Relief of Aristones

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Who is Depicted? Ariston was a king of Sparta, 14th in the Eurypontid dynasty, son of Agasicles, contemporary of Anaxandrides. He ascended the Spartan throne around 550 BC and died about 510 BC. Ariston ruled for over 30 years and was highly respected, as seen in a public prayer asking him to have a son when the Procles house had other representatives. A son, Demaratus, was born after two childless marriages by his third wife, whom he obtained through deceit from her husband, his friend Agetus. (Herodotus i. 65, vi. 61-66; Pausanias iii. 7.§7; Plutarch Apophthegmata Laconica) Technical/Specification about the Statue A stele is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected in ancient Western culture as a monument, often for funerary or commemorative purposes. Stelae as slabs of stone may also be used for ancient Greek and Latin government notices or as territorial markers to mark borders or delineate land ownership. The surface of the stele frequently features text and/or ornamentation. This ornamentation may be inscribed, carved in relief, or painted onto the slab. Traditional Western gravestones are technically equivalent to ancient stelae, though the term is rarely applied this way. Stelae-like forms in non-Western cultures may be called by other terms, and the words "stele" and "stelae" are most consistently used in archaeological contexts for objects from Europe, the ancient Near East, Egypt, China, and sometimes Pre-Columbian America. More about the Artist We don't know who created this piece, nor do we have any clues to deduce their identity.