FUNERARY MONUMENT: THE SO-CALLED LEUKOTHEA RELIEF

Dimensions
135 x 118 x 5-9 cm
Date
early 20th century
Material
Inventory
Ag.513
ID
Hyp-5792
References
Hekler, Gipszgyűjtemény, 9. sz.

The relief depicts a family scene with five figures. A woman — probably the deceased — sits on a throne-like chair on the left, her feet rest on a stool. She holds an infant, who is reaching towards her with their right hand: the relief represents the deceased as a mother. A woman and two children stand opposite the seated figure, they are her relatives, too. The relief received the name by which it is generally known in the eighteenth century, when the seated woman was recognised as the goddess Leukothea protecting the infant Dionysos. The funerary stele was probably made in South Italy or Sicily.