446. Fragment of the shaft of a column which was fluted with twenty-four flutes, the diameter being about two feet two inches. The dimensions differ from those of the columns of the Erechtheion.—Greece. Presented by W. R. Hamilton, Esq.
Marble; height, 1 foot 7 inches; width, 1 foot 6 inches.
447. Capital of Corinthian column, from one of the porches of the building at Athens, commonly known as the Tower of the Winds, or more correctly as the Horologium of Andronicus Cyrrhestes (built probably in the 2nd century b.c.).—Formerly in the Elgin Collection.
Marble; height, 1 foot 4½ inches. Stuart, I., chap. III., pl. 7.
448. Unfinished Ionic base.—Formerly in the Elgin Collection.
Marble; height, 9 inches; diameter, 1 foot 10¾ inches.
460. Fragment of colossal head, showing the right cheek, right eyelid and right side of the head as far as the ear. The hair is waved. On the crown of the head eleven holes are pierced in the marble, evidently for the attachment of a wreath or other ornament. The left side and back of the head have been cut or broken away. So far as can be inferred from the little original surface remaining, this head was in a fine style of the fifth century b.c.
The style and material of this work, and the place of its discovery, give good grounds for thinking that it is a fragment of the famous statue of Nemesis by Agoracritos of Paros. The exact date of Agoracritos is not recorded, but he is said to have been a favourite pupil of Pheidias. The statue of Nemesis is described as a colossal figure of the type of Aphroditè, holding in her hands an apple branch and a phialè, on which were figures of Aethiopians. She had no wings, and stood on a base, sculptured with subjects relating to the birth of Helen and the Trojan war. The figure wore a diadem, adorned with deer and figures of Victory of no great size. Compare the diadem of Pandora, described by Hesiod, Theogony, 581; the diadem of Hera of Polycleitos (Paus., ii., 17, 4); the Cypriote terracottas, in the Terracotta Room, wall cases 1 and 27; and the Cypriote sculptures in the Cyprus Room. The numerous holes mentioned above must have served for the attachment of an ornament of some weight, and so confirm the proposed identification.
According to tradition the statue was made of a block of Parian marble, which was brought by the Persians, before the battle of Marathon, to be erected as a trophy for the capture of Athens. (Paus., i., 33. 2; Anthol. Pal. App. Plan., iv., 221, 222, 263). Found on the site of the Temple of Nemesis at Rhamnus.—Presented by J. P. Gandy Deering, Esq., 1820.
Parian marble; height, 1 foot 4½ inches. Uned. Antiquities of Attica, p. 43; Leake, Athens and Demi of Attica, II., p. 108; Synopsis, No. 325 (273); Elgin Room Guide, II., No. E. 4; Six, Num. Chron. 3rd. Ser., II., p. 94; cf. coin of Cyprus, ibidem, pl. 5; Gardner, Journ. of Hellen. Studies, VIII., p. 47; Rossbach, Athenische Mittheilungen, XV., p. 64; Overbeck, Schriftquellen, 834-843.
Polycleitos of Argos was, as has already been observed (p. 90), one of the great pupils of Ageladas of Argos, who was also the master of Myron and perhaps of Pheidias.
Nothing is recorded as to the life of Polycleitos; his age, as compared with that of Pheidias, is not accurately known. It is probable that he was rather younger than Pheidias, as he was working at a later date. Pliny gives the 90th Olympiad, or 420 b.c., as the date of Polycleitos. This may be the date of his great statue of Hera at Argos, the older temple of Hera having been burnt in 422 b.c., and it was probably near the end of the sculptor's life.
No original works by the hand of Polycleitos survive, but several sculptures are known which can be shown with probability to have been copied more or less directly from originals, of which the character is thus ascertained.
Polycleitos was famous in antiquity as the author of a methodical system of proportions for the human form. One in particular of his figures, the Doryphoros, was known as the Canon, and was adopted as the ideal type of a youthful male figure by later sculptors. This figure, and its companion the Diadumenos (see below, Nos. 500, 501), are known to us from copies. They are of vigorous make and square build, but somewhat heavy when compared with the graceful youths of the Parthenon frieze. But the words of Quintilian, who says (Inst. Orat., xii., 10, 7) that some critics objected to the works of Polycleitos as being wanting in weight and unduly elegant, suggest that the extant copies do not convey an accurate impression of the bronze originals, and in fact some of the numerous Doryphoros heads which have been found in Italy present a profile which strikingly recalls the profiles of the youths on the Parthenon frieze. Polycleitos was also noted for his technical skill and perfect workmanship.
The works that have been associated with Polycleitos, in the British Museum, are here described (Nos. 500-503). A fragment, however, of a group of two boys playing with knuckle-bones (Mus. Marbles, ii., pl. 31), which was ascribed by Winckelmann to Polycleitos (Hist. de l'Art, Bk. vi., chap. 2; Pliny, H. N., xxxiv., 10), is no doubt of a later period, and is therefore omitted.
500. Graeco-Roman copy of the Diadumenos of Polycleitos. Statue of a nude youth, tying a band (taenia) about his head. He stands principally on the right leg, resting lightly on the left leg, and has both hands raised. The left hand is lost. The band was made of bronze, and holes remain for its attachment. The left side of the face has been very much rubbed down. By the side of the figure is a tree-stump.
