FRAGMENT OF A FUNERARY LEKYTHOS

Dimensions
46 x 42 x 17 cm
Date
early 20th century
Period
Material
Inventory
Ag.567
ID
Hyp-5746
References
Hekler, Gipszgyűjtemény, no. 459

One side of the lekythos shaped funerary monument shows a young man holding an aryballos, a globular bottle used for storing body oils, and a scraper (strigilis). The strigilis was used to clear away sandy oil from the body after training. The youth is thus represented here as an athlete. An elder man stands beside him, with one hand raised, the other holding the hand of a woman seated opposite him. The gaze of the woman is not directed at him, she is already elsewhere — she may be the deceased. There is another female figure behind her, perhaps their daughter or a servant. The funerary monument probably represents the deceased woman with her family.