Gravestone of Maqi in the Getty Villa, July 2008

Gravestone of Maqi
Roman, made in Palmyra (in present-day Syria), AD 200-250
Limestone and pigment

Inventory # 88.AA.50

The art of Palmyra, a caravan city in central Syria combined local and imported Roman styles. In this funerary portrait, the flat, frontal presentation of the figure and the stylized carving of the hair in rows of tight curls are features of Eastern art, while the form of the bust is Roman. The Aramaic inscription identifies the man as Maqi, the son of Ma'ani. Maqi may have been one of the many wealthy traders who lived in Palmyra.

Text from the Getty Villa museum label.