• 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