Gravestone of Apollonia in the Getty Villa, July 2008

Title: Grave Naiskos of Apollonia

Artist/Maker: Unknown

Culture: Greek

Place: Greece (Place created)

Date: about 100 B.C.

Medium: Marble with polychromy

Object Number: 74.AA.13

Dimensions: 112.4 × 63.5 × 20 cm, 308.4 kg (44 1/4 × 25 × 7 7/8 in., 680 lb.)

Inscription: Inscription:ΑΠΟΛΛOΝΙΑ ΑΡΙΣΤΑΝΔΡΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΘΗΒΑΓΕΝΕΙΑΣ ("Apollonia [daughter] of Aristandros and Thevageneia".)

Alternate Titles: Gravestone of Apollonia (Display Title)
Gravestone of the Girl Apollonia (Published Title)

Object Type: Relief

A young girl stands inside a naiskos or shallow three-sided structure on this Athenian grave monument. The inscription carved above her head identifies her as Apollonia, the daughter of Aristandros and Thebageneia. She holds a pomegranate and reaches up to stroke a dove perched on a tall pillar. The pomegranate had a long history as a funerary symbol for the Greeks. In mythology, after being kidnapped by Hades, Persephone had to remain in the underworld for part of the year because she had consumed a pomegranate seed. Birds frequently appear with little girls in funerary sculpture, possibly only as a sentimental reference to a favorite pet, or perhaps with a deeper symbolic meaning related to the correlation of the soul with a bird in Greek thought. Apollonia wears a high-girt dress, a cloak over one shoulder, and platform sandals. These fashions indicate that the monument dates to about 100 B.C. Originally, the carving would have been enlivened by paint; traces of red remain on the sandals.

The bottom of the naiskos under Apollonia's feet was left rough because it would have been embedded in a base. The four holes at the top of the naiskos, one of which still holds part of an iron peg, would have been used to hang funerary wreaths on the monument.


Text from: www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/7142/unknown-maker-grave-naiskos-of-apollonia-greek-about-100-bc