DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15095#0057
PLATE XV.
Nessus is represented with the skin of a panther tied round his
neck, and flying behind him; his whole figure is full of character
and spirit. He is represented at the moment after he has landed,
and precisely at the time of receiving the arrow of Hercules in his
breast. The arrow does not appear, but the excessive agony which
is visible in the countenance of Nessus, proves that he has already
received his death-wound. Deianira is clothed in a long flowing
tunic; she exhibits the strongest marks of alarm and distress : her
arms are uplifted and stretched forward, and she appears to be
earnestly calling her husband back to rescue her. (2) On the right
of this bas-relief is a tree, and near it a vase placed upon a co-
lumn.
The principal parts of this bas-relief are antique, and those which
are modern have been so well executed by Bartolomeo Cavaceppi,
that they are discernible only by a very close inspection. The figures
both of the Centaur and Deianira are antique, with the exception
of the following parts, namely, the four legs and tail of the former,
and the greater part of the right arm, and a portion of the left arm
of the latter. The skin of the panther is antique, as are also the
vase and the upper part of the tree; all the rest of the marble is
modern.
Deianira across the river first, and that Hercules followed; but from the extracts from So-
phocles and Apollodorus, it may be inferred that the contrary was the case. The authority
of the two last mentioned authors is fully supported by the marble, which represents
Deianira looking forward, not backward. The reader will find that their authority is still
farther strengthened by a passage in Philostratus, which will be presently referred to.
1 An ancient painting, which represented the subject of Nessus and Deianira, and in-
cluded also the figures of Hercules and Hyllus, is described by Philostratus. The
description he gives both of Nessus and Deianira so exactly accords with the representation
of those figures in the marble, as to render it highly probable that the painting and the
sculpture were copied from the same original.
TuypfyctTM l\, if fth Arjtcmtpx h tu> tov xivduvou ojpj/wen, x«< wsgiSe^j h tw 'HgaxXla rd;
X"P*S rslvovartx. 'O &£ Ne'o-o;, upri tov ohttqv fagupevos, x«i wepJ exvTov <rQa$ei&v. Philostrati
Junioris Icones, N. 16.
Nessus is represented with the skin of a panther tied round his
neck, and flying behind him; his whole figure is full of character
and spirit. He is represented at the moment after he has landed,
and precisely at the time of receiving the arrow of Hercules in his
breast. The arrow does not appear, but the excessive agony which
is visible in the countenance of Nessus, proves that he has already
received his death-wound. Deianira is clothed in a long flowing
tunic; she exhibits the strongest marks of alarm and distress : her
arms are uplifted and stretched forward, and she appears to be
earnestly calling her husband back to rescue her. (2) On the right
of this bas-relief is a tree, and near it a vase placed upon a co-
lumn.
The principal parts of this bas-relief are antique, and those which
are modern have been so well executed by Bartolomeo Cavaceppi,
that they are discernible only by a very close inspection. The figures
both of the Centaur and Deianira are antique, with the exception
of the following parts, namely, the four legs and tail of the former,
and the greater part of the right arm, and a portion of the left arm
of the latter. The skin of the panther is antique, as are also the
vase and the upper part of the tree; all the rest of the marble is
modern.
Deianira across the river first, and that Hercules followed; but from the extracts from So-
phocles and Apollodorus, it may be inferred that the contrary was the case. The authority
of the two last mentioned authors is fully supported by the marble, which represents
Deianira looking forward, not backward. The reader will find that their authority is still
farther strengthened by a passage in Philostratus, which will be presently referred to.
1 An ancient painting, which represented the subject of Nessus and Deianira, and in-
cluded also the figures of Hercules and Hyllus, is described by Philostratus. The
description he gives both of Nessus and Deianira so exactly accords with the representation
of those figures in the marble, as to render it highly probable that the painting and the
sculpture were copied from the same original.
TuypfyctTM l\, if fth Arjtcmtpx h tu> tov xivduvou ojpj/wen, x«< wsgiSe^j h tw 'HgaxXla rd;
X"P*S rslvovartx. 'O &£ Ne'o-o;, upri tov ohttqv fagupevos, x«i wepJ exvTov <rQa$ei&v. Philostrati
Junioris Icones, N. 16.