Demeter with her head veiled in mourning for her daughter Persephone
Three-sided relief, Greek Classical Period, ca. 450/440 B.C., marble, Dolomitic from the Greek island of Thasos, 82x161 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Inv. 08.205
A three-sided relief cut from a single block. Seated on the right is Demeter with her head veiled in mourning for her daughter Persephone. Aphrodite is seated opposite consulting with her son Eros at the center who holds the scales (made from a separate piece of marble) to determine how long Persephone will stay in the Underworld.
Provenance 1894. Found in Rome in a private villa on via Boncampagni in the same region as the Ludovisi relief, in the area of the ancient Gardens of Sallust (the Ludovisi Quarter) on the Pincian Hill.