From Ostia, port of ancient Rome.
Parian marble.
Style of the 4th century BCE.
London, British Museum.
H without base 14 in.
Metropolitan Catalogue: Head of cast no. 696.
Cast Location: Krasnow Bldg
This head comes from a Roman marble sculpture carved in the late Classical period in the style of Praxiteles. The full statue represents Aphrodite emerging from a bath, wearing drapery around her legs and sandals. Her hair is parted in the middle and knotted in back. Her expression is tranquil. In the cast, the tip of her nose has been restored. Gavin Hamilton excavated the statue in 1775, in the ruins of a bath complex. Charles Towneley purchased the statue.
~ Ashley Simpson
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Bibliography
See A. H. Smith, Catalogue of Sculpture in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum, vol. 3 (London, 1904), 28, no. 1574. Fig. 17.]]>
Found in the sanctuary of Demeter at Knidos in Asia Minor.
Parian marble.
Ca. 350 - 330 BCE.
The whole statue is in London, British Museum. H without base 17 in. Metropolitan Catalogue: Cast no. 749.
Cast Location: Krasnow Bldg
Demeter, the Greek goddess of grain and of fertility, was associated with the underworld at Knidos, where she was worshipped along with other underworld deities, including her daughter Persephone, the wife of Hades. In this sanctuary, the seated sculpture of Demeter is portrayed as a model of Greek womanhood - serene, mature, and motherly, wearing a chiton and a mantle that veils her head. The statue is seated on a cushioned chair, her feet on a foot-stool. Her long hair is parted in the middle, with long locks falling onto her shoulders. Her eyes are deeply set, and her gaze is calm and perhaps sorrowful. The statue is usually thought to have been influenced by the work of the fourth-century-BCE artist Praxiteles. An expedition of London's Society of Dilettanti first noticed the statue in the Sanctuary of Demeter at Knidos, Turkey, in 1812. Charles Newton uncovered the seated figure and took it to London in 1858. The head was found at a later date, but the entire sculpture is in the British Museum.
~Ashley Simpson
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Bibliography
See A. H. Smith, Catalogue of Sculpture in Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum, vol. 2 (London, 1900), 200-204, no. 1300, pl. XXIV; Lucilla Burn, The British Museum Book of Greek and Roman Art (London, 1991). Fig. 16. Fig. Cast no. 16 before cleaning.]]>
Metropolitan Catalogue: Cast no. 1226.
Cast Location: Robinson B359 Hallway
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Bibliography
Fig. 15.]]>
From the Mausoleum at Halikarnassus (modern Bodrum).
Marble relief.
Ca. 350 BCE. London, British Museum.
H 35 in., W 50 in.
Metropolitan Catalogue: Cast no. 740.
Long-term loan.
Cast Location: Concert Hall Lobby
The Mausoleum at Halikarnassus was the tomb of King Mausolus (d. 353 BCE) of Caria in western Asia Minor (modern Turkey). It is thought to have been completed after his death by his wife/sister Artemisia. The tomb became one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, in part because of its colossal size (over 140 feet tall), and because it was decorated with statues and reliefs carved by some of the most famous Greek sculptors of the day. The tomb survived until the thirteenth century, when it was destroyed by an earthquake. Thereafter, much of the marble of which it had been constructed was carried off and used nearby for building materials. The Castle of St. Peter at Bodrum contains many blocks from the Mausoleum. This is one of the most famous reliefs from the tomb on the west coast of Turkey that was actually named the Mausoleum, from which the modern usage of the word derives. A Greek warrior, conventionally nude by classical artistic convention, has fallen on one knee, tries to protect himself with his shield, and looks over his shoulder at his vicious attacker, an Amazon, her feet planted firmly, her sword raised over her head to strike. She is clad in a tunic, as members of this warlike race of women are typically represented in classical art. At the left, part of an Amazon astride a rearing horse is part of the next scene. The site of the Mausoleum at Halikarnassos was first excavated between 1856 and 1858 by Charles T. Newton, an assistant curator at the British Museum, with a permit (firman) from the Turkish Sultan to remove the sculptures, many of which had been built into the walls of the castle of St. Peter, built by the Knights of St. John in 1402. Many of the sculptures and reliefs that had once decorated the tomb were taken to the British Museum in London, where they are now on display.
