Nenfro tomb-slab fragment

Stone Sculpture
Sculpture
The Met
Purchase, The Manheim Foundation Inc. Gift, 1961
61.11.17
Overall: 17 5/8 x 5 3/4 in. (44.8 x 14.6 cm)
Etruscan, probably Tarquinian
Nenfro

Details

This is the lower-left corner of a much larger stone slab that probably originally depicted three vertical rows of square panels, each with an animal or figure, separated by plain stepped patterns. The entire slab, which measured about three feet by seven feet, may once have formed part of an enclosure for a tomb. A few vestiges of red color show that the stag on this fragment was once painted. A number of related examples come from Tarquinia, a city famous for its subterranean frescoed tombs.