The chief figure in the relief is a youth on horseback, who is greeted by an elderly man. The two figures are flanked by trees bearing entwined snakes. These kinds of scenes usually adorn the tombstones of young boys and men, or the monuments erected in their memory. These young men died unmarried, and their lives were not continued in their children. The horseman represents the deceased: his memory is preserved by his loved ones who venerate him as a hero.
The relief belongs to a widespread type especially frequent in Asia Minor and the Greek islands.
Marble analyses conducted by Danielle Decrouez (Geneva, Museum of Natural History) and Karl Ramseyer (University of Bern, Institute of Geological Sciences) have shown that the relief was made of Thasian, Parian (Paros-Choriodaki) or Prokonnesian (Marmara) marble. Click here for the detailed results.