That this figure is the Diadumenos of Polycleitos is indicated by its close resemblance in style to the figure at Naples, believed to be a copy of the Doryphoros (see No. 502). It would be a remarkable coincidence if we had two companion statues representing respectively a Diadumenos and a Doryphoros, known from the number of replicas to be copies of important works, and agreeing in style with what would be expected of the art of Polycleitos, but yet derived from independent sources.
The head was found at a distance of two-thirds of a mile from the torso. The torso was found in 1862 in the Roman Theatre, at Vaison (Vaucluse).
Marble; height, 6 feet 1 inch. Restorations:—Nose, fingers of right hand, parts of left thigh and of left shin and heel; also the upper part of the stump. The figure should perhaps be set with the ancient surface of the base horizontal, and so lean less forwards. Mon. dell' Inst., X., pl. 49, figs. 1-3; Annali dell' Inst., 1878, p. 11 (Michaelis); Rayet, Monuments, I., No. 30 and text; Overbeck, Gr. Plast., 3rd ed., I., p. 388; Murray, I., pl. 10, p. 274; Wolters, No. 508.
Other examples more or less nearly reproducing this type are:—(a) A bronze from the De Janzé Collection in the French Bibliothèque Nationale. Annali dell' Inst., 1878, pl. B, p. 11 (Michaelis); Rayet, Monuments, I., No. 31; Babelon, Le Cabinet des Ant. à la Bibl. Nationale, pl. 13. (b) A terracotta statuette in an English private collection. Journ. of Hellen. Studies, VI., p. 243, pl. 61. (c) A sepulchral relief from Praeneste, in the Vatican, commemorating one Tiberius Octavius Diadumenus, and having a relief of a Diadumenos, in allusion to the name. Pistolesi, Vaticano, IV. 84. (d) A gem. Journ. of Hellen. Studies, II. p. 352. See also No. 501.
501. Graeco-Roman statue of a Diadumenos. Statue of a nude youth standing, tying a band (taenia) about his head. Both arms were raised, but the left is lost. This figure, like the Diadumenos of Vaison (No. 500), stands principally on the right leg, but the left leg is differently placed, and the whole pose is thereby altered. By the side of the figure is a stump of a palm.
The hair falls in curls, and the figure is more youthful than the Diadumenos of Vaison. Except in the similarity of subject these statues have little in common, and if the Vaison figure represents the statue of Polycleitos, this figure would appear to be either an independent rendering of the same subject, or only remotely derived from Polycleitos. It was, however, for a long time regarded as a copy of the work of Polycleitos, and this view has been held by several writers, after the discovery of the Vaison Diadumenos.—Farnese Coll. 1864.
Pentelic marble; height, 4 feet 10¼ inches. Restorations:—Nose, parts of band. The right leg appears to be ancient, but worked over. In the earliest publications (Cavalieri, &c.) the left arm is drawn as if restored. The statue is first known in the Villa Madama, near Rome (Cavalieri, Ant. Stat. Urb. Romae Liber, 1569, pl. 97). It was afterwards in the Farnese Gardens, in the Farnese Palace, and at Naples. Guattani, Mem. Encicl., V., pl. facing p. 83; Gerhard, Ant. Bildwerke, pl. 69, p. 311; Müller-Wieseler, Denkmaeler, I., pl. 31, fig. 136; Clarac, V., pl. 858 c, 2189 a; Annali dell' Inst., 1878, pl. a, p. 20 (Michaelis); Murray, I., pl. 9, p. 273; Rayet, Monuments, text to No. 30; Mitchell, p. 388; Wolters, No. 509; Mansell, No. 726.
The Polycleitan origin of the Farnese statue is supported by Winckelmann (Hist. de l'Art, Bk. VI., chap. 2), Guattani (loc. cit.), Newton (Rayet, loc. cit.), Brunn (Annali dell' Inst., 1879, p. 218), Murray (loc. cit.).
502. Statuette copied from the Doryphoros of Polycleitos (?). Figure of youth having the arms broken off from the shoulders, and the legs from above the knees. The head is slightly bent forwards, and turned to the left of the figure. The left leg was advanced in front of the right leg.
The figure, like a bronze statuette at Athens (Mon. dell' Inst., viii., pl. 53), which it nearly resembles, may perhaps be a modified rendering of the Doryphoros of Polycleitos. The Doryphoros (spear-bearer) was a figure of a nameless athlete, which carried a spear, and which was the Canon or typical model of later sculptors (see above). The type was first recognized by Friederichs in a statue from Pompeii, now in the Museum at Naples, and other copies have since been identified.—Athens.
Marble; height, 9 inches. Unpublished. The principal examples of the type are:—(a) Figure at Naples (Friederichs, Doryphoros des Polyclet; Rayet, Monuments, I., No. 29; Overbeck, Gr. Plast., 3rd ed., I., fig. 84). (b) Relief from Argos (Athenische Mittheilungen, III., pl. 13; Mitchell, p. 386). (c) Bronze bust from Herculaneum, at Naples, found with a companion bust of an Amazon (Comparetti, La Villa Ercolanese, pl. 8, fig. 3). (d) Gem at Berlin (Overbeck, Gr. Plast., loc. cit.). For other copies, see Michaelis, Annali dell' Inst., 1878, p. 6; Wolters, Nos. 506, 507.
