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| Sphinx ca. AD 200 Roman marble sarcophagus fragment with relief carving British Museum |
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| Sphinx ca. 375-350 BC Greek marble finial from a grave stele Metropolitan Museum of Art |
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| Hippocamp ca. 300 BC Greek limestone fragment from the pediment of a grave naiskos Metropolitan Museum of Art |
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| Ionic column capital ca. 400-300 BC Greek marble architectural fragment British Museum |
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| Burial chest ca. AD 50-100 Roman marble artifact with carved garlands British Museum |
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| The 'Townley Vase' 2nd century AD Roman marble ornamental vessel with mythological relief-carving British Museum |
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| Finial ca. 350-325 BC Greek marble ornament from the top of a grave stele Metropolitan Museum of Art |
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| Lekythos ca. 375-350 BC Greek marble funerary vessel with commemorative relief-carving Metropolitan Museum of Art |
Above, an elaborately restored burial object from ancient Greece at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The relief-carving incorporates a family narrative whose outlines can still be recovered –
"Inscribed above the large standing figures, from left to right – Stratokleia, Aiolos, Aristomache, Axiomache. Below the seated woman – Leonike. ... The deceased woman is presumably Aristomache. The woman is standing before her parents. She clasps the hand of her seated mother, while her father gestures to her. The group is flanked by two other female members of the family and two small servants."
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| Finial ca. 390-365 BC Greek marble ornament from the top of a grave stele British Museum |
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| Finial ca. 525-500 BC Greek marble ornament from the top of a grave stele Metropolitan Museum of Art |
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| Architectural molding ca. 415 BC Greek marble fragment from the Erechtheion at Athens Metropolitan Museum of Art |
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| Architectural molding ca. 415 BC Greek marble fragment from the Erechtheion at Athens British Museum |
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| Architectural fragment ca. 350 BC Greek marble carving with stylized vegetation Metropolitan Museum of Art |
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| Pilaster capital ca. AD 125 Roman marble architectural fragment from the Pantheon, removed in 1747 British Museum |
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| Pilaster capital ca. AD 125 Roman marble architectural fragment from the Pantheon, removed in 1747 British Museum |
The final pair of images shocked me deeply when I discovered them. Pieces of the ancient Roman Pantheon, the largest and most complete structure surviving from the ancient world, were actually chopped off the walls and removed from the interior of the building as late as 1747, to make room for something new.