A Catalogue of Sculpture in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities Part 57

The foundation of Megalopolis took place in 368 B.C., and if the acrolithic statue was made to take the place of that which was removed it must be later than this date.

The two fragments here described are all that are in the British Museum, but four other small pieces were also discovered, and are engraved Stackelberg, pl. 31; reproduced _Exp. de Moree_, ii., pl. 23, fig. 5; c.o.c.kerell, pl. 16.

[Sidenote: =543.=]

Fragment of the forepart of a right male foot, wearing a sandal.

White marble; length, 6-1/2 inches. Stackelberg, pl. 31; c.o.c.kerell, pl. 16.

[Sidenote: =544.=]

Fragment with the palm and base of the thumb of a right hand.

White marble; length, 6-1/4 inches. Stackelberg, pl. 31; c.o.c.kerell, pl. 16.

MISCELLANEOUS SCULPTURES, OF THE FIFTH CENTURY.

[Sidenote: =549.=]

Bust of Pericles, wearing a helmet. Inscribed [Greek: Perikles] (fig.

23). Wolters a.s.signs the original from which this fine bust is copied to the end of the fifth century, and suggests that it may have been the work of Cresilas, with reference to which Pliny (_H. N._ x.x.xiv., 74) states that he made an Olympian Pericles, worthy of the t.i.tle, and enn.o.bled a n.o.ble subject. Plutarch explains the presence of the helmet as caused by the ugly shape of the head of Pericles (Plutarch, _Pericles_, 3). It is, however, more probable that the helmet merely denotes military rank. _Found in the Villa of Ca.s.sius, at Tivoli, 1781._--_Townley Coll._

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 23.--Bust of Pericles, No. 549.]

Marble; height, 1 foot 11 inches. Restorations:--Nose, and small parts of helmet. Stuart, II., p. 42; _Mus. Marbles_, II., pl. 32; Ellis, _Townley Gallery_, II., p. 3; _Arch. Zeit._, 1868, pl.

2, fig. 1; Wolters, No. 481; Furtwaengler, _Berl. Philol.

Wochenschr._, 1891, p. 286. Another copy, found at the same time as the present bust, is in the Vatican (Visconti, _Iconogr.

Grecque_, pl. 15).

[Sidenote: =550.=]

Head of Asclepios? Colossal ideal bearded head. The hair falls in heavy ma.s.ses over the forehead, and on each side of the head. A heavy metal wreath was fastened by numerous rivets, which still remain.

The head was formed of three princ.i.p.al pieces of marble, the heaviest piece being so shaped that it kept its position by its own weight.

The piece at the back of the head is lost. A small piece, which is now missing, was also attached behind the right ear.

This head would serve as well for Zeus as for Asclepios, and it is possible that this may have been the original intention of the artist.

It was, however, discovered in 1828, in a _Shrine of Asclepios, in Melos_. _Blacas Coll._

Parian marble; height, 1 foot 11 inches. _Exp. de Moree_, III. pl.

29, fig. 1; Muller-Wieseler, _Denkmaeler_, II., pl. 60, fig. 763; _Overbeck_, _Gr. Kunstmyth._ pl. 2, figs. 11, 12; II., p.

88; Murray, _Greek Sculpture_, II., pl. 11, p. 130; Mitch.e.l.l, _Selections_, pl. 13; Rayet, _Monuments_, II., No. 42; _Stereoscopic_, No. 113; Wolters, No. 1283; Paris, _La Sculpt.

Ant._, p. 221. Two votive inscriptions to Asclepios and Hygieia were discovered with the head. One of these, with a votive relief of a leg, is now in the British Museum (No. 809).

[Sidenote: =551.=]

Asclepios? A male draped torso broken off at the knees; the right arm is wanting from below the shoulder, where it has been fitted with a joint. The left arm, which is entirely concealed in the mantle, is placed akimbo. The back is unfinished. The composition is suitable to a figure of Asclepios, an attribution which was probably originally suggested by the fact that this torso was obtained by Lord Elgin from _the neighbourhood of Epidauros_. Two small fragments of the right leg were brought away with the torso.

Parian marble; height, 3 feet 1-1/4 inches. _Mus. Marbles_, IX., pl. 5; Ellis, _Elgin Marbles_, II., p. 121; _Synopsis_, No. 327; _Elgin Room Guide_, II., No. E. 1.

[Sidenote: =552.=]

Female torso from the neck down to the waist. The dress is a chiton with diplodion; part of the tresses of hair which fall down on the back still remains.--_Elgin Coll._

Pentelic marble; height, 1 foot 3 inches. _Synopsis_, No. 281 (146); _Elgin Room Guide_, II., No. F. 15.

[Sidenote: =553.=]

Left breast and part of left side of female figure wearing a chiton girt at the waist.--_Elgin Coll._

Pentelic marble; height, 1 foot 3-1/4 inches. _Synopsis_, No. 277 (147). _Elgin Room Guide_, II., No. F. 16.

[Sidenote: =554.=]

Upper part of the torso of a female figure moving quickly to the left, with the arms raised. She wears a sleeveless chiton which appears to have been unsewn (_schistos_) down the right side. The shoulders are broken, but there are remains of large dowel holes as if for the insertion of wings, and the figure is not unlike the Victories on the bal.u.s.trade of the temple of Nike.--_Elgin Coll._

Pentelic marble; height, 1 foot. _Synopsis_, No. 321 (79).

[Sidenote: =555.=]

Heads of Pelops and Hippodamia? Heroic heads of colossal male and female figures, turned to the right. The female head is in low relief, and wears a diadem, and a veil falling over the back of the head.

Compare the heads in a terracotta relief in the British Museum (_Ancient Terracottas in B. M._, pl. 19, No. 34). The male head is almost worked in the round and wears a close-fitting helmet. Some drapery pa.s.ses over the left shoulder. These two heads have long been called Pelops and Hippodamia, and it is very likely that the figures belonged to a chariot group. But they may well be the somewhat idealized portraits of a Sicilian despot, and his consort. _Found in the sea near Girgenti (Agrigentum)._--_Townley Coll._

Greek marble, perhaps Parian; height, 1 foot 5-1/4 inches; width, 1 foot 4 inches. _Mus. Marbles_, X., pl. 32; Ellis, _Townley Gallery_, II., p. 153.

[Sidenote: =556.=]

Head of Odysseus? Male head, with curling hair and short beard, wearing a peaked cap (_pileus_). The surface is much decayed, and most of the chin and mouth is broken away. This head may be from a sepulchral monument.--_Elgin Coll._

Pentelic marble; height, 1 foot 1/2 inch. _Mus. Marbles_, IX., pl.

40, fig. 3; Ellis, _Elgin Marbles_, II., p. 119.

[Sidenote: =557.=]

Fragment from the back of a head. The hair is drawn to a knot at the back of the head, and is confined by two bands, crossing one another.

Pentelic marble; height, 10-1/2 inches.

[Sidenote: =558.=]

Head of a maiden, wearing a closely-fitting cap. The style is characteristic of the fifth century.--_Athens?_ _Elgin Coll._

Pentelic marble; height, 9 inches. _Synopsis_, No. 239 (122).

[Sidenote: =559.=]