Limestone funerary stele with antithetical sphinxes - image 1

Classical

Limestone funerary stele with antithetical sphinxes

The sphinxes of this gravestone, while modeled on Classical Greek prototypes, also reveal an Egyptian influence with their pose of hind legs tucked under their bodies. During the Archaic and the Classical periods, pairs of opposing sphinxes were common on funerary monuments but also may appear as guardians of heroons or shrines. Overall: 13 1/2 × 22 1/4 × 5 3/4 in. (34.3 × 56.5 × 14.6 cm)

Date

475 - 450 BC

Accession No.

74.51.2855

Collection

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Provenance

  • From the necropolis of Golgoi

References

  • Doell, Johannes. 1873. Die Sammlung Cesnola. no. 824, pl. XIII, 22, St. Petersburg: L’Académie Impérial des Sciences.Cesnola, Luigi Palma di. 1877. Cyprus: Its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples. A Narrative of Researches and Excavations During Ten Years' Residence in That Island. p. 110, London: John Murray.Cesnola, Luigi Palma di. 1878. Cyprus: Its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples. A Narrative of Researches and Excavations During Ten Years' Residence in That Island. p. 110, New York: Harper & Brothers.Cesnola, Luigi Palma di. 1885. A Descriptive Atlas of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Vol. 1. pl. CIV.680, Boston: James R. Osgood and Company.Myres, John L. 1914. Handbook of the Cesnola Collection of Antiquities from Cyprus. no. 1411, p. 247, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Myres, John L. 1940-1945. "Excavations in Cyprus, 1913." Annual of the British School at Athens, 41: p. 68.Masson, Olivier. 1971. "Kypriaka IX: Recherches sur les antiquités de Golgoi." Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique, 95(1): p. 316.Tatton-Brown, Veronica. 1986. "Gravestones of the Archaic and Classical Periods: Local Production and Foreign Influences." Acts of the International Archaeological Symposium Cyprus between the Orient and the Occident : Nicosia, 8-14 Sept. 1985, Prof. Vassos Karageorghis, ed. p. 442, pl. XLVII.4, Nicosia: Department of Antiquities, Cyprus.Pogiatzi, Elena. 2003. Die Grabreliefs auf Zypern: von der archaischen bis zur romischen Zeit. cat. 15, p. 114, pl. X, Mannheim: Bibliopolis.Hermary, Antoine and Joan R. Mertens. 2013. The Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art : Stone Sculpture. no. 467, p. 335, Online Publication, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.