503. Head of Amazon, slightly inclined to the left and looking down, with an expression of pain on the face. The hair is parted in the middle, and drawn back over the ears to the back of the head, where it is gathered in a bunch. The sharp parallel lines in which it is worked suggest that the head is copied from a bronze original.
Pliny relates (H. N., xxxiv., 53) that four artists, Polycleitos, Pheidias, Cresilas and Phradmon, made statues of Amazons which were placed in the temple of Artemis at Ephesus. Polycleitos was accounted to have won the competition, as he obtained the second vote of each of his rivals. This account of the contest has the appearance of a late invention. There are, however, many statues and busts of wounded Amazons which appear to be copies, more or less exact, of three types, different one from another, but yet so far alike that they may have been produced by artists working on one plan.
The present head belongs to the type which various archaeologists (Klügmann, Rhein. Mus. 1866, p. 327; Michaelis, Jahrb. des Arch. Inst., i., p. 40) have assigned to Polycleitos. The complete figure is that of a wounded Amazon, leaning with the left arm on a pillar, and having the right hand resting on the top of the head.
Brought to England by Lyde Brown. Purchased by Townley, 1774.—Townley Coll.
Greek marble; height of ancient portion, 10¼ inches. Restorations:—Tip of nose, throat and bust. Mus. Marbles, X., pl. 5; Guide to Græco-Roman Sculptures, I., No. 150; Murray, I., p. 280; Jahrbuch des Arch. Inst., I., 1886, pl. 3, No. 2; p. 16, K, (Michaelis). There is a drawing by Cipriani in the British Museum (Add. MSS. 21,118, No. 12).
The best examples of the type are:—(a) A statue at Lansdowne House, London. Specimens of Ant. Sculpture, II., pl. 10. Cat. of Lansdowne Marbles, No. 83. (b) A bronze head from Herculaneum, now in the Museum at Naples. Comparetti, La Villa Ercolanese, pl. 8, fig. 1. (c) Compare the Amazon on the Phigaleian frieze (No. 522). For further literature and examples, see Michaelis, loc. cit.
504. Head of Hera (?). Ideal female head wearing a lofty diadem. The hair was brought to the back of the head, where it was tied in a knot, now lost.
It is thought possible that this head may be derived from the Argive statue of Hera by Polycleitos, for which the coins of Argos may be compared (Journ. of Hellen. Studies, vi., pl. 54, Nos. 12-15).—Girgenti.
Marble; height, 1 foot 4 inches. The lower part of the back of the head on the right side, which had been broken, has been in modern times roughly carved on the fractured surface to represent hair, and the end of the diadem. The surface of the face has also suffered from being worked over. The genuineness of the sculpture has been questioned, without reason. Mon. dell' Inst., IX., pl. 1; Helbig, Annali dell' Inst., 1869, p. 144; Overbeck, Gr. Kunstmyth., pl. 9, figs. 4, 5; II., p. 81, 3; Murray, I., p. 268; Wolters, No. 501; Furtwaengler, Arch. Zeit., 1885, p. 275, fig. A; Murray, Römische Mittheilungen, I., p. 123.
The Temple of Apollo Epicurios, at Phigaleia, in Arcadia, stands in a slight depression on the bare and wind-swept side of Mount Cotylion, above the valley of the river Neda. It was discovered towards the end of the eighteenth century, but on account of its remote position it was seldom visited before 1811. In that year the party of explorers, who had previously discovered the pedimental sculptures of Aegina, began excavations which were completed in 1812. The party included Cockerell and Haller in the first season, and Haller, Stackelberg and Bröndstedt in the second season. The sculptures found were removed to Zante, and were purchased by the British Government in 1814.
The temple was visited by Pausanias, who describes it as being situated at the village of Bassae on Mount Cotylion, about five miles from Phigaleia. Pausanias states that the temple and its roof were alike built of stone, and that it might be counted among the temples of the Peloponnesus, second only to that of Tegea, for beauty of material and fineness of proportion. He adds that the temple was dedicated to Apollo Epicurios (the Helper), because the god had stayed a plague at Phigaleia in the time of the Peloponnesian war. The architect was Ictinos, the builder of the Parthenon (Paus. viii., 41, 5). The date of the temple is therefore about 430 b.c., although it is doubtful whether the plague in Arcadia was connected with the more celebrated pestilence at Athens.
The temple is built of the light grey limestone of the surrounding mountains. The sculptures, tiles, lacunaria, and capitals of the interior architecture were all of marble, which was probably obtained in the neighbourhood. The form of the building is that known as amphiprostyle peripteral hexastyle. The temple consisted of a central cella with a pronaos and opisthodomos, and was surrounded by a Doric colonnade, having six columns at the ends and fifteen columns at the sides. The pronaos and opisthodomos were each bounded by two Doric columns between antae, surmounted by metopes. The cella contained ten Ionic columns engaged in buttresses which connected them with the side walls. Towards the south end of the cella was a single Corinthian column, of remarkable form, which is now lost. Beyond it was the temple image, which by a peculiar arrangement is thought to have looked to the east, towards a side door, the orientation of the temple being nearly north and south. It has been thought that this arrangement may show that an ancient shrine was embodied in the later temple. (Curtius, Pelop., i., p. 329; Michaelis, Arch. Zeit., 1876, p. 161). The frieze was internal, and passed round the cella, with the exception of that portion which is south of the Corinthian column. (Compare the ground plan, fig. 22, and the view, plate xi.)
