Grave monument with man and boy,

2nd century BCE

This Greek funerary relief likely originated in the Ionian region of western Asia Minor, probably in a city such as Smyrna or Miletus. It features an under-life-size representation of a man, presumably the deceased, clothed in a himation, a type of mantle worn by Greek men and women, that drapes heavily across his body. His face bears the individualized features of a specific person, with the downturned mouth and furrowed brow suggestive of a mood of pathos, as if he mourns his own passing. A young boy, who is recognizable as enslaved by his subordinate position, accompanies the man. He leans against a column and looks down pensively, as if puzzled by the older man’s absence. The monument likely stood in a family plot alongside one of the main roads leading from the man’s home city, visible for everyone traveling along the road to see and mourn.