~Ellen McV. Layman
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Bibliography
See Lucilla Burn, The British Museum Book of Greek and Roman Art (London, 1991), 112-126; A. H. Smith, A Catalogue of Sculpture in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum, vol. 2 (London, 1900), 65-143. Fig. 14. Fig. Cast no. 14 by Andrew Zimmerman.]]>
Found in Rome.
Marble.
Greek, probably late Classical.
Rome, Capitoline Museums.
H 36 in., W 12 in.
Not in Metropolitan cast catalogue.
Cast Location: Johnson Center 2nd floor
The top of the stele is missing. Carved in low relief. The now-headless profile figure of a standing girl wears a lightweight, crinkly chiton. It is possible that this relief was brought to Rome from Greece during antiquity.
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Bibliography
Fig. 13.]]>
Found in the 1830s by William Martin Leake (1777-1860) at Thebes in Boeotia (Greece), given to the British Museum in 1839.
Marble.
Probably late Classical.
British Museum, GR 1839.8-6.4.
H 14 in., W 12 1/2 in.
Metropolitan Catalogue: Cast no. 935.
Cast Location: Robinson B359 Hallway
Two vertical braids of hair between two pilasters adorn this votive relief in the form of an aedicule (chapel). The architrave is inscribed: "Philombrotus and Apthenetus, sons of Deinomachus, dedicate this offering to Poseidon." Leake found the relief at the site of a temple to Poseidon near the sea and thus at the edge of Theban territory. Ancient literary sources attest to the practice of offering one's hair to Poseidon after surviving a shipwreck, and Leake assumed that the dedicators "were probably about to encounter, or had escaped from some peril at sea." Hair was dedicated to various gods as an act of piety, to judge from ancient literary references to the practice. The hair itself might be hung from a tree in a sacred grove, or enclosed in a container and dedicated in a sanctuary, or, as in this case, a more expensive marble dedication might be offered to Poseidon. The dedication of an image of their braids by Philombrotus and Aphthonetus might best be seen as both an act of gratitude, and a vow to dedicate themselves to Poseidon for the rest of their lives, leaving behind that physical state in which they had been close to death.
~Lucy R. Miller
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Bibliography
See William Martin Leake, Travels in Northern Greece. London, 1835/Amsterdam, 1967, 360-361; James Milligen. Ancient Unedited Monuments. London, 1722, 32; C. T. Newton, ed. Ancient Greek Inscriptions in the British Museum. Oxford, 1883, 29; A. H. Smith, A Catalogue of Sculpture in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum, vol. 1 (London, 1892), 366-367, no. 798; F. Van Straten, "Votives and Votaries in Greek Sanctuaries," Le Sanctuaire Grec, ed. A. Schachter. Vandoeuvres-Geneva, 1992, 10. Fig. 12.]]>
From Athens, west slope of the Akropolis, 1880.
Marble. Ca. 300 BCE.
Athens, Akropolis Museum no. 1326.
H 18 in., W 12 in.
Metropolitan Catalogue: Cast no. 924.
This relief was once on one side of the base for a statue. The subject represented is a competition in the Panathenaic festival, in which a nude competitor with helmet and shield jumped off and on a speeding four-horse chariot driven by a charioteer. The monument of which this relief was a part was probably a votive offering from a victor in this Athenian competition.
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Bibliography
See Loula Kypreou, The Acropolis of Athens and its Museum (Athens, 1972), 45 and 47, no. 1326. Fig. 11.]]>
Marble. 323-322 BCE.
Athens, Akropolis Museum no. 1338.
H 13 in., L 36 in.
Metropolitan Catalogue: Cast no. 927.
