Prokne, the daughter of the mythical king Pandion of Athens, is depicted the moment she is about to kill her son Itys with the knife she would have held in her left raised hand. She wears a belted peplos and a shawl-like himation. The nude boy, who has only a band around his waist, seeks refuge in his mother's skirts. According to the traveller Pausanias, the dedicator was Alcamenes, a well-known sculptor of the time, who also created it.