Greek Grave Stele Of A Little Girl

The representation of figures on Greek grave relief is common for the Classical period. By looking at this work of art, one may not realize all the underlying beauty and mystery within the meanings foreshadowed in the relief sculpted into the stone. This Grecian relief carving of a “Grave Stele of a Little Girl” represents a sweet and solemn young child who looks down at her two pet birds resembling doves that embrace her, welcoming to another life of peace, purity, and innocence. This Greek piece of art is simple, but also ideal by making depictions look timeless. The surface of the marble used to carve this relief of a little girl is smooth and creates a three-dimensional illusion of the detailed naturalistic rendition of the human anatomy. The function of the grave stele was a memorial documentation that stands as a tombstone signifying the prominence of the person that has been buried in the place of the graveyard where people have been commemorated. The relief figure is the size of a real-life little girl who would have adored her pet birds. The composition is balanced with a positive and negative space, enforcing light and shadows presented by the three-dimensionality of the relief figure.
In this relief, the little girl is standing in profile with contrapposto pose in shifting weight, which evokes the realistic natural impression of a human.
The back of the stele is believed to be flat with no engravings on the polished marble. With a strong, serene expression on the girls face and her head bow down is where seriousness is interpreted as unusual for a young-looking child to portray in this sense. The wave-patterned strands of long hair on her scalp that fall and flow in a naturalistic way emphasize that the figure's gender is feminine and the gentle, soft sheen skin of the rippled baby fat texture that is polished in a natural three-dimensional way mimics the youthful, luminous flesh of a real, young female
body. Furthermore, the girl is dressed in a typical classical outfit, wearing a simple silken garment folded over her body and fastened at the shoulders. The sides are revealing her body as the sleek material that opens as a waterfall, full of flowing folds along her right side. Smooth against her legs the fabric leans toward her body. She wears sandals that portray a high status of the little girl. It is strange that the girl depicted in a young body has a facial appearance of a woman rather than a child's appearance, emphasizing how she may have looked if she was still alive. Moreover, she is seen pulling a dove in toward her chest, affectionately welcoming it through the gesture of embracing and closeness, as the other remains on her clenched left hand expressing a welcoming of purity of the deceased little girl through the symbols of the rested doves. The doves also contextually declare that this short-lived girl will never become women, mother, or a grandmother. As a child, she is not sexual and cannot reproduce. With wisdom and courage in relation to the doves, the girl shares a motherly sense of nurturing the doves as if they were her children, which is depicted in the loving gesture of her womanly facial appearance, and the gesture produced by her arms and hands. This symbolizes the memory of the little girl adoring her pet birds and her future of becoming a mother if she was still alive. The girl looks peaceful in a state of relaxation, and in a place where I believe, doves that idealize peace, purity, and innocence welcome her. These imply the commemorative and child's privilege a better place before her untimely death.

Reference Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Grave stele of a little girl. [Greek](27.45). http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/27.45.
(Accessed October 27, 2014).