Frieze of the Mausoleum at Halikarnassos
- Title:
- Frieze of the Mausoleum at Halikarnassos
- Collection:
- Cornell Cast Collection
- Creator:
- Unknown (sculptors: Bryaxis, Leochares, Timotheus, Skopas
architects: Pytheos and Satyros)
- Photographer:
- Alexandridis, Annetta
- Date:
- ca. 1890-1900
ca. 350 BCE
2008 (image)
- Site:
- Bodrum (ancient Halikarnassos), Turkey (discovery site) (original)
- Location:
- Warehouse
Bodrum (ancient Halikarnassos), Turkey (discovery site) (original) - ID Number:
- CCC_0026
- Accession Number:
- Sage no. 301
18 (red pen on front)
26 - File Name:
- CCC_0026.tif
- Original Measurements:
- 200 (W) cm (complete slab)
- Culture:
- Greek, Carian
- Style/Period:
- Classical
- Work Type:
- casts (sculpture)
- Materials/Techniques:
- plaster cast (sculpture)
marble sculpture in relief (original) - Subject:
- Mausoleum (Halicarnassus)
Amazonomachy - Image View Type:
- overall
- Image View Description:
- from front
- Measurement:
- 86 x 79 x 5 (centimeters, height x width x diameter)
- Description:
- This is a cast of the viewer's left side of a relief slab from the Amazon frieze of the Mausoleum at Halikarnassos. It is housed in the British Museum along with many other sculptural and building elements from the now-gone monument. The left and right sides of this slab were probably cast separately or were, perhaps, later sawn apart. Here, a Greek leaps forward from the left to stomp on a falling Amazon to the right. The Greek is nude and holds a shield out on his left arm. His torso and head are poorly preserved in the original. The Amazon, shown primarily in three-quarter view, wears a belted chiton and is on her left knee with her right leg extended out beside her. She leans back and holds her arms in front of her to shield herself from the attacking Greek. Her hair is loose and her head is turned to frontal. Her face is chipped away in this cast. Further to the right, an Amazon in a belted chiton stands prepared to strike the Greek assaulting her falling compatriot. She leans back on her left leg bracing to deliver a blow with the now-missing (in the original) weapon in her raised right arm. She holds a shield down on her left arm. She is shown between frontal and three-quarter views with her head in profile facing left. The Castle of St. Peter was built by crusaders of the order of the Knights of St. John (Hospitallers) in the 15th and 16th centuries reusing much of what remained of the Mausoleum. Many of the relief slabs were incorporated into the fortified building as decoration. While scholars continue to debate the form of the ornately decorated Mausoleum as well as the placement of much of the sculpture associated with it, the Amazonomachy frieze is securely located at the top of the monument's high podium. British Museum 1012.
- Notes:
- Items in the Cornell Cast Collection are meant for inventory and reference purposes. Metadata may not be complete in all cases.
1847,0424.2 - Bibliography:
- B. F. Cook, Bernard Ashmole, Donald Emrys Strong, Relief Sculpture of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005)
Ian Jenkins, Greek Architecture and its Sculpture (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2006), 203-227 - Related Work:
- ID no. 220 is the right half of this slab.
- 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.