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Borgia Stele

Grave marker of a bearded man and his dog.
The tradition of making grave reliefs seems to have died out in mainland Greece at this time, but it carried on and flourished in the east Greek islands, where this monument is thought to have been found. Similar works have been found as far afield as Thessaly in north eastern Greece, modern-day Turkey and Italy, and the Black Sea.

The stele shows the deceased, bearded and with a crutch, alone but for his dog. It is similar to the Alxenor Stele, but technically the carving of the anatomy is less sophisticated. There are hints about the man’s sporting youth: he is shown with an aryballos, the small round pot containing oil used by athletes, and the dog suggests hunting. These give him status

Number: 
96
Material: 
Marble
Location of Original: 

Naples National Archaeological Museum 98

Size: 
2.40 x 0.60m
Accession: 

Purchased 1884, from Museum of Naples

References: 

Lippold: Griechische Plastik, 123 (n.4)
Phuhl, E: Archäologischer Anzeiger LI (1936), 65
Brunn-Bruckmann, Denkmäler Griechischer und Römischer Skulptur, pl. 416
Walston: Catalogue of Casts in the Museum of Classical Archaeology (1889), 22, no.72
Reporter: 19 June 1885, 891, no.68
For provenance, see Finat, G: Text of Museo Borbonico, 14, pl. 10

Date: 
c.470 BCE
Provenance: 

Probably found in Asia Minor

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