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Terracotta larnax (chest-shaped coffin)

mid-13th century BCE
Not on view
The larnax was the standard type of coffin in Crete from the early fourteenth century to the twelfth century B.C. The structure with recessed panels on each side suggests a wooden prototype, and recent scholarship has identified Egyptian chests as the probable models. The decoration on each side consists of geometric and vegetal ornaments well represented on contemporary pottery. The larnax stands at the beginning of an impressive series of large-scale funerary monuments in the Greek and Roman collection.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Terracotta larnax (chest-shaped coffin)
  • Period: Late Minoan IIIB
  • Date: mid-13th century BCE
  • Culture: Minoan
  • Medium: Terracotta
  • Dimensions: Overall with lid 40 x 18 x 42 1/4 in. (101.6 x 45.7 x 107.3 cm)
    H. of body 30 1/2 in. (77.5 cm)
    H. of lid 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm)
  • Classification: Terracottas
  • Credit Line: Anonymous Gift, in memory of Nicolas and Mireille Koutoulakis, 1996
  • Object Number: 1996.521a, b
  • Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

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