A Catalogue of Sculpture in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities Part 47

Torso of a warrior armed with a large shield, who moves to the left front. The head, now wanting, was probably turned to the group next on the right, which consists of two male figures. The one on the left is evidently a victor holding a prisoner, who has his hands tied behind his back. The victor wears a chiton _heteromaschalos_, while the prisoner wears a chlamys.

Between this group and the next figure is a s.p.a.ce, in which should be a male figure standing, turned a little to the right, and wearing a chlamys. He appears to be giving an order to the figure on the right.

Length, 3 feet 8 inches. _Mus. Marbles_, IX., pl. 17. For missing figure, see Stuart, III., ch. I., pl. 20; Overbeck, _Gr. Plast._, 3rd ed. I., p. 348.

[Sidenote: 8.]

Male figure turned to the left, and bending forward. Both arms have been extended in front of the body. The figure wears a helmet and a chiton girt at the waist. The left foot, which is advanced, rested on a higher level than the right foot. There is some uncertainty as to the motive of this figure. Stuart restores it as engaged in the erection of a trophy, and this is accepted by Schultz, _De Theseo_, p. 26; cf. Overbeck, _Gr. Plast._, 3rd ed., I., p. 353. For this however there is very little room. Leake suggested that the figure was engaged adjusting his greave (_Topogr. of Athens_, 2nd ed., p. 511).

Length, 1 foot 6 inches. _Mus. Marbles_, IX., pl. 17.

ARCHITECTURAL FRAGMENTS.

[Sidenote: =405.=]

Part of the ceiling, _lacunaria_, of the Theseion with six squares for soffits cut through the marble. See fig. 17.--_Elgin Coll._

Length, 3 feet 11-1/2 inches; breadth, 3 feet 4-1/2 inches.

Stuart, III., ch. I., pl. 8, fig. 2.

[Sidenote: =406.= 1.]

Cover from panel of _lacunar_ of the Theseion.--_Elgin Coll._

Height, 10-1/8 inches; breadth, 10-1/8 inches. _Synopsis_, No. 365 (243); Stuart, III., ch. I., pl. 8, fig. 2.

[Sidenote: 2.]

Similar to last.

Height, 10-1/8 inches; breadth, 9-7/8 inches. _Synopsis_, No. 367 (254); Stuart, III., ch. I., pl. 8, fig. 2.

THE ERECHTHEION.

The Erechtheion is an Ionic temple of a peculiar form, which stands near the north side of the Acropolis of Athens. It embodies in a structure of the end of the fifth century the shrines about which the Athenian religion had centred from time immemorial, and to this fact the anomalous character of the plan must be ascribed.

The building consisted of a central cella divided into three portions, and having a portico of six columns at the east end; a porch of six columns at the north-west corner; and a porch of Caryatids at the south-west. It was built of Pentelic marble, with the exception of the frieze, which had a ground of dark Eleusinian marble.

The temple is known to have been incomplete in 409 B.C. At this time a minute survey of the building was made, by order of the a.s.sembly, and the result was recorded in an inscription which is now in the British Museum. (_C. I. G._ 160; Newton & Hicks, _Greek Inscriptions in Brit.

Mus._, x.x.xv.).

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 18.--Ground Plan of the Erechtheion.]

The east half of the building was devoted to Athene Polias, whose archaic statue was placed in it.

The remainder of the building was a.s.sociated with the cults of Poseidon, Erechtheus, Pandrosos, and others. The arrangement has been a subject of much controversy. The pa.s.sage at the west of the cella probably contained altars of Poseidon (with Erechtheus), of Boutes, and of Hephaestos; the tokens of Poseidon, namely the salt spring, and the marks of the trident, were either in the west central chamber or below the north portico. The south porch served as an additional entrance, but it also contained the tomb of Cecrops. The Pandroseion, which contained the sacred olive-tree of Athene, and a small shrine of Pandrosos, was annexed to the outside of the west end of the building.

The Elgin Collection contains several specimens of the architectural decorations of the Erechtheion. In the above plan (fig. 18), those parts of the building are indicated by letters from which fragments have been obtained. In some instances the exact position is uncertain.

For a discussion of the Erechtheion, see Harrison, _Mythology and Monuments of Anc. Athens_, p. 481.

[Sidenote: =407.=]

So-called Caryatid, or Canephoros, [Greek: kanephoros] (fig. 19).

