Skip to main content
© Bruce M. White, 2004.
Votive Relief with Banquet Scene
© Bruce M. White, 2004.
© Bruce M. White, 2004.
© Bruce M. White, 2004.
ClassificationsGreek and Roman Art

Votive Relief with Banquet Scene

Place CreatedGreece, Europe
CultureGreek
Periodlate Classical
Date4th Century BCE
MediumMarble (Ephesos 2 or Paros 2)
Credit LineCarlos Collection of Ancient Art
Dimensions22 5/8 x 33 1/8 x 5 5/16 in. (57.5 x 84.2 x 13.5 cm)
Object number1999.011.003
Label TextA bearded, semi-draped man reclines on a couch, leaning with his left elbow on two pillows. In his left hand, he holds a phiale (libation bowl) and gestures towards his wife with his right. She sits at the foot of the couch with her feet resting on a foot stool. She wears a himation over a long chiton and her hair in a sakkos, and perhaps holds a fillet between her raised hands. An enslaved attendant stands, nude, at the foot of the couch, carrying a jug and a rhyton (drinking horn) with a ram's head, with which to bring wine from the large krater behind him. In front of the couch is a table with ritual cakes. In the top left corner of the relief, there is a horse's head in profile above a ledge.

This relief belongs to a category known as "Totenmahl" (literally, 'Feast of the Dead') that repeat the same basic iconography seen here. These reliefs served as votives and were associated with hero cults: the horse is a typical indicator of heroized status, as well as of wealth.



Exhibition HistoryMCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, 2000 - May 2004
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 2004 - Present
Confronting Slavery in the Classical World, Michael C. Carlos Museum (virtual exhibition), September 29, 2021 - December 19, 2021
Published ReferencesMCCM Newsletter, March - May 2000.
ProvenanceWith Michael Ward [Ward & Company, Works of Art, Inc.], New York, New York, from ca. 1996. Purchased by MCCM from Ward.
Status
On view
Collections
  • Greek and Roman Art