Fragment of an Etruscan Nenfro Tomb Slab in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, February 2008

Fragment of a nenfro tomb-slab
Etruscan, probably Tarquinian, ca. 600-550 BC

Accession # 61.11.17

This is the lower-left corner of a much larger stone slab that probably originally depicted three vertical rows of square panels, each with an animal or figure, separated by plain stepped patterns. The entire slab, which measured about three feet by seven feet, once may have formed part of an enclosure for a tomb. A few vestiges of red color show that the stag on this fragment was once painted. A number of related examples come from Tarquinia, a city famous for its subterranean frescoed tombs.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.