Three-sided relief with a scene of weighing ("the Boston Throne")

The most satisfying interpretation of the enigmatic scene on the front panel of this three-sided marble relief casts Aphrodite, on the left, in her role as a goddess of fate. Her son Eros, the winged figure at center, holds a scale, whose crossbar (now missing) was made separately, probably out of metal, and attached into three slots cut in the stone. The weights of the scale, visible on either side of Eros, are sculpted with two young men whose hands are bound above their heads. At the right, the sorrowful female is Demeter, goddess of grain, who is identified by a pomegranate, an emblem of agricultural fertility. The three deities have gathered to determine for how long Demeter's daughter, Persephone, was obliged to stay in the Underworld with her abductor, Hades. The figures on the weights must represent the "lots" of the contenders-lover and mother-for Persephone. It was ultimately decided that Persephone ought to spend more of each year aboveground with Demeter, and the higher position of the weight near her indicates her triumph-a testament to the high esteem in which the ancient Greeks held a mother's love.The graceful scrolls rising at the corners of the relief show that it was the crowning element of some structure, possibly an altar. It was found in Rome not far from the findspot of a famous marble sculpture of similar shape and material dedicated to Aphrodite, the so-called Ludovisi Throne. Both of these three-sided reliefs were transported to Rome in antiquity, as either spoils of war or prized collection pieces, from somewhere in Greece or from one of the Greek colonies of southern Italy. The unusual pieces have occasionally been alleged to be forgeries, but scientific studies of their surface and historical research on their provenance provide strong evidence of their authenticity.