Top of an Arch with a Nymph Riding a Sea Monster
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Object Label
In pagan Egyptian tombs, the deceased was often identified with suitable figures in Greco-Roman mythology. This was particularly apparent in the relief decoration of arches designed to curve out and over the heads of visitors to the public part of the tomb. Like the fragmentary examples here, they might show the god of the Nile to recall an authoritative family man, or a nymph to symbolize a young woman. Some wall reliefs, such as the example here showing Hercules as a mature hero, probably served the same commemorative purpose.
Caption
Coptic. Top of an Arch with a Nymph Riding a Sea Monster, 5th–6th century C.E.. Limestone, pigment, 18 1/8 x 31 1/8 x 14 3/8 in. (46 x 79 x 36.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 41.1226. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 41.1226_PS2.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Gallery
Not on view
Culture
Title
Top of an Arch with a Nymph Riding a Sea Monster
Date
5th–6th century C.E.
Period
Late Antique Period
Geography
Place made: Herakleopolis Magna, Egypt
Medium
Limestone, pigment
Classification
Dimensions
18 1/8 x 31 1/8 x 14 3/8 in. (46 x 79 x 36.5 cm)
Credit Line
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
Accession Number
41.1226
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
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