Inscribed funerary relief of a woman from Palmyra (PAL0115)

Inscribed funerary relief of a woman from Palmyra (PAL0115)

A limestone funerary relief depicting a woman with a Palmyrene inscription over her left shoulder. She wears a veil and diadem decorated with floral and lattice designs found frequently on other examples, and her hair is parted in the center and wraps back around the head beneath the veil. The eyebrows, eyes, and pupils are incised, with the gaze directly slightly upward. The woman wears a tunic, ball earrings, two necklaces (one with a circular hanging pendant), and two rings on her lefthand little finger. Both arms are held against the body beneath her drapery, and her right arm crosses over her chest to rest on (or grasp) the cloak on her opposite shoulder. Her left hand extends from the cloak, whose edge is looped up and grasped between her thumb and forefinger, with the rest of her fingers likewise extended. Behind the figure is a cloth seemingly affixed to the background by a four-petaled rosette at the right corner (the left is damaged). From Palmyra, dated c.175 CE.

Image rights: Public domain via Yale University Art Gallery

Limestone

PAL0115

59x43x19cm

Upper left portion of relief background

Palmyra; Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. Edgar Munroe

Yale University Art Gallery, 1954.30.2