Unseen Museum presents "The stele of the twin babies"
The 4th Century B.C. artifact is a fragment of a funerary monument found in a streambed in the Attica suburb of Menidi and was delivered to the museum in November 2008 by a scrap collector.
The fragment depicts 2 bundled twin babies in the arms of a female figure and was probably part of a tombstone that would have been erected on the grave of a woman who died in childbirth.
It is the only surviving funerary relief of the ancient Greek world depicting twin babies in the same arms, which indicates their common fate.
The “stele of the twin babies” will be on display at the NAM’s Altar Hall through Monday, May 13.
More specifically, the Unseen Museum is the well-known exhibition project of the National Archaeological Museum of Athens that brings to the fore antiquities stored in its vaults away from the visitor’s eyes.
The Unseen Museum presents for the first time the “ stele of the twin babies”. It is a fragment of a funerary monument found in a torrent at Menidi, Attica and delivered to the Museum in November 2008 by a destitute. The fragment preserves in relief two bundled twin babies in the arms of a female figure and is probably part of a tombstone that would have been erected on the grave of a woman who died in childbirth. This is the only surviving funerary relief of the ancient Greek world depicting twin babies in the same arms, which indicates their common fate as orphans.
The “ stele of the twin babies” is presented in the “ Altar Hall” (no. 34) from Thursday, March 21 to Monday, May 13, 2024.
Ticket reservations are necessary in order to attend the presentations that will be held on Sundays March 31, 14 and 28 April at 13:00 and on Wednesdays 10 and 24 April and 8 May at 13:00.
