Tile with Impressed Figures of Emaciated Ascetics and Couples Behind B

A rectangular terracotta tile with a row of seven small human heads in relief along the top, beneath a band of square lattice motifs. Two kneeling, gaunt figures sit in separate recessed panels, their heads bowed and bodies folded, divided by a vertical strip bearing a faint sign.

Look closer: A faint incised sign runs down the central strip between the two panels.

Artist

Unknown

Date

5th–6th century

Medium

Terracotta

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

3000 × 4000 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Cynthia Hazen Polsky, 1987