Votive relief from Macedonia (?): funerary banquet

The relief represents a venerated heroic couple. The man reclines on a kline or couch, holding a rhyton (drinking horn) in his right hand. His wife is seated beside him, holding a libation cup and a jewellery box; there is a table in front of them laden with cakes. The frame evokes the shape of a sanctuary: the horse’s head, the tree, the snake rearing at the man’s shoulder and the line of people bringing presents and represented on a much smaller scale are all typical motifs of Athenian banquet reliefs. This piece was probably carved in Macedonia, from local marble, following Athenian models.

Marble analyses have shown that the relief was made of white marble of unknown origin.