Centauromachy frieze from the Temple of Apollo Epikourious at Bassai
- Title:
- Centauromachy frieze from the Temple of Apollo Epikourious at Bassai
- Collection:
- Cornell Cast Collection
- Creator:
- Unknown (architect: Iktinos)
- Photographer:
- Mericle, Danielle
- Date:
- ca. 1890-1900
ca. 400 BCE
- Site:
- Bassai, Greece (original)
- Location:
- Goldwin Smith Hall (second floor, top of stairwell), Cornell University
Bassai, Greece (original) - ID Number:
- CCC_0767a
- Accession Number:
- Sage no. 290
- File Name:
- CCC_0767a.tif
- Original Measurements:
- 126 (W) cm
- Culture:
- Greek
- Style/Period:
- Classical
- Work Type:
- casts (sculpture)
- Materials/Techniques:
- plaster cast (sculpture)
marble sculpture in relief (original) - Subject:
- Temple of Apollo (Bassai)
Centauromachy (Greek mythology) - Image View Type:
- overall
- Image View Description:
- from front
- Description:
- This is a cast of a slab from the Ionic frieze of the Temple of Apollo Epikourios at Bassai showing a scene of battle between Lapiths and Centaurs. At the viewer's left of the block, a Centaur moving left has taken ahold of the arm of a Lapith woman in an attempt to drag her with him. His torso is shown in three-quarter view and he turns his head toward the right to look at the Lapith. A chlamys or skin is fastened around his neck. The Lapith woman pulls away from the Centaur toward the right, but looks back at him. She holds a small child on her left side, who clings to her neck and shoulder. She is depicted in three-quarter view with her head in profile to the left. She wears a belted chiton that has been pulled so as to expose her right breast, further emphasizing the Centaur's violent intent. A veil billows behind her head. To the right, a Centaur moving right treads upon a falling Lapith man, looking down at him as he rides. The Centaur is shown between three-quarter and profile views. He holds a shield on his left arm and an animal skin billows behind his back. The Lapith, wearing a cuirass over a chiton, is shown primarily in frontal view with his torso twisted into three-quarter view. He supports himself on his left knee and reaches across his chest with his left arm in an attempt to defend himself from the semi-human aggressor. His head is heavily damaged in the original. The west and north sections of the frieze were devoted to scenes of Centaurs battling Lapiths. Casts of slabs from the interior frieze of the Temple of Apollo Epikourios at Bassai are installed in the common spaces at the top (second floor) of the main stairwells in both the north and south wings of Goldwin Smith Hall.
- Notes:
- Items in the Cornell Cast Collection are meant for inventory and reference purposes. Metadata may not be complete in all cases.
no. 1815,1020.3 - Bibliography:
- W. B. Dinsmoor, "The Sculptured Frieze from Bassae," American Journal of Archaeology 60 (1956), 401-452
Hedwig Kenner, Der Fries des Tempels von Bassae-Phigalia (Vienna: F. Deuticke, 1946)
Ian Jenkins, Greek Architecture and its Sculpture (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2006), 130-150 - 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.