The painted marble klinae from the Macedonian Tomb of Nea Potidea, Chalkidiki
In memory of archaeologist Kostas Sismanidis
The klinae (beds), each more than 2 meters long, were found placed at right angle to each other inside a single-chamber Macedonian tomb with a Doric façade. The tomb, located a few kilometers south of Nea Potidea in Chalkidiki at the site of Petriotika, was discovered in 1984 shortly after it had been looted. Only the skeletal remains of two individuals were found on the beds. Among the few preserved grave goods—including a bronze-gilded wreath with clay-gilded insects and myrtle fruits—the tomb can be dated to around 300 BC and is most likely connected to the city founded by Cassander in the area in 316/315 BC, which he named after himself.
The façades of the klinae are made of white, coarse-grained marble, while the rest of their structure, filled with a few stones and compacted soil, was covered with poros slabs coated with white mortar to resemble marble. According to excavation evidence, the carving of the beds was carried out on site.
The klinae stand out for their painted decoration, which evokes wooden furniture, particularly through the use of a light brownish-yellow wash in the background to depict the legs and the horizontal beams of the beds’ frame. Decorative motifs are painted on the legs in brown and red, imitating those found on comparable wooden furniture: volutes, palmettes, an abacus pattern, acanthus leaves, and gorgoneia, while glass inlays would have been placed in the circular cavities. Between the legs, the painted decoration—continuous from one kline to the other—is divided into four horizontal bands, of which the first (topmost) and the third project outward, corresponding to the horizontal beams of the wooden beds.
The first band depicts a Dionysian scene in an open-air sanctuary. Between pillars, fountains, and columns, six half-naked female and male figures recline on rocks, accompanied by animals: Aphrodite next to a goose with its wings spread wide, a maenad with a panther, a Papposilenos with red boots and a rhyton in his hand, a young deer in front of a tree, Dionysus holding a thyrsus and next to him, on a pedestal, an archaic statue, possibly of the goddess Artemis, Ariadne with a panther, and a standing Eros in the style of Hercules holding a club. The figures are mainly rendered with a brown outline, and various details in red, violet, blue, and yellow, while in some places the use of Egyptian blue has been noted. The decoration includes plant motifs and, in the center of the left bed, a yellow six-pointed star in a rectangular frame.
In the second band, on a red background, with engraved outlines and rich use of gradated colors and shading that give a three-dimensional impression, five pairs of griffins are depicted devouring five deer in a rocky landscape. In the third horizontal band, with a design outline and sparing use of colors, pairs of animals appear ready to attack each other (lions, bulls, panthers, mythical winged animal, and wild boar) next to plant elements and vases. Finally, in the lower band, two elongated footstools in the color of wood are shown against a black background, as if they were placed below or in front of the beds.
The decoration of the klinae reflects the great painting tradition of Macedonia, which crystallized in the 4th century BC, as evidenced by the exquisite examples found in Macedonian tombs. It is possible that the painter of the Potidaea klinae worked on the basis of monumental models, yet succeeded in boldly adapting them to the small surfaces of these stone furnishings. The artist’s virtues are evident in the organization of the surface into bands, the symmetry in the depiction of subjects, the fluency and speed of the drawing, the restrained use of the palette with outlines but also -when selected- its richness, the use of diagonal lines and shading, and the plasticity and expressiveness of human and animal forms. The resulting compositions convey a narrative quality that balances languid serenity with vigorous vitality.
The klinae, with inventory number ΜΘ 9747, are on display in the permanent exhibition “In Macedonia from the 7th century BC until the Late Antiquity.”
