The manufacts are exceptional not only for the high quality of the marble and the rare painted decoration, but also for the history of the recovery. Most of the marble elements present the same manufacturing technique (lathe) and a polychrome decoration. The lab analysis confirmed that these objects were carved out using the same variety of marble, coming from the famous Paros and Aphrodisias quarries.The manufacts are presumed to come from a tomb dated to the second half of the fourth century B.C., likely belonging to a member of Daunian elite.
This context represents a monumental and unique version of a funerary service: the shapes of the objects closely remind the fine Italic pottery and the bronze vases of the fourth century b.C. Among the most remarkable artworks in exhibition: the great marble crater with the print of a golden ivy wreath, the base for a table with gryphons snapping at a fawn and the podanipter, depicted with the splendid scene of the Nereids on sea monsters, carrying Achilles weapons. Although the exact dig site is still unknown, the marbles are thought to be furnishings from a chamber tomb belonging to an elite member of the local Dauni tribe and dated to the second half of the 4th century BC, when southern Italy was a Greek colony.
'Such an extraordinary store of vases and marble furnishings, some of which are unusually painted by what is certainly a Greek hand, has never been found anywhere except in this tomb.
The shallow podanipter is decorated with a stunning mythological scene in blues, oranges, yellows and purples showing Greek sea nymphs the Nereids riding sea monsters and carrying the weapons of Achilles, while on the sculpted table base traces of blue and orange can still be seen on the wings and crests of the griffins.The remaining marbles are shaped like large wine vases and water pitchers but are not hollow, underlining their decorative function in the tomb.

Queste preziose opere in marmo provengono dal territorio dell’antica Ausculum, l’odierna Ascoli Satriano in provincia di Foggia L’eccezionalita di questa serie di manufatti ha piu ragioni: l’alta qualita del marmo, quello cristallino e trasparente scavato in galleria nell’isola di Paro che i Greci riservavano ai capolavori della scultura; la presenza della decorazione pittorica, cosi rara nei marmi giunti sino a noi e, soprattutto, la storia del ritrovamento di questi pezzi.
Sono i marmi di Ausculum perche scavati nei territori dell'antica Ausculum (Ascoli Satriano) (Foggia) , l'antico centro daunio noto per la battaglia tra Pirro e i Romani nel 279 a.C.C'e un grande bacino il cui interno e dipinto con la scena del trasporto , da parte delle Nereidi, delle armi di Achille , forgiate da Efesto.Ci sono poi dei vasi in marmo che imitano , nella forma, i vasi per liquidi in ceramica diffusi nella produzione ellenistica dell'Italia Meridionale.

The front section of the synagogue at ancient Sardis, Turkey. The lions to other side of the massive Torah-table may have supported smaller tables. Despite the tolerance for such figurative statues in the synagogue, the floor and wall decoration seem to have been exclusively geometric. This is striking given the wealth of the decoration and the fact that very detailed pictorial mosaics were in fashion in this period.