On view
Ancient Mediterranean Art
Grave stele of Mnesikles,
ca. 400–350 BCE
Greek, Attic
y1986-67
The boy Mnesikles, whose name is inscribed above his head, is carved in low relief on this marble funerary monument. The pediment at the top of the relief is a common feature of fourth-century BCE funerary reliefs. The boy, probably three to five years old, is shown naked, his cloak tossed over his left shoulder, his chubby toddler body contrasting with his idealized facial features. His curly hair is bound with a fillet, and he wears shoes or sandals, the tops of which originally were painted. In his right hand he holds a toy, a wheeled stick, as if suggesting to those who mourn him the joy he took in everyday play. The deceased boy seems almost ready to restart the game, hinting at the desire for his return felt by those who have survived him.
Information
Title
Grave stele of Mnesikles
Dates
ca. 400–350 BCE
Medium
Pentelic marble
Dimensions
66.5 x 27.5 x 6.3 cm (26 3/16 x 10 13/16 x 2 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, Fowler McCormick, Class of 1921, Fund
Object Number
y1986-67
Place Collected
Attica, Greece
Culture
Type
Materials
Purchased from Galerie Nefer A.G. Zurich in 1986.
- Nefer 2: Ausstellungskatalog der Galerie Nefer, (Zürich: Galerie Nefer, 1984). , p. 19 and p. 30; cat. no. 49
- "Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1986," Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 46, no. 1 (1987): p. 18–52, p. 49
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Richard Hamilton, Choes and anthesteria: Athenian iconography and ritual, (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 1992).
, p. 117; fig. 6. -
Christoph Clairmont, Classical Attic tombstones, (Kilchberg, Switzerland: Akanthus,Verlag fur Archaologie, 1993).
- B. S. Ridgway, et al., Greek sculpture in the Art Museum, Princeton University: Greek originals, Roman copies and variants, (Princeton, NJ: The Art Museum, Princeton University, 1994)., cat. no. 27, pp. 85-88 (illus)
- B. Ridgway, Fourth-century styles in Greek sculpture, (Madison, WI: University of Wisonsin Press, 1997)., pl. 42
- Jenifer Neils and John H. Oakley, Coming of age in ancient Greece: images of childhood from the classical past, (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press; Hanover, NH: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, 2003)., p. 181 (illus.); p. 305; cat. no. 122;
- Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007), p. 65 (illus.)
- Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collections (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2013), p. 65
- F. Queyrel, "Le garçon du Cricket et les enfants d'Alexandrie," in J. -Y. Empereur, ed., Alexandrina 4 (Le Caire: Institute franc̨ais d’archéologie orientale, 2014)., p. 137; fig. 6.
