Erechtheion. Cella frieze. Group of male figures
Inventory number
Ακρ. 1073
Artist
Attic workshop
Category
Architectural sculpture
Period
Classical Period
Date
409-406 BC
Dimensions
Height: 0.49 m
Length: 0.22 m
Width: 0.1 m
Material
Marble from Paros
Location
First Floor, West
Fragment of the cella frieze of the Erechtheion which depicts two men turned to the right. They both wear himatia which leave the upper part of their bodies, nude. The standing man leans on a stick and is probably looking towards the seated youth observing what he is doing.
The interpretation of the scene is uncertain. On the extant inscriptions that regard the payment of the sculptors of the Erechtheion’s frieze, but not on those exhibited at the Acropolis Museum (ΕΜ 6667 and EM 6667 δ), there is a reference concerning two men recording oracles and a reference to a young man who draws on the ground the way that a wagon driven by mules should follow. It is very likely then that this complex depicts one of those two scenes. In the case of the second scene the inscription records the exact fee that was paid to the sculptors which was 100 attic drachms.
The Erechtheion's frieze ran along the upper part of the walls of the cella, as well as the north porch. It was adorned with figures of gods, heroes and mortals with the figures depicted on the porch frieze rendered slightly larger in size than the rest. They all were worked on all sides except the back side, carved in white marble from the island of Paros and fastened with metal brackets onto background slabs of gray stone from Eleusis. The surviving frieze fragments are just a few, therefore, our understanding of the frieze's original theme, which possibly relates to the myths and cults associated with the Erechtheion and more specifically Erichthonios, is not possible. The inscription Ακρ. 6667 δ preserves the names of some of the artists who sculpted the figures as well as their wages.
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