Roman Funerary Stele Depicting a Lion

3D Image

by Geoffrey Marchal
published on 20 August 2018

Funerary stele depicting a lion. Last quarter of the 2nd century CE, Gunékeui (near Gédiz, Turkey), Marble. Musée du Cinquantenraire (Brussels, Belgium). Made with ReMake and ReCap Pro from AutoDesk.

The central panel represents a closed door with two richly moulded doors and a lock imitating a vine leaf. The lower cassettes are decorated with a stocky vase (urceus), as well as a door ring. The jamb is decorated with plant motifs and is itself included in a smooth frame whose horizontal banner contains the epitaph: “Marcos Sestullios Sévéros honored Mr. Sestullios Pindaros, his foster father”.

In the pediment in the shape of a half-hexagon, is inscribed a half-circle, hollowed out in a niche. A squatting lion, an animal of Cybele, was to scare the grave robbers. Since the Sestulii managed domains in the Altintash Plain, the stele probably comes from this area.

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