Fig. 22.—Plan of the Temple of Apollo at Phigaleia.
The temple was discovered by a French architect, Bocher, in November, 1765 (Chandler, Travels in Greece, 1776, p. 295). For descriptions of the architecture and sculpture, see Stackelberg, Der Apollotempel zu Bassae, in Arcadien, 1826; Donaldson, in Stuart, 2nd ed., vol. IV.; Blouet, Expédition scientifique de Morée, II; Museum Marbles, IV.; Leake, Travels in the Morea, II., chap. xii., p. 1; Ellis, Elgin and Phigaleian Marbles, II., p. 175; Cockerell, The Temple of Jupiter Panhellenius at Aegina, and of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae, near Phigaleia, in Arcadia, 1860; Overbeck, Gr. Plast., 3rd ed., I., p. 449; Murray, II., p. 169; Wolters, Nos. 880-912. For literature specially relating to the frieze, see below, p. 279. Views and plans of the temple are exhibited in a table case.
505. Two fragments of the cymatium cornice, with a pattern of palmettes alternating with palmettes of a plainer form, springing from acanthus leaves as on the cornice of the Erechtheion. The member to which these fragments belong surmounted the pediments.
Marble; height, 1 foot ⅛ inch; width, 4 feet 2¾ inches. The left-hand fragment is engraved in Mus. Marbles, IV., vignette. Synopsis, Nos. 26, 27; Cockerell, Phigaleia, pl. 6; Ellis, Elgin and Phigaleian Marbles, II., p. 212.
506. Fragment of a Doric capital, from a column of the external colonnade.
Limestone; height of fragment, 1 foot 5 inches; width. 1 foot 9 inches. Mus. Marbles, IV., pl. 25, fig. 4; Synopsis, No. 24; cf. Cockerell, Phigaleia, pl. 6.
507. Fragment of the capital of one of the Doric columns of the pronaos or opisthodomos, including the lower part of the echinus, and the upper part of the flutings.
Limestone; height, 5½ inches; width, 1 foot 6½ inches.
508. Fragment of the capital of one of the Ionic columns of the interior of the cella, with a part of the fluting. These capitals are of peculiar form, each column being connected at the back by a cross wall with the wall of the cella (see plan). The three exposed faces of the capital had each a pair of Ionic volutes. In the centre of the volute is a stud of marble separately made. The hole for it was prepared by a series of drill holes placed so as to form a ring-like depression, the centre of which was afterwards worked out. The profile of the side pairs of volutes was somewhat different to that of the front pair, whence it can be ascertained that the fragment in the British Museum contains a part of the front and right side of the cap.
Marble; height, 1 foot 6 inches. Mus. Marbles, IV., pl. 25, fig. 3; Synopsis, No. 25; Cockerell, Phigaleia, pl. 14.
509. 1. Roof tile, with antefixal end, with a palmette in relief above two volutes springing from an acanthus.
Marble; height, 1 foot 3¼ inches; length, 1 foot 8½ inches. Mus. Marbles, IV., pl. 25, fig. 1; Synopsis, No. 39; Exp. de Morée, II., pl. 19, fig. 1; Cockerell, Phigaleia, pl. 7.
2.
Part of roof tile from the ridge of the roof of the temple. The central portion is not worked with palmettes, as shown by Cockerell.
Marble; height of fragment, 1 foot 4 inches; length, 1 foot 6 inches. The complete length was about 2 feet 3 inches. Mus. Marbles, IV., pl. 25, fig. 2; Synopsis, No. 40; Cockerell, Phigaleia, pl. 7, figs. 5, 6.
The following fragments belong to a series of metopes in high relief, which were placed over the entrance to the cella of the temple, in a position similar to that occupied by the metopes of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. In the Parthenon the frieze takes the place of the internal metopes, of which however a trace remains in the guttae which occur at regular intervals below the frieze, and which imply triglyphs.—Cockerell, Phigaleia, pl. 5.
The fragmentary state of the metopes makes the subjects uncertain, in most instances.
For a general view of the metopes, see Stereoscopic, No. 122.
510. Figure wearing a helmet with a projecting tail-piece (compare Parthenon frieze, south side, No. 4), a sleeveless chiton girt at the waist, and a small cloak. The figure wears a Gorgoneion on the breast; and with the left hand seems to be playing on a lyre, which is partly expressed in relief, and must have been further indicated in colour. The Gorgoneion suggests Athenè, but it is more likely that it is merely worn as an amulet, and the figure may be that of a Thracian citharist (cf. Wolters, p. 301). The dress is nearly the same as that of Orpheus on the well-known relief in the Villa Albani—(Zoega, Bassirel. Ant. i., pl. 42).
Marble; height, 1 foot 6 inches; width. 1 foot 4½ inches. Mus. Marbles, IV., pl. 24, fig. 1; Stackelberg, pl. 30, fig. 2; Exp. de Morée, II., pl. 23, fig. 2; Synopsis, No. 28; Cockerell, Phigaleia, pl. 8; Ellis; Elgin and Phigaleian Marbles, II, p. 213.
