Two stone monuments of the Classical period reflect different funerary artistic traditions within the Greek world. The inscribed marble stele of Eurynome (no. 8) follows a long line of grave reliefs produced in Athens and the surrounding. Attic countryside beginning at the outset of the 6^th century B.C. The deceased is shown clasping the hand of another figure in a touching departure scene that seems as timeless as the eternally sprouting florals crowning the stele. The South Italian Greek city of Taras had its own tradition of small and ornately decorated funerary monuments in the shape of little temples (naiskoi) We often encounter these structures depicted in contemporary pottery produced in Apulia and elsewhere in other South Italian and Sicilian workshops. The little limestone Corinthian capital and base from one of these Tarentine naiskoi (no. 9) preserve remarkably fresh and crisp carved decoration. The elegant clusters of florals as well as the miniature mourning siren are all in the best Tarentine tradition.

The two Greek bronzes presented here may well have been votive dedications before being put to rest in a tomb. The powerful Archaic Centaur statuette (no. 6) originally formed part of a massive and costly vessel either dedicated at a sanctuary or eventually used in a funerary context. Our striking Corinthian horned helmet (no. 12) is far too fragile to have been used in actual battle, but this type did exist in reality and was obviously intended to terrify the enemy.

Idealized female beauty is one of the enduring hallmarks of Hellenistic Greek art and of Roman works in the Hellenistic tradition. The sensitive marble head of Aphrodite (no. 10) exhibits all the freshness and delicate finish of surface of a Greek original, as opposed to the dryness one often encounters in somewhat mechanical Roman copies after Greek works. One of the most famous idealized compositions created in the Hellenistic period is that of The Three Graces (no. 7)—Aglaia (Beauty), Euphrosyne (Mirth), and Thalia (Abundance)—the handmaidens of Aphrodite. They are consistently represented as nude young girls standing with their hands on each other’s shoulders, the center figure facing the other two. The graceful frieze-like pose is one of the most famous compositions known from antiquity. Where and by whom the scheme was invented is not known, but it was most likely developed in the late Hellenistic period, probably around the second century B.C. It soon became a canonic formula for representing the Graces, appearing in every medium and on every kind of object from mirrors to sarcophagi; its popularity continued into the Renaissance and, in fact, to this day. Only a few years ago the distinguished American painter Philip Pearlstein created a handsome limited-edition print of The Three Graces to mark the re-opening of the Hellenistic and Roman Galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Dr. Carlos A. Picón