Grabrelief der Mnesarete

Staatliche Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek

Description

In the inscription on the entablature of this magnificent tombstone, the deceased is named as Mnesarete, daughter of Socrates. She died at a young age. According to the epitaph, she was married and had given birth to a child whose upbringing was now taken care of by the grieving grandmother. The epigram also praises the exemplary virtue of the dead. The tomb relief was created in c.380 BC in Attica.

The relief impressively visualises the fate of premature death: Mnesarete with skilfully turned legs sits on a stool in peculiar tranquillity. Her feet rest on a footstool. She is dressed in a long undergarment with a coat draped over it. Her left hand lies tightly wrapped in her garment on her lap, while her right hand lifts the cloak slightly, as if to cover her head. The face of immortal beauty gazes downwards in mourning; the young woman seems lost in the contemplation of her suffering. In front of her is a servant. Her hands are crossed in front of her body and she holds her head also sadly tilted to the ground. Mistress and maid seem to be very close to each other, in particular since the architectural frame places both in a shared pictorial space. In reality, however, they are in very different spheres: one in the world of the living, the other in the realm of the dead.