Tomb Relief 230 Syria, Palmyra, 3rd century Limestone Overall: 55.3 x 73.7 x 18.5 cm (21 3/4 x 29 x 7 5/16 in.) Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1964.359 DESCRIPTION Although its findspot is unknown, this high relief almost certainly once sealed a burial niche of a mausoleum at Palmyra. It illustrates a blending of Roman and Parthian artistic traditions. Set within a sumptuous border of beads and leaves, a wealthy man awakens on a luxuriously cushioned bed as his attendant offers him a wine bowl decorated with crosshatchings. Both are dressed according to Parthian custom, wearing pants and pleated tunics, but the man’s languid pose is taken from classical prototypes. The subject is a variant of a formulaic funerary banquet scene in which proffered wine welcomes the deceased into a well-appointed afterlife. CITATIONS The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 26 archive.org The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 26 archive.org The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 30 archive.org Neils, Jenifer. “The Twain Shall Meet.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 72, no. 6, 1985, pp. 326–359. Reproduced: p. 334, fig. 12 www.jstor.org The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 13 archive.org EXHIBITION HISTORY Year in Review (1964). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (January 1-31, 1965). The Twain Shall Meet. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 30, 1985-January 5, 1986).