Δετοράτου, Σοφία

A fragment of a relief grave stele, which was given the inventory number 1385 of the Paros Archaeological Museum, was found at Ayios Panteleimon near Paroikia, Paros, just outside the north section of the fortification wall and a short distance from the main cemetery of the ancient city. An extensive cemetery of Late Hellenistic and Roman times came to light on the same site.At the left of the relief is depicted the arm of a female figure in profile. The wrist and fingers of the left hand can be made out, with which the figure supports the head of an infant, while she holds its body with her right. Towards the bottom right of the stele, a second, smaller-scale, youthful male figure is depicted in profile, holding out his right hand towards the infant. The head, part of the neck, and the right arm from the shoulder to the wrist is preserved. This figure is possibly a young servant or relative. The infant, which was probably shown swaddled, is in a poor state of preservation, with only the head and the outline of the body surviving. At the topright of the stele, above the youthful figure, can be seen the imprint of a painted mirror with a handle. The depiction of the mirror, which is regarded as a pre-eminently female symbol, suggests that the largest figure in the relief is the mother, to whom the baby has been handed for a final farewell. It is possible, however, that the grave stele was for the infant itself, in which case the largest figure is probably the kourotrophos deity, and the scene on the relief depicts the presentation of the child to the kourotrophos, a ceremony that the infant had not lived long enough to experience.The Parian stele reveals close affinity with stelai from Ikaria and Leukothea in the arrangement of the figures and the composition. It is possible that a type of representation depicting an enthroned female figure at the left with the other figures in the scene turned towards her was common in the Parian sculpture workshops of the period.The stele is dated to the period of the Severe Style, probably to the decade 490-480 BC.

• History and Archaeology

• Αρχαιολογία

αρχαιότητες, Πάρος

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