Inventory number
Ακρ. 1075
Artist
Attic workshop
Category
Architectural sculpture
Period
Classical Period
Date
409-406 BC
Dimensions
Height: 0.38 m
Length: 0.29 m
Width: 0.11 m
Material
Marble from Paros
Location
First Floor, West
Fragment from the frieze of the Erechtheion's cella, perhaps from its south side. Depicted is a seated woman who holds a naked boy on her knees. With her left arm she embraces the child by the shoulders while with her right she holds him by the thighs. The boy must have turned his gaze towards her.
Human figures featured on the Erechtheion frieze have been variously interpreted. Some scholars consider them to be mere spectators watching mythological scenes albeit some others suggest that they are heroes relating to the mythical past of Athens. This fragment’s two figures that essentially duplicate the composition of the Ακρ. 1237 group are identified with Demeter who holds Iacchus or as Athena or Pandrosos with little Erichthonios.
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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