511. A mutilated male head, inserted in the same metope as last. It appears to have been bearded, but this is doubtful.
Marble; height, 5½ inches; width, 9 inches. Synopsis, No. 33.
512. Torso from the breasts to the knees of a female figure, wearing a fine clinging chiton and a mantle. The right hand holds two objects, perhaps crotala or possibly flutes, and the left hand was extended.
Marble; height, 1 foot 3 inches; width, 1 foot 5½ inches. Mus. Marbles, IV., pl. 24, fig. 2; Stackelberg, pl. 30, fig. 1; Exp. de Morée, II., pl. 23, fig. 1; Ellis, Elgin and Phigaleian Marbles, II., p. 213.
513. Lower part of a nude male figure from the waist to the ankle of the left leg, standing. The right leg is wanting. The figure stands to the left with drapery wrapped about the left arm.
Marble; height, 1 foot 10 inches; width, 9¼ inches.
514. Right knee of a draped female figure standing to the right.
Marble; height, 10 inches, width, 11 inches. Synopsis, No. 37.
515. Fragment with the upper moulding of a metope, and with a circular object in relief, which has a round depression in the centre. This object has been interpreted as a cymbal held up by a dancing figure. Perhaps, however, it may be a ring from the top of a tripod of Apollo, such as is frequently seen. Cf. Furtwaengler, Bronzen von Olympia, pl. 34.
Marble; height, 4 inches; width, 6 inches. Synopsis, No. 31.
516. Figure of Apollo Kitharoedos? A male figure, wearing the dress of a citharist, with a long tunic falling to the feet, confined by a belt and by bands crossing the breast. The figure also wears a flowing mantle, and has long hair falling on the shoulders. The figure is half turned to the right, and looks back to the left. If the preceding fragment is, as suggested, a part of a tripod, Apollo may be supposed to have been standing beside the Delphic tripod.
Marble; height, 2 feet 7½ inches; width, 1 foot 3 inches. The two main portions of the figure of Apollo, which have only recently been joined, give the height of the metopes. Synopsis, Nos. 36, 38.
517.
This metope, though in a fragmentary state, appears to represent the rape of a woman by a nude male figure. A woman wearing a sleeveless chiton and a mantle, 1.raises her right hand wrapped in the mantle to her head. Of the ravisher we only see the fingers of the right hand grasping the neck of the woman, and a part of his arm below the woman's right elbow, and behind her drapery.
2.
On the second fragment, which may be assumed to belong to the same metope, we see a part of the feet of the woman, the toes of the man's right foot, and doubtful traces of his left foot. He was probably represented as seizing the woman by the neck and the knees.
Cockerell suggests that the subject is Apollo pursuing Daphnè, who was a daughter of the neighbouring river Ladon, but he is mistaken in thinking that the man's fingers are stretched out straight, and have no grasp of the woman's neck.
Marble. Fragment 1: height, 1 foot 4½ inches; width, 1 foot 3 inches. Synopsis, No. 30; Exp. de Morée, II. pl. 23, fig. 3; Stackelberg, pl. 30, fig. 3; Mus. Marbles, IV., pl. 24, fig. 3; Ellis, Elgin and Phigaleian Marbles, II., p. 213. Fragment 2: height, 8¾ inches; width, 1 foot 4 inches. Synopsis, No. 35.
518. Upper part of body of draped female figure standing to the front.
Marble; height, 8 inches; width, 10 inches. Synopsis, No. 32.
519. Torso of an obese bearded figure, from the neck to the waist. The figure appears to have been seated, leaning back, and having a staff and drapery under the left arm. Cockerell restores it as a figure standing and leaning on a staff.
Marble; height, 1 foot ¾ inch; width, 8½ inches. Synopsis, No. 34; Cockerell, Phigaleia, pl. 5, Stackelberg, pl. 30, fig. 4; Exp. de Morée, II., pl. 23, fig. 4.
The frieze of the Temple of Apollo Epicurios consists of 23 slabs of marble, somewhat resembling Pentelic. The slabs are each 2 feet 1¼ inches high, and they have a combined length of 101 feet ¾ inch. The frieze formed an internal decoration, above the colonnade within the cella, and had two long sides measuring 35 feet 9 inches, and two short sides measuring 14 feet 2⅛ inches. The excess in the measured length of the slabs is explained by the fact that they overlapped at the angles. The slabs are about 3½ inches thick, and rested on the edge of the architrave, being fastened with bolts to the ground behind.
The subjects represented are: (1) Battle of Lapiths and Centaurs; (2) Battle of Greeks and Amazons. The former subject has 11 slabs of a combined length of 45 feet 6¾ inches, while the latter has 12 slabs measuring 55 feet 6 inches. The Centauromachia, therefore, occupied two sides, less the length of one slab, which contained a part of the Amazonomachia.
Several attempts have been made to fix the probable order of the slabs, but except in certain cases we have no evidence. It is probable that the slabs, No. 541 with Heracles or Theseus, and No. 530 with Centaurs and Kaineus, were in the centres of two short sides. They are longer than any other slabs, and are well fitted to form the central groups in the compositions. Slab No. 540 was certainly a corner slab, as is proved by the rebate. Slab No. 532 was probably a corner slab. Slabs Nos. 527 and 528 evidently were next to each other, and No. 528 was probably at a corner. Beyond these fixed points, the order can only be determined by considerations of composition. In the description that follows, the slabs are taken in the present order of arrangement in the British Museum, which is that proposed by Mr. Murray (Greek Sculpt. ii. pl. 14) except as regards the position of the slabs of the north side.
