DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5065#0010
FORM AND MATERIAL. 3
instance in the heads of the figures of the men, the plate is reduced to the thickness of a sheet
of thin writing paper, and upon the reverse we observe cavities nearly an inch deep.
The lost parts of these groups are, in No. I., the right shoulder, arm and hand of the
Amazon ; in No. II. the right part of the hero's head, and his right hand ; moreover, the
left shoulder, a part of the body, the left arm and hand of the Amazon, and the lion's head
below. There was, absolutely, nothing more in No. II. since what remains of the breadth (which
is preserved in this plate as we have seen above) leaves room only for the left arm, upon which
the Amazon apparently leaned in her fall. The great symmetry of the composition makes it
probable that it was the same in respect to the right arm of the female warrior of No. I.
As we observe, that under the left foot of the hero in No. I. and under the right foot
of that in No. II. there have been certain conventional projections, which indicate rocks, I
presume that there were likewise similar projections under the hands of the Amazons which
have been destroyed ; since the movement of each of the two prostrate female figures indi-
cates an effort to rise again.
The analogy of the male figure of No. II., both hands of which are employed, and both
without a weapon, induces me to believe that none of the four figures had either sword or
battle-axe in their hands. This supposition is strengthened by the circumstance of there being,
absolutely, no room whatever for a sword in the right hand of the hero in No. II. The hand
of this warrior is simply clenched. The artist probably found it difficult to introduce offensive
arms, because they would have been too liable to injury ; he has sufficiently shewn by means
of shields of Amazons thrown on the ground, which do not belong to either of the four
combatants, that the actions are not merely single combats, but are passing upon a field of
battle. The custom of the Greek artists to give similar indications is well known ; a wheel,
for instance, signifies the chariot of Theseus in the gem of Piombino, and that of Diomedes
of Thrace, in the bas-relief of the Villa Albani, (see Winckelmann, Mon. Ant. Ined. p. 82.).5
The preservation of the group No. I. is admirable. Almost the whole, from the minutest
traits of the countenances, to the slightest folds and ornaments of the draperies and of the
armour, is preserved. The figures of No. II. have received considerable injury. The dampness
of a corrosive soil, which, during so many ages, covered this fine production, has formed upon
it, especially on the body of the warrior, a crust, the detaching of which we have not been
willing to risk, from the apprehension that small cavities, still more detrimental, would have
been the result.
5 The games of the Stadion are also indicated on many ancient Greek terra-cotta vases, and on thousands of
Greek coins, merely by a wheel, or by the avrvyeg of the upper part of the car, or by a vase of a certain form, intended
as a prize-vase, or by the columns and cocks, well known emblems of the Stadion, or by one human leg or three
legs united (triquetra), which is intended to indicate speed, race-course (Spo/xo?), and has no geographical signification
whatever. See my Letter on Panathenaic Vases, in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature, Vol. II. Part. I.
p. 105, note 7-
instance in the heads of the figures of the men, the plate is reduced to the thickness of a sheet
of thin writing paper, and upon the reverse we observe cavities nearly an inch deep.
The lost parts of these groups are, in No. I., the right shoulder, arm and hand of the
Amazon ; in No. II. the right part of the hero's head, and his right hand ; moreover, the
left shoulder, a part of the body, the left arm and hand of the Amazon, and the lion's head
below. There was, absolutely, nothing more in No. II. since what remains of the breadth (which
is preserved in this plate as we have seen above) leaves room only for the left arm, upon which
the Amazon apparently leaned in her fall. The great symmetry of the composition makes it
probable that it was the same in respect to the right arm of the female warrior of No. I.
As we observe, that under the left foot of the hero in No. I. and under the right foot
of that in No. II. there have been certain conventional projections, which indicate rocks, I
presume that there were likewise similar projections under the hands of the Amazons which
have been destroyed ; since the movement of each of the two prostrate female figures indi-
cates an effort to rise again.
The analogy of the male figure of No. II., both hands of which are employed, and both
without a weapon, induces me to believe that none of the four figures had either sword or
battle-axe in their hands. This supposition is strengthened by the circumstance of there being,
absolutely, no room whatever for a sword in the right hand of the hero in No. II. The hand
of this warrior is simply clenched. The artist probably found it difficult to introduce offensive
arms, because they would have been too liable to injury ; he has sufficiently shewn by means
of shields of Amazons thrown on the ground, which do not belong to either of the four
combatants, that the actions are not merely single combats, but are passing upon a field of
battle. The custom of the Greek artists to give similar indications is well known ; a wheel,
for instance, signifies the chariot of Theseus in the gem of Piombino, and that of Diomedes
of Thrace, in the bas-relief of the Villa Albani, (see Winckelmann, Mon. Ant. Ined. p. 82.).5
The preservation of the group No. I. is admirable. Almost the whole, from the minutest
traits of the countenances, to the slightest folds and ornaments of the draperies and of the
armour, is preserved. The figures of No. II. have received considerable injury. The dampness
of a corrosive soil, which, during so many ages, covered this fine production, has formed upon
it, especially on the body of the warrior, a crust, the detaching of which we have not been
willing to risk, from the apprehension that small cavities, still more detrimental, would have
been the result.
5 The games of the Stadion are also indicated on many ancient Greek terra-cotta vases, and on thousands of
Greek coins, merely by a wheel, or by the avrvyeg of the upper part of the car, or by a vase of a certain form, intended
as a prize-vase, or by the columns and cocks, well known emblems of the Stadion, or by one human leg or three
legs united (triquetra), which is intended to indicate speed, race-course (Spo/xo?), and has no geographical signification
whatever. See my Letter on Panathenaic Vases, in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature, Vol. II. Part. I.
p. 105, note 7-