Grave Stele of Pollis the Soldier
This gravestone commemorates a Greek foot soldier (hoplite). It shows the typical tall and narrow shape popular in Archaic times, but the poise of the figure and the foreshortened shield indicate a growing sophistication of carving, especially given the shallow nature of the relief. The inscription uses letters from the alphabets of both Athens and Corinth
Location of Original:
Getty Museum, Malibu, USA
Size:
1.56 x 0.42m
Accession:
Transferred from the Museum für Abgüsse Klassischer Bildwerke, Munich, 29-30 October 1991
References:
J Paul Getty Museum: Handbook of the Antiquities Collection, 18
Date:
c.480 BCE
Inscription:
I speak, I Pollis, the dear son of Asopichos, not having died a coward with the wounds of the tattooers, yes myself
Provenance:
Thought to be from Megara. In the Munich Art Market around 1991; in the Getty Museum by 1995
Number:
619