The style of the reliefs is somewhat peculiar. Many of the types of combat are familiar in Attic sculpture. Compare the group of Kaineus with the same subject on the frieze of the Theseion, and the Centaur groups with the metopes of the Parthenon. At the same time the style of the work, with its high relief, somewhat florid and coarsely executed, is un-Attic, and it seems probable that the actual production of the reliefs was in the hands of local workmen. There is less certainty as to the designer. Among the artists suggested are Alcamenes (Stackelberg, p. 84), Cresilas (Sauer, Berliner Philol. Wochenschr., 1889, p. 583); an artist influenced by the paintings of Polygnotos (Murray, ii., p. 176); an Attic artist (Jahn, Pop. Aufsätze, p. 157), or an Arcadian artist under Attic influences (Overbeck, Gr. Plast., 3rd ed., i., p. 457.)
Literature relating to the Frieze. Wagner, Bassorelievi Antichi della Grecia. See also works quoted above, and on p. 272. For the proposed arrangements of the slabs of the frieze, see Cockerell, p. 56; Ivanoff, Annali dell' Inst., 1865, p. 29; Lange, Ber. der. K. sächs Ges. d. Wissenschaften, 1880, p. 56, pl. 3; Wolters, Nos. 883-905; Stereoscopic, Nos. 119, 120, 122.
520. A Centaur carries away a Lapith woman, who stretches out her arm in appeal for help. The woman's headdress is somewhat peculiar, consisting of a cap (sphendonè) and a narrow taenia, from under which the hair falls in small curls on the forehead. On the right of the slab an unarmed Lapith struggles with a Centaur, whose equine body is wholly unexpressed except for one leg which hardly seems to belong to him.
Length, 2 feet 5¾ inches. Synopsis, No. 7; Mus. Marbles, IV., pl. 7; Stackelberg, pl. 25.
521. On the left of this slab, a Centaur, whose head and lower parts are lost, flings a stone with each hand. The figure is shown to be a Centaur by the lion's skin over the left arm. On the right, a Centaur, who also wears a lion's skin knotted about his neck, treads down an armed Lapith, and grasps his right hand to prevent him striking with his sword. Between the two Centaurs is a Lapith woman, who hastens to her right and holds her mantle about her. The Centaur here and on certain other slabs has a horse's mane, which does not occur on the Centaurs of the Parthenon or of the Theseion.
Length, 4 feet 2½ inches. Synopsis, No. 6; Mus. Marbles, IV., pl. 6; Stackelberg, pl. 28.
522. On the left a Centaur draws towards himself a Lapith woman who tries to escape. She has a child on her left arm. The face of this figure has a strong resemblance to that of the supposed Amazon of Polycleitos, and the drapery of the breast is treated in the same way as that of some of the statues of Amazons. (Compare the fragment at Wörlitz, engraved Jahrbuch des Inst. i., pl. 4.)
On the right, a Centaur, who has a shield and lion's skin, tramples down a Lapith, whose hands are stretched out as if to keep the Centaur away. The Lapith is fully armed, having a cuirass above a chiton, a chlamys, and boots. He has no shield, but perhaps that of the Centaur may be supposed to have been captured from him, as no other Centaur is thus armed on the Phigaleian frieze, the Theseion, or the Parthenon.
Length, 4 feet 1½ inches. Synopsis, No. 3; Mus. Marbles, IV., pl. 3; Stackelberg, pl. 23.
523. Apollo and Artemis coming to the aid of the Lapiths. Artemis drives a chariot drawn by two stags; she wears the chiton, and large diploïdion crossed by bands, which is the dress of charioteers on the Parthenon sculptures. Her right foot is on the ground and she appears to be checking the chariot, while Apollo stands at its side and draws his bow. The bow, arrow, and reins were added in bronze. The chariot is represented three-quarters to the front.
Length, 3 feet 9½ inches. Synopsis, No. 11; Mus. Marbles, IV., pl. 11; Stackelberg, pl. 19.
524. Two Lapith women have taken refuge at the statue of a goddess, probably Artemis, as she is coming to their aid. One of the women stretches out her arms with a gesture of despairing entreaty. The other embraces the statue, which is a stiff archaic image wearing a polos; with her left hand she clings to her mantle which has been seized by the Centaur. The Centaur is attacked from behind by a Lapith who kneels on his back, has his left arm round the Centaur's neck, and is about to strike with the sword originally held in the right hand. On the right is a tree, with a lion's skin hanging from a bough. The appearance of a deity near his own image is not infrequent. (Cf. Journ. of Hellen. Studies, ix., pl. 1; Müller, Denkmaeler, pl. 44, fig. 206; Arch. Zeit., 1869, pl. 14.)
The group of the Lapith and Centaur is composed like the Parthenon metope, No. 305.
Length, 4 feet 6 inches. Synopsis, No. 10; Mus. Marbles, IV., pl. 10; Stackelberg, pl. 29.
