Erechtheion. Cella frieze. Male figure and chariot

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Provision of image

Inventory number

Ακρ. 1235

Artist

Attic workshop

Category

Architectural sculpture

Period

Classical Period

Date

409-406 BC

Dimensions

Height: 0.32 m
Length: 0.55 m
Width: 0.16 m

Material

Marble from Paros

Location

First Floor, West

Description
Bibliography

Fragment from the Erechtheion's cella frieze which preserves part of a chariot drawn by two horses. A naked man stands behind the wagon. The scene likely depicts the preparation of the horses before they set off as they are not bridled yet. It has been suggested that the chariot originally occupied the middle of the east frieze.

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.

Schöne, R., Griechische Reliefs aus athenischen Sammlungen, Leipzig, 1872, σελ. 7, πίν. I.11, αρ. κατ. 11
Sybel, L. von, «Der Besland des Erechtheionfrieses», Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts. Athenische Abteilung 5, 1880, σελ. 288
Boettischer, A., Die Akropolis von Athen nach den Berichten der alten und den neusten Erforschungen, Berlin, 1888, σελ. 194
Overbeck, J., Geschichte der Griechischen Plastik, I, Leipzig, 1893-1894, σελ. 478
Pallat, L., «Friese des Erechtheion», Antike Denkmäler 1895-1898, 2, 1908, σελ. 6-15, εικ. 34, αρ. κατ. 11
Pallat, L., «The Frieze of the Erechtheum», American Journal of Archaeology 16, 1912, σελ. 184, 190 υποσημ. 2
Casson, S., Brooke, D., Catalogue of the Acropolis Museum. Sculpture and Architectural Fragments, with a section upon the Terracottas, II, Cambridge, 1921, σελ. 193, αρ. κατ. 1235
Paton, J.M., Stevens, G.P., Caskey, L.D., Fowler, H.N., The Erechtheum, Cambridge, 1927, σελ. 267-268, αρ. κατ. 106
Boulter, P.N., «The Frieze of the Erechtheion», Antike Plastik 10, 1970, σελ. 21-23
Τριάντη, Ι., Το Μουσείο Ακροπόλεως, Ο Κύκλος των Μουσείων, Αθήνα, 1998, σελ. 351, εικ. 376
Smoke, S.J., The Erechtheion: Deciphering the Fragments of the Ionic Frieze. masters in B.A., Louisiana State University, 2010, σελ. 80, εικ. 50
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