Gravestone of Demainete

Taking the form of a shallow naiskos, or three-sided funerary monument, this Greek relief sculpture once marked the grave of a little girl. The relief depicts the girl standing on the right attended by a servant. The short hair and long-sleeved garment of the attendant identify her as a slave. The inscription running over their heads identifies the girl as Demainete, the daughter of Prokles. Both Demainete's hairstyle and the shoulder cords of her dress are signs of her youth. She holds a bird in her now damaged right hand and the servant cradles another large, fat bird, probably a partridge. Although the meaning is not known for certain, young girls frequently hold birds on funerary monuments. The depiction may be a simple reference to a beloved pet, or it may have some deeper symbolic meaning representing the life or soul of the child. The size of the monument, the quality of the carving, and the individual touches included, such as the two types of birds, indicate that Demainete came from a wealthy and prominent Athenian family.