525. A Lapith and a Centaur in combat. The Lapith draws away to the left, and is about to throw a stone, while he stretches out his shield on his left arm. The Centaur rears up, and seems to be throwing a stone held in both hands. The Lapith has only a helmet and small chlamys. He also wore a metal sword belt. On the right of the slab, a woman holding a boy on her right arm, moves quickly to the left. With her left hand she holds a floating piece of her veil.
Length, 4 feet 5 inches. Synopsis, No. 8; Mus. Marbles, IV., pl. 8; Stackelberg, pl. 20.
526. A Centaur is about to thrust with his sword at a Lapith, who seizes the Centaur's left foreleg and left hand. The Centaur has a lion's skin; the Lapith is unarmed. On the right of this slab another unarmed Lapith has forced the Centaur down on his knees. He kneels on the Centaur's back, and holds his hair with the right hand, and his wrists with the left hand.
Length, 4 feet 2½ inches. Synopsis, No. 5; Mus. Marbles, IV., pl. 5; Stackelberg, pl. 27.
527. The Centaur of this slab bites a Lapith in the neck. The Lapith is about to fall with relaxed limbs, but plunges his sword in the Centaur's body. At the same time the Centaur kicks out with his hind legs at a Lapith on the left, who holds out his shield as a defence. A dead Centaur lies on the ground. Both Centaurs have lions' skins. The Lapiths wore metal sword belts.
Length, 4 feet 1 inch. Synopsis, No. 2; Mus. Marbles, IV., pl. 2 Stackelberg, pl. 21; Brunn, Denkmaeler, No. 91.
528. A Centaur has been thrown down by two Lapiths. The one drags forward the Centaur by his hair, while the other kneels on his back, and has his hand and sword raised to strike. A Centaur, however, has come from behind and arrests the Lapith's blow, and tries to draw away his shield. The fallen Centaur feebly puts out his right hand behind his back to meet the stroke.
Length, 4 feet 1 inch. Synopsis, No. 1; Mus. Marbles, IV., pl. 1; Stackelberg, pl. 22.
529. On the left a Lapith and Centaur are wrestling. The Lapith holds the Centaur's head under his left arm, and the Centaur seizes the thigh of the Lapith, and tries to overthrow him, putting his right foreleg round the leg of the Lapith. The Centaur wears a lion's skin. On the right the Lapith has seized the Centaur by the hair, and is about to strike. The Centaur is helpless and can only stretch out his hands behind his back as a defence.
Length, 4 feet 4½ inches. Synopsis, No. 9; Mus. Marbles, IV., pl. 9; Stackelberg, pl. 24.
530. Two Centaurs heave a mighty stone to crush the invulnerable Kaineus. Kaineus is half-buried and holds his shield above his head. He probably held a sword in the right hand. Both Centaurs wear lions' skins. The same subject occurs on the frieze of the Theseion. Next on the right is a Lapith armed with shield and helmet, who seems to be dragging the Centaur by the hair. A woman moves to the right, holding her floating mantle with her right hand.
Length, 5 feet 3½ inches. Synopsis, No. 4; Mus. Marbles, IV., pl. 4; Stackelberg, pl. 26; Brunn, Denkmaeler, No. 90.
531. The remaining slab on this side contains a part of the battle of Greeks and Amazons. As the Amazon slabs are longer than the slabs of Centaurs by about 10 feet, it is clear that they must have filled two sides and a part of a third. (See above, p. 278.)
On the left a Greek and an Amazon are engaged in combat. The Greek has a helmet, boots, and a chiton which leaves the right shoulder bare. He advances his left arm with the mantle hanging from it, in the manner of Harmodios in the group of the Athenian Tyrannicides (compare the Panathenaic vase in the Fourth Vase Room, which has this group on the shield of Athenè). The Amazon wears a similar chiton, and rushes forward against the Greek, in the attitude of the Aristogeiton in the group mentioned above. On the right a wounded Amazon has sunk to the ground, and is supported by a companion who wears the chiton split at the side (schistos), like that of the Iris of the east pediment of the Parthenon.
Length, 4 feet 6½ inches; Synopsis, No. 20; Mus. Marbles, IV., pl. 20; Stackelberg, pl. 17.
532. On the left of the slab a Greek tries to drag an Amazon along by the hair. She is now unarmed, and tries to resist with both hands and with the weight of her body. Her shield is seen in the background. On the right an Amazon who has sunk to the ground, but appears not to be badly wounded, is defended by a companion who stands beside her, and stretches out a large shield.
Length, 4 feet 6¾ inches. Synopsis, No. 12; Mus. Marbles, IV., pl. 12; Stackelberg, pl. 7.
533. On the left a Greek makes a fierce attack on an enemy represented in the adjoining slab, which was probably the one just described. He has his sword arm raised above his head for a strong blow.
In the centre is a vigorous combat between a Greek and Amazon. The Greek covers himself with his shield and draws back for a spear thrust. The action of the Amazon appears to be that of thrusting a spear. The shield on her left arm is not expressed. In the tightly stretched skirt of the chiton the sculptor has sacrificed grace for truth to nature and vivid movement. On the right, an Amazon who has just received a mortal wound, is seen falling to the ground, with all her limbs relaxed.
