Altar with the Myth of Adonis (Main View, front)

A male with a youthful and effeminate appearance (Adonis), turned in a three-quarter view, is seated on a rock with his legs crossed. A himation is wrapped around the legs and, leaving the torso uncovered, covers his head like a veil with a ruffled edge. The long curly hair is held back by a mitra (a Near Eastern headband) and extends over the shoulders. With his left hand the figure pulls the hem of the himation away from his face; with the right hand, he embraces the female figure (Aphrodite) seated next to him, who is depicted with torso turned frontally and ankles crossed. This figure turns her head toward the youth and wraps her left arm around his torso; her right arm is laid on her right thigh, and she wears sandals. The goddess's flame-shaped locks of hair are gathered in a lampadion (knot) atop her head and curl alongside her face. On either side of this pair are two female characters: the woman on the left, shown standing behind the rocky platform, turns toward the couple; her left hand touches her head in a gesture of grief, while her right arm drops along the side of her body, her right hand holding a tympanon. She wears a veil with a ruffled edge that drapes over her shoulders; her left breast is uncovered. In the foreground at right is a female figure (Persephone) shown in profile, seated upon a cista with side openings. Grasping her right knee with both hands, her head is bowed and her expression is doleful. She wears a chiton that drapes in flowing folds, and her hair is gathered in a sphendone (headband).
Pigments were applied over a layer of yellowish diluted clay and white slip. Preserved are traces of red (hair of the seated male figure in the center and of the female figure seated on the cista) and green (drapery of the seated female figure in the middle).