An exhibit from the Louvre is in Canada. Some of the pieces date back to the Roman Empire.Here we see a small funerary stele from the Roman Empire dated about 150 BCE.
Using a walking pose with the woman laying an arm affectionately, but quietly, across her husband's shoulders the piece reflects a Roman sense of controlled emotion.
One cannot help but project back over two thousand years, back to a time when the Temple stood in Jerusalem and Jesus was as yet unborn. What thoughts went through the mind of the new widow as she looked on this tombstone (for that's what it amounts to)? Was it the calm reflective mourning of a longtime life partner? Did she have modest hopes for meeting in another life?
Perhaps less has changed over time than we imagine?
1 comment:
Further evidence that the human experience, particularly love and loss, transcends culture, geography and time.
p.s. Some of the most moving pieces that have come down to us from antiquity are grave stele, although I myself am more partial the Greek ones. Follow this link for a look at one of the most people ones I ever encountered while studying Archaeology & Fine Art at University. I often wondered about this girl's life, and her death. I hope her short years on this earth were happy ones.
http://www.metmuseum.org/TOAH/HD/dbag/ho_27.45.htm
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