Archelaos Relief
- Title:
- Archelaos Relief
- Collection:
- Cornell Cast Collection
- Creator:
- Archelaos of Priene
- Photographer:
- Mericle, Danielle
- Date:
- ca. 1890-1900
ca. 225-200 BCE (?)
2008 (image)
- Site:
- Via Appia, Bovillae, Latium, Italy (discovery site, mid 17th c.)
Alexandria, Egypt (probable creation site) (original) - Location:
- Goldwin Smith Hall (Room 122), Cornell University
Via Appia, Bovillae, Latium, Italy (discovery site, mid 17th c.)
Alexandria, Egypt (probable creation site) (original) - ID Number:
- CCC_0729
- Accession Number:
- Sage no. 318
318 (old and new sticker front)
III. 32 (carved in front)
23 - File Name:
- CCC_0729.tif
- Original Measurements:
- 121 (H) x 76 (W) cm
- Culture:
- Greek
- Style/Period:
- Hellenistic, Ptolemaic
- Work Type:
- casts (sculpture)
- Materials/Techniques:
- plaster cast (sculpture)
marble sculpture in relief (original) - Subject:
- Homer
Muses (Greek deities)
Zeus (Greek deity)
Apollo (Greek deity) - Image View Type:
- overall
- Image View Description:
- from front
- Measurement:
- 116.8 x 81.3 x 3.8-10.2 (centimeters, height x width x diameter)
- Description:
- This is a well-preserved cast of the famous marble relief signed by Archelaos of Priene and interpreted as a depiction of the apotheosis of Homer. It is housed in the British Museum and was probably commissioned by a victorious poet, who, based on the style of the work, is believed to have won a competition at Alexandria. Current scholarly opinion holds that the work was produced in Alexandria and was later transported to Latium, Italy, where it was discovered in the mid 17th century. The relief decoration is presented on three registers. The top two registers are located on a mountaintop and slopes. Zeus reclines at the top holding a scepter. An eagle sits at his feet. To the viewer's right and a little below the god stands Mnemosyne, and below her are five Muses. The remaining four Muses are depicted in the middle register, as is a kithara-bearing Apollo, who stands with one of the Muses in a cave. To the right of the cave, a man stands on a low base in front of a tall tripod. He has been interpreted as a victorious poet standing in front of his prize and the figure likely represents the poet who commissioned this work. The figures on the bottom register are identified by inscriptions along the lower edge of the stone. They stand in front of a colonnade that has been obscured by a curtain. At the left side, Homer sits in front of a short, columnar altar to which a bull is led for sacrifice. The poet holds a scepter and scroll and is flanked by kneeling personifications of the Iliad and Odyssey. He is crowned by allegories of Time (Chronos) and the Inhabited World (Oikoumene), perhaps portraits of Ptolemy IV Philopator and Arsinoe III. Other allegorical figures in attendance include Myth, History, Poetry, Tragedy, and Comedy. The heads of several figures in the top two registers are missing in the original, including that of Apollo. This cast was taken when restored heads were still in place on those figures.
- Notes:
- Items in the Cornell Cast Collection are meant for inventory and reference purposes. Metadata may not be complete in all cases.
no. 1819,0812.1 - Bibliography:
- George W. Elderkin, "The deification of Homer by Archelaos," AJA 40 (1936), 496–500
J. J. Pollitt, Art in the Hellenistic Age (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), 16, fig. 4 - Repository:
- Cornell University (current)
London, British Museum (original) - Collecting Program:
- Cornell Collections of Antiquities
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- The images in the Cornell Collection of Antiquities: Casts are protected by copyright, and the copyright holders are their creators, generally Cornell University Library, Annetta Alexandridis, and Verity Platt. This collection of plaster casts owned by Cornell University was photographed by Cornell University Library, Alexandridis, Platt, and Andreya L. Mihaloew from 2010-2015, with funding from a Digital Collections in Arts and Sciences Grant to Annetta Alexandridis. Cornell is providing access to the materials for research and personal use. The written permission of any copyright and other rights holders is required for distribution, reproduction, or other use that extends beyond what is authorized by fair use and other statutory exemptions. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item. Please contact Annetta Alexandridis and Verity Platt for more information about this collection, or to request permission to use these images.