The sarcophagus of the mourning women, V
Side view
The Ionic columns and corner pilasters define eighteen panels; a draped female figure is carved in high relief inside each panel. The spaces between the columns are closed by full balusters, decorated with a simple molding; some of the portrayed female figures are standing in font of the balusters while other are sitting on these; this simple architectural trick gives a remarkable spatial effect to the overall scene by hinting the presence of the porch separating the walls of the cella from the colonnade of the peristalsis.
The female figures inside the panels are portrayed in different postures. Some of them are portrayed in frontal or three quarter standing position. They are wearing a himation, often taken over the head, running down on the shoulders and the chest, releasing the forearm and covering the legs. One shoulder is slightly forward and the head is gradually turned towards this shoulder.
Others are sitting on the baluster, three-quarters right or left, the knees bent, and sometime are holding a dulcimer. Others are leaning against the baluster, the hands crossed on the abdomen and the head down.
The women’s sadness is portrayed in different ways: according to a popular style some women are portrayed with a forearm placed horizontally, one hand supporting the opposite elbow and the forehead or the cheek leaning against the hand. Others hide their tears by covering the face with a corner of the cloth.
Marble Sarcophacus
From Sidon (Lebanon), Royal necropolis
About middle of 3rd cent. BC.
Istanbul; Archaeological Museum
The sarcophagus of the mourning women, V
Side view
The Ionic columns and corner pilasters define eighteen panels; a draped female figure is carved in high relief inside each panel. The spaces between the columns are closed by full balusters, decorated with a simple molding; some of the portrayed female figures are standing in font of the balusters while other are sitting on these; this simple architectural trick gives a remarkable spatial effect to the overall scene by hinting the presence of the porch separating the walls of the cella from the colonnade of the peristalsis.
The female figures inside the panels are portrayed in different postures. Some of them are portrayed in frontal or three quarter standing position. They are wearing a himation, often taken over the head, running down on the shoulders and the chest, releasing the forearm and covering the legs. One shoulder is slightly forward and the head is gradually turned towards this shoulder.
Others are sitting on the baluster, three-quarters right or left, the knees bent, and sometime are holding a dulcimer. Others are leaning against the baluster, the hands crossed on the abdomen and the head down.
The women’s sadness is portrayed in different ways: according to a popular style some women are portrayed with a forearm placed horizontally, one hand supporting the opposite elbow and the forehead or the cheek leaning against the hand. Others hide their tears by covering the face with a corner of the cloth.
Marble Sarcophacus
From Sidon (Lebanon), Royal necropolis
About middle of 3rd cent. BC.
Istanbul; Archaeological Museum