Cyprus (provenance uncertain; likely Salamis or Amathus region)

Cypro-Classical Limestone Funerary Stele with Sphinx Guardians

2080

Cypro-Classical period, c. 475–325 BCE

A Cypro-Classical limestone funerary stele with carved sphinx reliefs, dateable to approximately 475–3 25 BCE, held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The stele is a rectangular slab with the upper register carved in low relief with a pair of sphinxes in profile, facing toward a central palmette or lotus motif. The sphinxes are rendered with lion bodies, human heads wearing Egyptian-style nemes headdresses, and folded wings with incised feather detail. The carving combines Greek formal conventions — the profile register composition, the relief depth, the body articulation — with Egyptian iconographic elements — the nemes headdress, the frontal face type — in the hybrid visual language characteristic of Cypro-Classical production. Traces of original polychrome pigment survive in sheltered areas of the carved relief.