Length, 4 feet 5¾ inches. Synopsis, No. 13; Mus. Marbles, IV., pl. 13; Stackelberg, pl. 8; Brunn, Denkmaeler, No. 88.
534. On the left a Greek drags down an Amazon from her horse, grasping her hair with the left hand. He probably held a sword in the right hand. The Amazon tries feebly to loosen his grasp. She wears the split chiton, like the Amazon of slab No. 531. On the right is an Amazon, who draws back a little, extending her shield, and at the same time raising her right hand to strike. Here, as in No. 533, the drapery is tightly stretched. The upper part of the figure of the Greek had been lost when the marbles were being transported from the temple. It was afterwards found in a house near Bassae, and was presented by J. Spencer Stanhope, Esq., 1816. (Cf. Stackelberg, p. 23.)
Length, 4 feet 4¾ inches. Synopsis, No. 17; Mus. Marbles, IV., pl. 17; Stackelberg, pl. 13; Brunn, Denkmaeler, No. 87.
535. An unarmed Amazon has taken refuge at an altar; a Greek has seized her by the hair, and tries to drag her away. The Amazon resists using her weight, and both arms. The Greek had a sword in his right hand.
On the right a Greek and Amazon are engaged in hand to hand combat, extending their shields and engaged in fence with their swords. The drapery of the Amazon is treated as on the two last slabs.
Length, 4 feet 6¾ inches. Synopsis, No. 22; Mus. Marbles, IV., pl. 22; Stackelberg, pl. 16; Brunn, Denkmaeler, No. 86.
536. A large part of the group on the left is wanting. The Greek appears to be dragging the fallen Amazon by the hair, and at the same time to be treading her down with his right foot. With both hands she tries to free herself from the grasp of the Greek. On the right, a Greek has fallen on his knees and holds up his shield as a defence against the victorious Amazon, whose right hand and sword are raised to strike.
Length, 4 feet 6¾ inches. Synopsis, No. 15; Mus. Marbles, IV., pl. 15; Stackelberg, pl. 12.
537. An Amazon is disarmed, and has fallen to the ground. She stretches out her right hand, as if in entreaty to a Greek who treads with his left foot on her knee, and is about to thrust with his sword. A second Greek approaches from the left. On the right an Amazon strides quickly forward to help her companion, and is about to strike the Greek.
Length, 4 feet 4¾ inches. Synopsis, No. 21; Mus. Marbles, IV., pl. 21; Stackelberg, pl. 11.
538. On the left, a Greek who is bearded and heavily armed, has thrown down an Amazon, whom he drags by the hair, while she tries to keep him at arm's length. On the right the Greek has fallen on his knees, and holds up his shield against the attack of the Amazon.
Length, 4 feet 5¾ inches. Synopsis, No. 19; Mus. Marbles, IV., pl. 19; Stackelberg, pl. 15.
539. A Greek who has been killed in the battle, and perhaps stripped, is being borne off the field on a companion's back. Another Greek who has been badly wounded in the right leg, leaves the field, leaning with his right hand on a spear, now wanting. He puts his left arm round the neck of a companion, who supports him round the body. In the centre of the slab an Amazon draws away a shield which belonged to one of the Greeks.
Length, 4 feet 9¼ inches. Synopsis, No. 14; Mus. Marbles, IV., pl. 14; Stackelberg, pl. 18.
540. This slab has a rebate on the left side, proving that it belongs to the left end of a frieze. On the left, a wounded Greek lying on the ground, is partly raised by a companion, who eagerly watches the fight, but for the moment only holds his sword in the left hand, while he uses his right hand to support the wounded man. A similar group occurs on the frieze of the Temple of Nikè (No. 421).
On the right a Greek and Amazon are fighting hotly. The Greek presses forward, and the Amazon at the same time draws back, collecting her strength for a blow. The Amazon wears the split chiton.
Length, 4 feet 8¾ inches. Synopsis, No. 16; Mus. Marbles, IV., pl. 16; Stackelberg, pl. 10.
541. The middle of the central slab is occupied by a single combat between Heracles and an Amazon. They are represented drawing back for a blow. The Amazon seems to be making a spear thrust while Heracles raises his club. The Amazon extends her shield; Heracles carries the lion skin on his left arm. The pose of these two combatants who have the most important position in the whole frieze, is very similar to that of the Poseidon and Athenè of the west pediment of the Parthenon. In both cases also the central group is bounded by figures of horses. The figure here called Heracles has also been interpreted as Theseus. On the left, a mounted Amazon is victorious, and thrusts with a spear at a wounded and fallen Greek. On the right, the Greek is the victor; he seizes the Amazon by arm and foot and throws her off her horse, which has fallen on its knees.
Length, 5 feet 10 inches. Synopsis, No. 18; Mus. Marbles, IV., pl. 18; Stackelberg, pl. 14; Brunn, Denkmaeler, No. 89.
542. A young Greek, wounded and fallen to the ground, raises his right hand, as if in defence against the blow about to be struck by the Amazon standing over him. Another Amazon hastily approaches from the left, and stretches out her hands, as if in defence of the Greek. On the right of the slab, an Amazon supports a wounded comrade, who is sinking to the ground with her head drooping and all her muscles relaxed.
Length, 4 feet 2¼ inches. Synopsis, No. 23; Mus. Marbles, IV., pl. 23; Stackelberg, pl. 9.