Erechtheion. Cella frieze. Group of male figures

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Provision of image

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

Description
Bibliography

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.

Rangabé, A.R., «Lettre Adressée a M. De Saulcy, Membre de l'Institut, Revue Archéologique 1845», Revue Archéologique 2e Année, No. 1, 1845, σελ. 323
Schöne, R., Griechische Reliefs aus athenischen Sammlungen, Leipzig, 1872, σελ. 8, πίν. II.12, αρ.κατ. 12
Boettischer, A., Die Akropolis von Athen nach den Berichten der alten und den neusten Erforschungen, Berlin, 1888, σελ. 222-223, εικ. 104
Pallat, L., «Friese des Erechtheion», Antike Denkmäler 1895-1898, 2, 1908, σελ. 6-15, εικ. 33, αρ.κατ. 5
Pallat, L., «The Frieze of the Erechtheum», American Journal of Archaeology 16, 1912, σελ. 175-202
Casson, S., Brooke, D., Catalogue of the Acropolis Museum. Sculpture and Architectural Fragments, with a section upon the Terracottas, II, Cambridge, 1921, σελ. 179-181, αρ.κατ. 1073
Paton, J.M., Stevens, G.P., Caskey, L.D., Fowler, H.N., The Erechtheum, Cambridge, 1927, σελ. 259, αρ.κατ. 66
Picard, C., La Sculpture II. Période Classique - Ve siècle, Manuel d'Archéologie Grecque II. 2, Paris, 1939, σελ. 757, εικ. 303
Lippold, G., Die griechische Plastik, Handbuch der Archäologie III 1, München, 1950, σελ. 192-193, εικ. πίν. 69.2
Boulter, P.N., «The Frieze of the Erechtheion», Antike Plastik 10, 1970, σελ. 13-14, πίν. 19-20, αρ.κατ. 66
Τριάντη, Ι., Το Μουσείο Ακροπόλεως, Ο Κύκλος των Μουσείων, Αθήνα, 1998, σελ. 329, 350, εικ. 374
Holtzmann, B., «Note sur la frise de l'Érechtheion : le sujet de MAcr 1073», Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique 124, 2000, σελ. 221-226
Smoke, S.J., The Erechtheion: Deciphering the Fragments of the Ionic Frieze. masters in B.A., Louisiana State University, 2010, σελ. 73-74, εικ. 43
Palagia, O., «Parian marble and the Athenians», στο D.U. Schilardi, D. Katsonopoulou (επιμ.), Paria Lithos. Parian quarries, marble and workshops of sculpture, Proceedings of the First International Conference on the Archaeology of Paros and the Cyclades, Paros, 2-5 October 1997, Athens, 2010, σελ. 350, εικ. 7
Jacob, R., «Une figure recomposée de la Frise de l'Erechtheion», Revue Archéologique Fasc. 2, 2014, σελ. 303-324
Λεβέντη, Ι., Πόλη σε κρίση, Αθήνα, 2014, σελ. 163-164
Παντερμαλής, Δ., Ελευθεράτου, Σ., Βλασσοπούλου, Χ., Μουσείο Ακρόπολης. Οδηγός, Αθήνα, 2016, σελ. 258-259, εικ. 316