ROMAN PERIOD, CIRCA 4TH CENTURY A.D.

Details

AN EGYPTIAN PAINTED LIMESTONE FUNERARY STELE
ROMAN PERIOD, CIRCA 4TH CENTURY A.D.
25 ¾ in. (65.5 cm.) high

Provenance

Reportedly from Sheikh Abada.
with Royal-Athena Galleries, New York.
Acquired by The Hackley Art Gallery (now the Muskegon Museum of Art), Michigan, from the above, 1960.

Special notice

This lot is offered without reserve.

Brought to you by

Max Bernheimer

mbernheimer@christies.com +1 212 636 2245

Lot Essay

The garland of flowers in the subject's right hand represents the regeneration of nature and brings with it the aspiration of rebirth for the deceased. The grapes in his left refer to Bacchus, who like the Egyptian god Osiris, gave hope of resurrection and regeneration. Similar attributes are carried by subjects of Fayum portraits (K. Parlasca and H. Seemann, Augenblicke: Mumienporträts und ägyptische Grabkunst aus römischer Zeit, Munich, 1999, p. 293).

For a related example, thought to be from Antinopolis or Oxyrhynchos, see no. 152 in A. Wiese, et al., Antikenmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig, Die Ägyptische Abteilung.

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