DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14134#0061
52
youthful attendant (No. 110) assists him by pulling it down
behind. This attendant carries on his shoulder a folded
chlamys, probably for his master's use. Next is a mounted
figure (No. 108), whose head and shoulders only are
shown. Ahead of this horseman is an intricate group,
which in the present state of the marble is not easy to
make out. In the foreground is a rider (No. 107),
standing by his rearing horse, whom he holds by the
rein with his right hand. His body fronts the spectator,
his left hand is raised to his head, which looks back to-
wards the group behind him. In the background beyond
this group is a mounted figure (No. 106), so entirely con-
cealed by the rearing horse in the foreground that the
only evidence of his presence is his right hand advanced
just beyond his horse's right shoulder point.
From this group onward, the horsemen advance in a
loose throng, in which no division into ranks or troops, nor
indeed any settled order, can be made out. The groups,
being very crowded, are carried on from slab to slab
continuously, so that the vertical lines of the joints inter-
sect the figures, while on the Western frieze, on the con-
trary, the groups, being more scattered, are always
completed on single slabs. The general effect of a body
of horse in rapid movement is admirably rendered in
the composition of the Northern frieze. Though the
entire composition is pervaded by the same general
motion, a wonderful fertility of invention is shown in the
arrangement of the successive groujos. In the one hundred
and twenty-five mounted figures in this cavalcade we
do not find one single monotonous repetition.
Though the horses bound along with a fiery impatience,
which seems at every moment ready to break loose from
all control, these irregular movements never disturb the
even hand and well-assured seat of the riders. Thus, as
the cavalcade dashes along like a torrent, a rhythmical
youthful attendant (No. 110) assists him by pulling it down
behind. This attendant carries on his shoulder a folded
chlamys, probably for his master's use. Next is a mounted
figure (No. 108), whose head and shoulders only are
shown. Ahead of this horseman is an intricate group,
which in the present state of the marble is not easy to
make out. In the foreground is a rider (No. 107),
standing by his rearing horse, whom he holds by the
rein with his right hand. His body fronts the spectator,
his left hand is raised to his head, which looks back to-
wards the group behind him. In the background beyond
this group is a mounted figure (No. 106), so entirely con-
cealed by the rearing horse in the foreground that the
only evidence of his presence is his right hand advanced
just beyond his horse's right shoulder point.
From this group onward, the horsemen advance in a
loose throng, in which no division into ranks or troops, nor
indeed any settled order, can be made out. The groups,
being very crowded, are carried on from slab to slab
continuously, so that the vertical lines of the joints inter-
sect the figures, while on the Western frieze, on the con-
trary, the groups, being more scattered, are always
completed on single slabs. The general effect of a body
of horse in rapid movement is admirably rendered in
the composition of the Northern frieze. Though the
entire composition is pervaded by the same general
motion, a wonderful fertility of invention is shown in the
arrangement of the successive groujos. In the one hundred
and twenty-five mounted figures in this cavalcade we
do not find one single monotonous repetition.
Though the horses bound along with a fiery impatience,
which seems at every moment ready to break loose from
all control, these irregular movements never disturb the
even hand and well-assured seat of the riders. Thus, as
the cavalcade dashes along like a torrent, a rhythmical