Marble stele (grave marker) of a woman
Unknown Artist
ca. 375–350 BCE
Medium
Marble
Dimensions
H. 54 in. (137.2 cm)
Classification
Stone Sculpture
Culture & Period
Greek, Attic · Late Classical
Department
Greek and Roman Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1965
Accession Number
65.11.11
Tags
Art Historical Context
This elegant marble stele, dating to around 375–350 BCE, served as a grave marker for a woman in ancient Attic Greece during the Late Classical period. Standing at 54 inches tall, it exemplifies the refined funerary sculptures produced in Athens after the Peloponnesian War, when sumptuary laws briefly relaxed to allow more personal memorials. Carved from high-quality Pentelic marble, these stelai often depicted the deceased in serene domestic scenes, surrounded by family members or attendants—here evoking a woman amid men and women, capturing everyday tenderness and loss. Artistically, the st...