Relief sculpture from the Harpy Tomb, north side
- Title:
- Relief sculpture from the Harpy Tomb, north side
- Collection:
- Cornell Cast Collection
- Creator:
- Unknown
- Photographer:
- Alexandridis, Annetta
- Date:
- ca. 1890-1900
ca. 480–470 BCE
2009 (image)
- Site:
- Xanthos, Turkey (original)
- Location:
- Klarman Hall, first floor, north end
previously, Warehouse
Xanthos, Turkey (original) - ID Number:
- CCC_0208
- Accession Number:
- Sage no. 82
1.Goldwin Smith Hall basement incised on top left front
Goldwin Smith Hall basement6 in black marker on back
208 - File Name:
- CCC_0208.tif
- Original Measurements:
- 102.5 (H) x 108 (W) cm
- Culture:
- Lycian
- Style/Period:
- Greek Classical
- Work Type:
- casts (sculpture)
- Materials/Techniques:
- plaster cast (sculpture)
marble sculpture in relief (original) - Subject:
- Sepulchral Monuments
Xanthos (Ancient city) - Image View Type:
- overall
- Image View Description:
- from front
- Measurement:
- 102 x 107 x 5 (centimeters, height x width x diameter)
- Description:
- This is a cast of the central scene from the north side of the Harpy Tomb at Xanthos, a tomb perhaps built for the Lycian ruler Kybernis, showing a young man in military dress presenting a helmet to an older, seated man. The figures are flanked by Sirens, cast separately (ID nos. 214 and 219). The armed man stands in profile facing right at the viewer's left side of the composition. The back of his head is damaged in the original. He wears a cuirass with flaps over a sleeved, short chiton and greaves. Under his left arm he holds a scabbard, small parts of which project behind and in front of him. With his left hand he props up a shield in front of him that rests on the ground. He holds out a crested shield in his extended right arm, offering it to the pointy-bearded, seated man in front of him. Their eyes are almost at the same level. The seated man sits facing left on a backed chair with worked legs. He wears a chiton with a himation or chlamys draped around his upper body. He reaches his right hand out to take the offered helmet and places his left hand on a long staff that rests between his shoulder and the ground. The back of his head is also damaged in the original. Below the chair stands a small, portly animal, shown in profile, that sniffs at the ground. The Harpy Tomb, also referred to as the Harpy Monument, took the form of a sculpted square marble chamber tomb atop a tall limestone pillar and was one of many decorative Lycian tombs set atop tall bases. The marble chamber was removed from the limestone pillar and taken to the British Museum in 1842, where it is displayed today. A replica of the relief-carved chamber is in place on the original pillar at the site of Xanthos.
- Notes:
- Items in the Cornell Cast Collection are meant for inventory and reference purposes. Metadata may not be complete in all cases.
no. 1848,1020.1 - Bibliography:
- Christin Rudolph, Das 'Harpyien-Monument' von Xanthos: seine Bedeutung innerhalb der spätarchaischen Plastik. BAR International Series 1108 (Oxford: John and Erica Hedges Ltd., 2003)
F. J. Tritsch, "The Harpy Tomb at Xanthus," JHS 62 (1942), 39-50
Ian Jenkins, Greek Architecture and its Sculpture (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2006), 163-168 - Related Work:
- The north side of the Harpy Tomb is composed of three casts: ID nos. 219, 208, and 214.
- 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.