relief;
gravestone
- Museum number
- 1917,0701.250
- Description
-
Limestone grave-relief decorated in high relief with three figures. The deceased (centre) is depicted probably with his mother and brother, in an architectural setting. This is restored; the pediment and pillar may not belong.
- Production date
- 1stC
- Dimensions
-
Height: 98.50 centimetres
-
Length: 88 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- The date ascribed to relief ranges widely in the literature. Vessberg (SCE IV/3, 84 and pl. I) placed it in the Hellenistic period, a view followed by Vermeule who suggested a date around 280 BC (1976, 54 and pl. II,17). Connelly drew attention to parallels between material from the Athienou-Golgoi area (her 'Master B' style) and the BM relief, dating the latter to the later second century BC. This is more convincing, though she notes links with later Roman freedman reliefs (Connelly 1988, 85 and pl. 52, fig. 195). Tattton Brown by contrast puts it in the early Imperial period (1986, 61), a view followed by Pogiatzi (2003, 141-2 no. 44; also Poyiadji-Richter 2009, 178-9, 181-2 and fig. 2) and Hermary (2004, 50). While the pediment may well belong to this later period, though there is another example inscribed with a Cypro-Syllabic inscriptiom, a Roman date for the relief itself which resembles earlier Hellenistic work remains moot.
See Hermary for an account of the ancient site at Tremitousha where the relief was found, probably by L. P. di Cesnola who passed it on to his brother Alessandro (2004, 50-51).
Bibliography:
Connelly J. 1988, Votive sculptures of Hellenistic Cyprus (Nicosia).
Hermary A. 2004, 'Autour de Golgoi: Les cités de la Mesaoria à l'époque hellénistique et sous l'Empire', CCEC 34, 47-68.
Pogiatzi E. 2003, Die Grabreliefs auf Zypern von der archaischen bis zur römischen Zeit (Mannheim).
Poyiadji-Richter E. 2009, 'Roman portraits on Cypriot grave reliefs', CCEC 39, 177-96.
Tatton-Brown V. 1986, 'Archaeology in Cyprus 1960-1985: Classical to Roman periods', in ed. V. Karageorghis, Archaeology in Cyprus 1960-1985 (Nicosia).
Vermeule, C. 1976, Greek and Roman Cyprus (Boston).
- Location
- On display (G72)
- Acquisition notes
- According to the Catalogue this object was acquired in 1884. However a note in pencil states "According to A H Smith this [object] was not acquired until 1890 . . . and does not appear to have been registered at the time.".
- Department
- Greek and Roman
- Registration number
- 1917,0701.250