Funerary relief with portrait of a man from Palmyra

Limestone

Half of the II sec. a.D.

50 x 60 x 23

A bearded male figure dressed in a robe is carved on the relief, with a volumen (book) in his  left hand, while the right hand holds a fold of his robe. There are some gaps on his face around the eyes, nose and chin, which, given the precise location, may be due to intentional strokes. The youthful face is framed by hair with a series of wavy  overlapping locks  linked to the beard by whiskers; the beard, mustache  and whiskers have locks even more stylized than the ones in the hair and are marked by  a range of fine incisions oriented differently from tuft to tuft. The eyes are large and oblong, and the closed mouth is thin.
(Giandomenico Spinola)