Figure M (Theseus), West pediment, Temple of Zeus, Olympia, miniature
- Title:
- Figure M (Theseus), West pediment, Temple of Zeus, Olympia, miniature
- Collection:
- Cornell Cast Collection
- Creator:
- Gipsformerei der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin (reproduction)
Unknown (Pausanias attributes the West pediment to Alkamenes, possibly erroneously) (original)
- Photographer:
- Mericle, Danielle
- Date:
- ca. 1890-1900
470-456 BCE
- Site:
- Berlin, Germany (reproduction)
Olympia, Greece (original) - Location:
- Goldwin Smith Hall (Room 128), Cornell University (?)
Berlin, Germany (reproduction)
Olympia, Greece (original) - ID Number:
- CCC_0804
- Accession Number:
- Sage no. 132
"D 1833" in red pencil on bottom
744 - File Name:
- CCC_0804.tif
- Culture:
- Greek
- Style/Period:
- Classical
- Work Type:
- casts (sculpture)
- Materials/Techniques:
- plaster cast (sculpture)
marble sculpture in the round (original) - Subject:
- Theseus, King of Athens
Centauromachy (Greek mythology)
Ancient Olympia (Greece) - Image View Type:
- overall
- Image View Description:
- from front
- Measurement:
- 26.5 x 11.5 x 4 (centimeters, height x width x diameter)
- Description:
- This is a restored, miniature, cast reproduction of figure M from the West pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, generally identified as Theseus. The hero, nude except for the drapery that has slid down to rest on his left (proper) thigh and right calf, stands in three-quarter view facing right (viewer's) with his head depicted in profile. Theseus' straightened right leg is back, his left leg is advanced and bent at the knee. His arms are positioned up and behind his head to hold in striking pose a now-missing (in the original) axe, as Pausanias tells us (5.10.8). In this cast, Theseus' left elbow is broken away and the left arm is cracked at the shoulder. The original, full-sized statue is heavily damaged. Preserved fragments include the head, left (proper) arm, lower torso and groin, draped left upper leg, draped right lower leg, both feet, and lower drapery. The subject of the West pediment of the Temple of Zeus is a scene of battle between Lapiths and Centaurs at the wedding of Perithoos--king of the Lapiths and friend of Theseus--and Deidameia. Apollo watches over the chaotic scene, directing the action. This object was part of a complete set of restored miniature figures from the West pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia held in Cornell's cast collection. The West and East pediment miniature sets were sculpted by Richard Grüttner and produced by the Gipsformerei in Berlin, as the number (1833) under the figure's base indicates. After an earthquake in the sixth c. CE toppled the temple, its broken elements were gradually covered and protected under several meters of alluvial deposits from the Alpheios and Kladeos rivers. Many figures and fragments from the Olympia pediments were uncovered by German excavators in the final quarter of the 19th c. Excavations at the site are ongoing. Pausanias' description of the temple pediments (5.10.2-10) sheds great light on the subjects of the pediments and both clarifies and confuses the placement of the figures in relation to each other. Various arrangements of figures have been proposed and scholarly debate on the topic continues.
- Notes:
- Items in the Cornell Cast Collection are meant for inventory and reference purposes. Metadata may not be complete in all cases.
- Bibliography:
- Bernard Ashmole and Nicholas Yalouris, Olympia: The Sculptures of the Temple of Zeus (London: Phaidon, 1967)
Hans-Volkmar Herrmann, ed., Die Olympia-Skulpturen. Wege der Forschung, Band 577 (Darmstadt, 1987)
Andrew Stewart, Greek Sculpture (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990), 142-146, 253-254, figs. 262-276
John Boardman, Greek Sculpture: The Classical Period (London: Thames and Hudson, 1985), 33-50, figs. 18-23.6
Gipsformerei, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Katalog der Originalabgüsse, Heft 4, Griechenland und Rom: Freiplastik, no. 1833 - Repository:
- Cornell University (current)
Olympia, Archaeological 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.