DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15101#0155
PLATE XLVIIL
BAS-RELIEF OF THESEUS AND MINOTAUR.
A fragment of a bas-relief, representing part of three legs,
belonging to two figures who have been evidently engaged in
some violent conflict, the result of which seems to be that the
one to the right, whose left knee is bent upon a portion of rock,
has been forced into this position by the other. The violent
action of the latter is well shown by the force with which his left
leg compresses the ground.
Behind the combatants is a pictorial representation, most likely
indicating a wall.
The subject of this bas-relief appears to be Theseus killing the
Minotaur. The figure on the left is Theseus, draped in a short
tunic, which has been girdled round the waist, so that the edge of
the tunic only remains ; he has seized the Minotaur with his left
hand, and inflicted a deadly wound on the monster with a sword
held in his right. The legs of the monster are seen as he is falling
to the ground, and the action of the figures corresponds with the
attitude of the two in the contest as represented on some vases.
The wall behind is, probably, one of those of the labyrinth in
which the action took place.
The destruction of the Minotaur is a common subject in
ancient art, and, according to Pausanias, was represented in the
Acropolis of Athens.(1) A very ancient polychromatic vase, found
at the Polledrara of Vulci, with the subject painted in tempera,
i Lib. i. c. 2.
BAS-RELIEF OF THESEUS AND MINOTAUR.
A fragment of a bas-relief, representing part of three legs,
belonging to two figures who have been evidently engaged in
some violent conflict, the result of which seems to be that the
one to the right, whose left knee is bent upon a portion of rock,
has been forced into this position by the other. The violent
action of the latter is well shown by the force with which his left
leg compresses the ground.
Behind the combatants is a pictorial representation, most likely
indicating a wall.
The subject of this bas-relief appears to be Theseus killing the
Minotaur. The figure on the left is Theseus, draped in a short
tunic, which has been girdled round the waist, so that the edge of
the tunic only remains ; he has seized the Minotaur with his left
hand, and inflicted a deadly wound on the monster with a sword
held in his right. The legs of the monster are seen as he is falling
to the ground, and the action of the figures corresponds with the
attitude of the two in the contest as represented on some vases.
The wall behind is, probably, one of those of the labyrinth in
which the action took place.
The destruction of the Minotaur is a common subject in
ancient art, and, according to Pausanias, was represented in the
Acropolis of Athens.(1) A very ancient polychromatic vase, found
at the Polledrara of Vulci, with the subject painted in tempera,
i Lib. i. c. 2.