A Catalogue of Sculpture in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities Part 19

[Sidenote: =126.=]

Female figure, enthroned. The left arm is wrapped in the mantle.--_Temenos of Aphrodite._

Limestone; height, 3-1/2 inches. _Naukratis_, II., pl. 14, fig. 3.

[Sidenote: =127.=]

Isis and Osiris (?). Female figure, enthroned, wearing close-fitting dress, necklace, and large mantle pa.s.sing over the back of her head.

She holds a nude figure of a boy at her breast. Red paint on the veil.--_Temenos of Aphrodite._

Limestone; height, 4-3/4 inches. _Naukratis_, II., pl. 14, fig. 7.

FRAGMENT FROM DELOS.

[Sidenote: =130.=]

Fragment of a foot of a colossal statue of Apollo, together with a part of the plinth in the same block. The fragment consists of parts of the four greater toes of the left foot. The plinth has dowel holes at each side.

Naxian marble (?). Length of great toe, 1 foot 2 inches; height of plinth, 2 feet 1 inch. This fragment was found by W. Kennard at Delos, in 1818. Stuart, 2nd edit., III., p. 127; IV., section on Delos, pl. 4, fig. 2. It is no doubt a part of a colossal statue which was dedicated by the Naxians to Apollo at Delos, and of which the base and other parts still remain _in situ_. The base is inscribed on one side, [Greek: Naxioi Apolloni], and on another side in archaic letters, [Greek: Tawytou lithou eim' andrias kai to sphelas]: "I am of the same stone both statue and base." It is supposed that this is "the great statue of the Naxians" at Delos, which, it is said, was overturned by the fall of a brazen palm-tree dedicated by Nicias (Plutarch, _Nicias_, 3).

The first modern traveller who saw the statue was Bondelmonte (A.D. 1416), who found it prostrate, and says that he made an unsuccessful attempt to set it up (_Liber Insularum Archipelagi_, Sinner's edit., p. 92). In 1447 Cyriac of Ancona sketched the base with one foot still in position (_Bull. dell' Inst._, 1861, p.

182). When visited by Spon and Wheler in 1675, the head, hands and feet were lost, but the torso appears to have been nearly complete (Wheler, _Journey_, p. 56). In 1700 Tournefort only found the lower part of the body, and the thighs (Eng. ed. of 1741, vol. I., pl. facing p. 303). The parts seen by Tournefort remain at Delos, and have been described by several travellers. Welcker, _Alte Denkmaeler_, I., p. 400; Michaelis, _Annali dell' Inst._, 1864, p.

253; Furtwaengler, _Arch. Zeit._, 1882, p. 329. For the base and inscription, see Blouet, _Exp. de Moree_, III., pl. 3, figs. 3, 4 _Bull. de Corr. h.e.l.lenique_, III., p. 2.

CASTS FROM SELINUS.

The following sculptures, Nos. 135-139, were excavated at Selinus in 1823 by the architects William Harris and Samuel Angell. They are divided into two series, derived from different temples.

Selinus, a colony of Megara, in the south-west of Sicily, was founded about 628 B.C. The temple (commonly known as C), from which the sculptures, Nos. 135-137, were obtained, is the oldest temple on the Acropolis, and it is therefore probable that its construction was begun not long after the foundation of the city. The earlier sculptures are therefore a.s.signed to the beginning of the sixth century B.C.

The second series, Nos. 138-139, were obtained from the temple commonly known as F. This is the third or youngest temple in the group shown by architectural evidence to be the oldest. An exact date cannot be a.s.signed, but the sculptures probably belong to the close of the sixth century. The originals, which are made of a coa.r.s.e limestone, are preserved in the Museum at Palermo.

The metopes were drawn on their discovery by William Harris. Harris died of malarial fever contracted at Selinus, and the work was published by Angell and Evans, _Sculptured Metopes ... of Selinus_, 1826. For further literature, see Benndorf, _Die Metopen von Selinunt_.

[Sidenote: =135.=]

Cast of a metope, from the oldest temple at Selinus. Perseus slaying Medusa in the presence of Athene. Perseus holds the hair of the Gorgon in his left hand, and cuts off her head with his sword. Athene stands on the left. The Gorgon is represented as embracing the winged horse, Pegasos, who sprang from her spilt blood.--_Presented by S. Angell, Esq._

Angell and Evans, pl. 7; Benndorf, p. 44, pl. 1; Overbeck, _Gr.

Plast._, 3rd ed. I., p. 80, fig. 5; Wolters, No. 149.

[Sidenote: =136.=]

Cast of a metope from the oldest temple at Selinus. Heracles carrying the robbers named Kerkopes, with their legs tied to the ends of his bow, or of a yoke.--_Presented by S. Angell, Esq._

Angell and Evans, pl. 8; Benndorf, p. 45, pl. 2; Overbeck, _Gr.

Plast._, 3rd edit., I., p. 80, fig. 5; Wolters, No. 150.

[Sidenote: =137.=]

Cast of a metope from the oldest temple at Selinus. A figure drives a quadriga to the front; two figures are standing to the front, one at each side of the chariot.--_Presented by S. Angell, Esq._

Angell and Evans, pl. 6; Benndorf, p. 47, pl. 3; Wolters, No. 151.

[Sidenote: =138.=]

Cast of a fragment of a metope from the third temple at Selinus, in which a G.o.ddess, probably Athene, moves to the right, treading down a prostrate giant. This metope was formed of two slabs, of which the upper is wanting.--_Presented by S. Angell, Esq._

Angell and Evans, pl. 4 (incomplete); Benndorf, p. 50, pl. 5; Overbeck, _Gr. Plast._, 3rd ed., I., p. 158, fig. 30_b_.

[Sidenote: =139.=]

Cast of a metope from the third temple at Selinus. A draped male figure, apparently Dionysos, is engaged in combat with an armed giant, who has sunk on his right knee.--_Presented by S. Angell, Esq._

Angell and Evans, pl. 3; Benndorf, p. 52, pl. 6; Overbeck, _Gr.

Plast._, 3rd ed., I., p. 158, fig. 30_a_; Wolters, No. 152.

SCULPTURES AND CASTS FROM ATHENS AND ATTICA.

[Sidenote: =150.=]

Female (?) head. The hair, which is bound by a narrow band, falls in large waves on each side of the forehead to the ears, and thence to the shoulders. At the back, the hair is rendered by conventional undulations, parallel to the band.--_Athens (?)._ _Elgin Coll._

Marble; height, 8-1/2 inches, _Mus. Marbles_, IX., pl. 40, fig.

4; _Synopsis_, No. 251 (115); Ellis, _Elgin Marbles_, II., p. 119; _cf._ Welcker, _Alte Denkmaeler_, I., p. 399.

[Sidenote: =151.=]

Cast of a torso of a standing female figure, wearing a chiton of fine texture, and a mantle. The chiton is drawn over the girdle, and has a short diplodion. The mantle is worn over the shoulders. The hair falls in three tresses in front of each shoulder, and in overlapping layers, down the back. The head, forearms and legs from the knees are wanting. The original, of marble, is at _Athens_.

Height, 1 foot 6 inches. Le Bas, _Monuments Figures_, pl. 2, fig.

2; Sybel, No. 5007; Wolters, No. 112. Further literature is cited by Wolters.

[Sidenote: =152.=]

Torso of a standing female figure wearing an under-chiton of fine texture, and an over-chiton with diplodion which is worn so as to leave the left shoulder bare. The figure appears to have held a vessel in her lap, with both hands. The hair falls down the back, the locks terminating below the shoulders. The head and arms are wanting.--_Athens (?)._ _Elgin Coll_.