• r2-188-10
    Amazonian figure, overview. (©Archaeological Exploration of Sardis/President and Fellows of Harvard College)

Amazonian Figure

Date
1st C. BC, Hellenistic
Sardis or Museum Inv. No.
S63.034
Material
Marble, Stone
Object Type
Sculpture
Sculpture Type
Other Relief
Site
Sardis
Sector
Syn
Trench
Syn 63
Locus
Syn MH Spolia
B-Grid Coordinates
E72.5 / N6.7 *96.52
Findspot
Syn
Description

A small figure running to the r. wears a short tunic (to the knees) and a loose overgarment to the hips. Both tiers blow out behind. The skirt has vertical folds, the upper tier, rippled folds. The figure also wears boots with borders at the tops, and stands on a narrow painted ledge. The bent l. elbow is preserved just below the break. The figure is in a twisted position, with the r. leg almost frontal, the l. in profile.

The clothing of this figure suggests that it is an Amazon, or possibly a booted Persian or even Artemis. The twisted pose and bent elbow belong to a type of running figure which can perhaps be traced to the shield of the Athena Parthenos. The relief may belong in the late Hellenistic tradition of the 1st C. B.C.

Condition

White marble, small crystals; thin dark veining.

L. edge preserved, others broken. Traces of paint on ledge on which figure walks.

Dimensions
H. 0.14; W. 0.15; Th. at l. 0.02, at r. 0.05.
Comments
See Also
Bibliography
For the shield, see Neda Leipen, Athena Parthenos, 41-50, figs. 23-29, 81-83; Fuchs, Vorbilder, pls. 34-35, 38; Richter, Sculpture, fig. 605.
Author
NHR