A stela was an upright stone slab that was used throughout the ancient world as grave markers and can have their origins be traced back to as early as the 9th century BCE. They served other usages, such as dedications and tributes, but served primarily as gravestones. Stela in the Byzantine world would often depict the departed either in the afterlife or doing as they would when alive.

This fragmented stela depicts the departed taking part in multiple religious traditions. Dionysian grape vines decorate the background and the Egyptian god Horace in the form of a hawk can be seen next to the head of the deceased. In the departed’s left hand, we see that he holds an object that resembles a sistrum, a musical instrument associated with the cult of Isis.

—Maggie Miller

Catalogue Record, Metropolitan Museum of Art