Funerary Stele of Aischron
Unknown · c. 370 BC
Tall and narrow, this stele takes the form of a marble loutrophoros, the vase set on the graves of those who died unmarried. Above it rises a palmette on acanthus leaves carved in high relief, with scrolls and two double rosettes. On the body of the vase two men clasp hands: a warrior in a short tunic with his shield resting on the ground, and a bearded older man in a cloak, seated on a chair with a footrest and leaning on a staff. The single line carved above the rosettes reads Aischron from Kephale, his name and his home deme.
The soldier is Aischron, taking leave of an older man, most likely his father, and the vase shape tells us he died young and unwed. Carved in Pentelic marble in Athens around three hundred and seventy BC, the stele was found at Sounion, at the southern tip of Attica, and part of the crowning palmette has been lost since the nineteenth century. The Louvre acquired it in 1898. Note the two depths of carving, low relief for the figures and high relief for the acanthus.
Did You Know? A single goose hides among the carved scrolls above the palmette, a playful detail on a monument of mourning.
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