Many Greek grave reliefs from around Athens, of which there are a large number, have simple flat compositions with just two figures. Later examples like this one often show busy family scenes with four or more contrasting figures.
Thanks to the inscription there is little doubt which is the dead person on this stele. The deceased sits in a chair flanked by family members and a servant girl. She shakes hands with — presumably — her husband. The handshake is a common feature of these memorials, although its precise meaning is unclear
Athens, National Museum 743
Papaspiridi: Guide du Musée Nationale d’Athènes (1927), 132
Walston: Catalogue of Casts in the Museum of Classical Archaeology (1889), 66, no.298
Conze: Die Attischen Grabreliefs (1890-1922) I, 94, pl. XCVII
Woodhead’s inscription no.15
Inscription: IG II-III, 11037
Johansen: The Attic Grave-Reliefs, 47 & 57
Damasistrate daughter of Polykleides
Found in Piraeus in 1838