One of the six female figures which served as columns in the southern portico of the Erechtheion. In the survey of the building these figures are called _Korae_, "maidens." They have been called Canephori (see p. 149) by Visconti (_Memoirs on the Sculptures of the Earl of Elgin_, p. 122), and others. It is true that the maidens here represented are such as those represented on the Parthenon frieze. But there is nothing that specially connects them with the Canephori, or persons who bore the sacred vessels on their heads. By some writers they have been called Caryatids, on account of a statement of Vitruvius (i., chap. 1) that women of Carya, a town of Arcadia, were represented as architectural supports--a punishment which they incurred for betraying the Greeks to the Persians.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 19.--Caryatid of the Erechtheion.]

The figure here described wears a long chiton, which is drawn up under the girdle, falling in rich folds, and is fastened on each shoulder by a circular brooch. Attached to this is the diplodion, which falls down before and behind. In front it falls to the waist; behind it would trail on the ground, if a part were not looped up to the shoulders, so as to make a deep fold, falling as low as the hips.

The hair from the back of the head falls in a thick ma.s.s between the shoulders, tied together with a band. The hair gathered from the forehead is woven into tresses. Two fall on each shoulder; the others are twisted round the head in the form of the _krobylos_ (cf. p. 87).

The arms are wanting from above the elbows. The right hand probably hung by the side, where the surface of the drapery is seen to have been protected from corrosion. The left hand has drawn from behind one corner of the diplodion.

The head supports a capital, consisting first of a pad or cushion [Greek: tyle], such as was, and still is, used to support weights.

(Compare the east frieze of the Parthenon, Nos. 30, 31.) From this the transition to the square abacus is effected by an egg and tongue and a bead and reel moulding.

This statue is admirably designed, both in composition and drapery, to fulfil its office as a part of an architectural design. While the ma.s.siveness of the draped figure suggests the idea that the support for the superimposed architecture is not structurally inadequate, the lightness and grace of the pose suggest that the maiden bears her burden with ease.

The original position of the figure is marked A on the plan. Four figures and part of a fifth still remain on the Acropolis. They are uniform in their general design, but differ slightly in pose and arrangement of drapery.

Pentelic marble; height, 7 feet 7 inches. Stuart, II., ch. II., pl. 19. _Mus. Marbles_, IX., pl. 6. Rayet, _Monuments_, No. 40; Mitch.e.l.l, _Selections_, pl. 7; Murray, II., pl. 17; Wolters, No.

810; _Stereoscopic_, No. 115.

ARCHITECTURE OF THE ERECHTHEION.

[Sidenote: =408.=]

Ionic column from the north end of the eastern portico of the Erechtheion (B on plan). This being a column from an angle of the building, the volutes occur on two adjacent sides, so as to present themselves both to the east and north view.

Height, 21 feet 7-1/2 inches. _Synopsis_, Nos. 125-7, 110; Stuart, II, ch. II., pls. 4, 5, 6.

[Sidenote: =409.=]

Capital of one of the pilasters (_antae_) and part of necking or wall-band from the east wall of the Erechtheion (C, C, C on plan). It is to be observed that the frieze on the pilaster, though a.n.a.logous to that on the walls, differs from it in details which heighten the richness of the effect, and which a.s.similate the pilaster to the columns of the east portico, while the walls resemble the capitals of the north portico. Moreover, on the pilaster the carving of the frieze is raised above the surface of the courses, while on the wall it is set back from the wall face.

The slab on the right must be from the north-east angle of the Erechtheion. The three slabs next to it might belong to the east, north, or south sides, as regards the form and design. But the excellent preservation of the surface, as compared with that of the unprotected north-east angle, seems to show that these slabs are derived from the east wall, where they were protected by the portico.

It is interesting to note the numerous repairs in the series of slabs.

They probably date from the time of the construction of the building, and were meant to make good what was broken by accident in the course of construction. On the north side of the pilaster, seven inches of the bead and reel moulding immediately surmounting the anthemia have been skilfully inserted in a groove and fastened with lead. On the east side of the pilaster one of the beads of the lower bead and reel moulding was attached by a plug, of which the hole remains. On the next slab on the left one bead of the upper bead and reel moulding was similarly added. On the second slab from the left, one tongue of the egg and tongue moulding, one piece of spiral connecting the anthemia and one bead were let into the marble. Traces of red colour remain in the upper part of the frieze on this slab.--_Elgin Coll._

Height, 1 foot 7-1/2 inches. The slab containing the capital of the pilaster is 6 feet in length. Of the other slabs, two are each 4 feet 3 inches in length. The fourth is broken on the right-hand joint, and measures 4 feet 1-1/2 inches. _Synopsis_ Nos. 252-255 (127-130). _Greek Inscriptions in Brit. Mus._, I., p. 89, _e_, pl.

3, fig. 8. Stuart, II., ch. II., pl. 5. Inwood, _Erechtheion_, p.

110.