Funerary Couch

These stone slabs once formed the three sides of a funerary couch. A stone couch, known as spirit couch, served for the owner’s afterlife in the tomb. It recalls domestic furniture used by the living for sitting or reclining. Three of the four displaced slabs are engraved with scenes from the stories of filial piety and of virtuous women. This set was made several decades later than the sarcophagus on the opposite wall. Similar to the sarcophagus, the message of the stories is fundamentally didactic, demonstrating the moral values of the owner. The narratives show similar episodes in landscape settings, but the vertical compositions are more condensed than the earlier engravings.