Cast Location: Robinson B359 Hallway
The marble relief of armed dancers is part of one side of an inscribed base for a statue dedicated by Atarbos in honor of victory in the pyrrhic dance at the Panathenaic Games. A second block with more figures in relief joins this one. At the left of this block, the chorus leader, wearing a chiton and himation, inclines her head in the direction of two groups of four dancers each. The naked men wear small Attic helmets, carry round shields on outstretched left arms, and clench their lowered right hands. They walk in step, rhythmically and gracefully, right foot forward, left foot back, their bodies turned slightly outwards. The name of Atarbos can easily be distinguished at the center of the inscription on the molding above the dancers.
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Bibliography
See Inscriptiones Graecae 2.2, 3025; A. Kosmopoulou, “The Relief Base of Atarbos, Akropolis Museum 1338,” in K. Hartswick and M. Sturgeon eds., Stephanos. Studies in Honor of Brunilde Sismondo Ridgway (Philadelphia, 1998); http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/artifact?name=Athens, Acropolis 1338&object=Sculp Fig. 10.]]>
Probably found in Rome.
Marble.
Roman, Neo-Attic in style.
Madrid, Archaeological Museum no. 2691.
H 39 in.
Metropolitan Catalogue: Cast no. 508.
Long-term loan.
Cast Location: Mason Hall Atrium
This marble well-head was probably made in Rome during the later first century CE, and may have ornamented a luxuriously appointed Roman garden. Its subject is a reflection of the scene of the Birth of Athena as it was carved for the east pediment (gable) of the Parthenon (448-432 BCE) in Athens. Since those figures from the Parthenon have been lost, this relief has served scholars as a guide in reconstructing the original appearance of the scene. Zeus, seated on his throne, is the central figure. Behind him stands Hephaistos with the mallet that he has just used to crack open Zeus's forehead. To the right of Zeus, a Nike (Victory) holding a victor's wreath flies towards Athena, who has just sprung from her father's forehead. Fully grown and wearing chiton, himation, aegis, and helmet, Athena carries a round shield on her left arm. To the right of Athena are the three Fates, spinning the thread of life.
~Helen Watson Obiechina
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Bibliography
See Ian Jenkins, The Parthenon Sculptures (Cambridge, Mass., 2007); Evelyn B. Harrison, "Athena and Athens in the East Pediment of the Parthenon," American Journal of Archaeology 71, 1967, 27-80; Rhys Carpenter, "The Lost Statues of the East Pediment of the Parthenon," Hesperia 2, 1933, 1-88. Figure 9. Figure. photograph of no. 9 by Andrew Zimmerman. Figure. Anonymous engraving, early 19th century. Rolled-out view of the Madrid Puteal.]]>
Pentelic marble.
447-438 BCE.
London, British Museum.
H 40 in., W 41 - 48 in.
Metropolitan Catalogue: All casts are no. 530.
Long-term loans.
Cast Location: Harris Theatre Lobby
The frieze from the Parthenon represents a procession to the Akropolis of Athenians celebrating the Panathenaia, a festival held every four years to honor Athena, the city's patron deity. There were athletic competitions, sacrifices, and the procession culminating in the presentation of a new peplos (dress) that was draped over an ancient wooden image of the goddess. The Parthenon's continuous frieze, to which these three slabs belonged, was sculpted in low relief and surrounded the entire building within the peristyle (colonnade). These riders on galloping horses are most likely to represent the tribes of Athens gathering to compete in the Panathenaic Games and to celebrate the birthday of Athena. In the early nineteenth century, much of the Parthenon’s 515-foot frieze was removed from the building and shipped to London, where the blocks now remain on view in the British Museum. Those blocks that are in Athens are on exhibit in the new Akropolis Museum. Cast no. 8 is in need of repair.
~Kristin Ware
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Bibliography
See Ian Jenkins, The Parthenon Frieze (London, 2002); Frank Brommer, Sculptures of the Parthenon (1979); A. H. Smith, A Catalogue of Sculpture in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum,vol. 1 (London, 1892), 91-192. Fig. 6. Fig. 7.]]>