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_0034
- Accession Number:
- Sage no. 301
21 (pen on front)
34 - File Name:
- CCC_0034.tif
- Original Measurements:
- 89 (H) x 210 (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 81 x 6 (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 either cast separately or later sawn apart. The adjoining right side of this cast slab is fragmentary. On this half of the block, two complete and one partial figure are shown. At the left side of the slab, the extended left leg and arm of an Amazon are visible, as is her flowing drapery. The rest of the Amazon, who is taking aim at the Greek to her right with a spear, is shown on the adjacent slab (British Museum no. 1847,0424.7
ID no. 243). The Greek to the right, shown in three-quarter view, is nude except for a crested helmet and billowing chlamys. He lunges to the right placing his weight on his left leg, launching from his extended right leg. He holds a shield on his left arm and moves forward in an attempt to protect the falling Greek to the right from an axe-wielding Amazon not contained in this section of the cast (ID no. 445). The falling fighter is also nude. He is on his knees, his torso is curved and twisted so that his back is visible, and his head is aimed toward the ground. 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 1021. - Notes:
- Items in the Cornell Cast Collection are meant for inventory and reference purposes. Metadata may not be complete in all cases.
no. 1847,0424.8 - 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:
- The right side of this slab is fragmentary and comprised of ID nos. 493, 448, 445, 177.
- 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.