This relief from an ancient sarcophagus depicts scenes from the myth of Eros and Psyche. Seven characters are represented on a rectangular background, beneath a molding; they are, from left to right, Eros, naked and winged, facing forward, leaning on a support concealed by drapery; Psyche, wearing an Ionian tunic with butterfly wings, holding the bound hands behind the back of another Eros standing on a plinth. Their faces are badly mutilated. On the same plinth, Eros again holds a piece of the drapery covering his upper body to his eyes, as if to wipe away his tears. To his left, Psyche, her torso bare and her legs bent, implores him and bows before him. Finally, there is Eros, seen from the front, his torso completely bare, with Psyche, resting her right arm on his shoulder. She resembles the previous figure of Psyche.
Provenance: Lattakia
Material: white marble.
Dimensions: height 95 cm, length 136 cm.
Era: 3rd century CE.
Text: adapted from ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq.
Photo: Šḥāda.
Collection of the National Museum of Damascus.
Ǧawdat Šḥāda - Guntram Koch. At-Tawābīt ar-Rūmānīyyā fī al-Matḥaf al-Waṭanī bi Dimašq. Annales archéologiques arabes syriennes T. XXXVIII - XXXIX,1988-1989.
Sélim et Andrée Abdul-Hak. Catalogue Illustré du Département des antiquités Gréco-Romaines au Musée de Damas, 1951.
Éros et Psyché
L'amant de Psyché






