Title
Stele with five figures in procession to right
Content
I.D. no: 21232
Dimensions: Max. H. 24 cm; Max. W. 21.5 cm; Max. Th. 5.9 cm.
Material: Coarse-grain greyish white marble
Provenance: Unknown
Current location: National Museum of Archaeology, Reserve Collection
Condition:
Only part of the stele is preserved, with a regular and smooth vertical cut on the right side. The left end seems to be the original border except for a large curvilinear break at the bottom. Besides, large chips affect the whole of the lower border. The heads and draperies of all the figures are worn almost beyond recognition. Very roughly hacked surface at the back.
Description:
The scene is constrained within two horizontal borders of which only the upper one survives. It shows a procession of four draped adult figures carved in low relief in movement to the right. The first three figures are male while the fourth one seems to have female attire and hairstyle. All four figures bend their right arm, raising their hand to their left shoulder. An almost imperceptible figure of a draped young girl accompanies the fourth figure on the left and shares the same gesture. It is very likely that this congregation of mortals was approaching a divinity or several divinities present at the right end of the scene. As no space is left above the heads of these mortals, whichever divine or heroic figures of larger size were present in the missing right side would need to be seated to fit in the available height of the scene.
Discussion:
This relief fragment is a humble specimen of a category of Greek votive stelae dealt with in a monographic study by U. Hausmann,[1] and a later one by G.N. Neumann.[2] Typologically and stylistically they seem to be classifiable among the numerous reliefs of a relatively small size produced towards the end of the Hellenistic age in various urban centres of the Aegean, which were ultimately inspired by votive reliefs of the Classical period, mainly from the second half of the fourth century BC.[3]
The fragmentary state of the Valletta relief slab does not allow us to establish the identity of the divinity, or divinities, being approached by the adorants, but comparison with a number of similar reliefs suggest Asclepios,[4] or Hygieia,[5] or both.[6] It is also quite possible that the missing right space to the right of our fragment was occupied by a ‘Heroic Banquet’ scene (a Totenmahlrelief), as in the previous stele published in this catalogue (I.D. no 21166).[7]
The carving must have been of third rate quality and mass-produced in the Hellenistic age.[8]
Bibliography: (previous publications of item): Unpublished.
[1] Hausmann 1960.
[2] Neumann 1979.
[3] Hausmann 1960: 57-79; Neumann 1979: 50-55, 63-68. S. Bohm (2004) attributes them entirely to their reception and adaptation in late Republican and early Imperial age.
[4] Svoronos 1908-1936: no 1347, pl. 40,4.
[5] Svoronov 1908-1936: no 1461.
[6] Svoronov 1908-1936: nos 1345, 1354, 1330, 1333; Hausmann 1960: figs 39-41, 44. Sometimes other divinities are represented.
[7] See bibliography for that entry, and Svoronos 1908-1936: nos 1502, 1503, 1511, 1526.
[8] See also Budde-Nicholls 1964: 16, no 35, pl. 8; Bordenache 1969: 20-21, nos 13-14, pl. 8.