The Fragment from the tomb of Nikarete from the third quarter of the fourth century BC, found near

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

is displayed today in the

Antikensammlung The Antikensammlung Berlin (Berlin antiquities collection) is one of the most important collections of classical art in the world, now held in the Altes Museum and Pergamon Museum in Berlin, Germany. It contains thousands of ancient archaeological ...

of the

Altes Museum The Altes Museum (English: ''Old Museum'') is a listed building on the Museum Island in the Mitte (locality), historic centre of Berlin. Built from 1825 to 1830 by order of King Frederick William III of Prussia according to plans by Karl Friedrich ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Fragment of Funerary Monument of Nikarete - Altes Museum - Berlin - Germany 2017

The 117 cm high and 59 cm wide fragment of a grave relief made out of

Pentelic marble Mount Pentelicus or Pentelikon (, or ) is a mountain in Attica, Greece, situated northeast of Athens and southwest of Marathon. Its highest point is the peak ''Pyrgari'', with an elevation of 1,109 m. The mountain is covered in large part wi ...

depicts a woman named Nikarete, daughter of Ktesikles of the

deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside seem to have existed in the 6th century BC and ear ...

Hagnous Agnus or Agnous ( grc, Ἀγνοῦς), also Hagnus or Hagnous (Ἁγνοῦς) was a deme of ancient Attica. From the mythical story of the war of the Pallantidae against Theseus, we learn that the demoi of Pallene (Attica), Pallene, Gargettus, and ...

. Her name is preserved on a piece of the grave's gable, which was separately manufactured. Nikarete belongs to the same type of scene as the

Grave relief of Thraseas and Euandria The Attic Grave relief of Thraseas and EuandriaInventary number SK 738 (K 34) from the middle of the fourth century BC is kept in the Pergamonmuseum and belongs to the Antikensammlung Berlin. The relief was found in Athens in the Agia Triada ( ...

, sitting at the right hand side of the

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

, looking left. She sits on a backless, cushioned stool. Her head projects from the relief and faces forward. She wears a cloak (

himation A himation ( grc, ἱμάτιον ) was a type of clothing, a mantle or wrap worn by ancient Greek men and women from the Archaic through the Hellenistic periods (c. 750–30 BC). It was usually worn over a chiton and/or peplos, but was made of ...

) over her head. Under this she wears a

chiton Chitons () are marine molluscs of varying size in the class Polyplacophora (), formerly known as Amphineura. About 940 extant and 430 fossil species are recognized. They are also sometimes known as gumboots or sea cradles or coat-of-mail s ...

with flaps and buttoned sleeves. Nikarete's hair is unparted, gathered up into a knot above her forehead. There are holes in her earlobes which once contained real earrings. It is not clear how large the complete relief was or how many other people were depicted in it. It probably belonged to one of the most elaborate grave monuments of the fourth century BC, some of which are known today. Such monuments were mostly erected by the economically successful members of the Athenian citizenry. The nose, part of the lips and the greater part of the cloak are entirely modern reconstruction, carried out in the workshop of

Johann Gottfried Schadow Johann Gottfried Schadow (20 May 1764 – 27 January 1850) was a German Prussian sculptor. His most iconic work is the chariot on top of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, executed in 1793 when he was still only 29. Biography Schadow was born i ...

. The fragments were found between Athens and the port of

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...

. The pieces were acquired by the Baron Albert von SackAlso referred to as Count in the literature who traveled through Greece and the east with Georg Christian Gropius, then the Austrian consul in Athens and acquired a collection of ancient artefacts in the process which he later sold to the Antikensammlung in Berlin. It was one of the first ancient artworks to come to Berlin without passing through the Italian art trade.

Bibliography

* Max Kunze. "Fragment vom Grabmal der Nikarete." in Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Preußischer Kulturbesitz. Antikensammlung (Ed.): ''Die Antikensammlung im Pergamonmuseum und in Charlottenburg''. von Zabern, Mainz 1992, , pp. 120f. *
Attisches Grabmal
" in Königliche Museen zu Berlin (Ed.),

Alexander Conze Alexander Christian Leopold Conze (10 December 1831 – 19 July 1914) was a German archaeologist, who specialized in ancient Greek art. He was a native of Hanover, and studied at the universities of University of Göttingen, Göttingen and Unive ...

(preliminary work): ''Beschreibung der antiken Skulpturen mit Ausschluss der pergamenischen Fundstücke''. Spemann, Berlin 1891, , pp. 278–279. (Verzeichnis-Nr. 740)

References

{{Coord, 52, 31, 10, N, 13, 23, 54, E, type:landmark_region:DE-BE, display=title Archaeological discoveries in Greece 4th-century BC Greek sculpture category:Classical sculptures of the Berlin State Museums