DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18217#0022
8
CATALOGUE OF SCULPTURE.
its form. Several tombs, however, are extant of a less
sumptuous kind in which the main features occur,
namely, a solid base, and an architectural superstructure.
Compare for example the tombs of Payava (No. 950) and
of Merehi (No. 951), and among later monuments the
tomb at Mylasa (Antiqs. of Ionia, ii., pis. 24-30 ; Benn-
dorf, Beisen, i., pi. 49). The Mausoleum of Halicarnassos
(see p. 65) was a yet more splendid example of the same
general type.
The sculptural adornments of the Nereid Monument
belong to the same cycle as those of the larger Lycian
tombs, such as that of Payava (No. 950). The series
consists of battles, field sports, banquets, and sacrifices,
and there can be little doubt that the structure is the
tomb of an individual, perhaps a prince, and not as the
earlier writers supposed, a monument commemorating an
historical event.
The Nereid Monument was thought by its finder to
commemorate the conquest of Xanthos by Harpagos, and
to be earlier than 500 B.C. Such an early date is clearly
impossible from the style both of the sculpture and of the
architecture. The conquest of Harpagos was also taken
as the subject by W. Lloyd, who, however, placed the
date after the Persian wars. This also is certainly too
early. Moreover, the second frieze does not correspond
with the story told by Herodotus. Among more recent
writers there has been considerable difference of opinion.
The monument has been assigned to the closing years of
the fifth century, or early part of the fourth century B.C.
It is clear that the sculptures, especially the statues
and the first frieze, have much in common with Attic
works of the fifth century ; compare, for example, the
Nereid (No. 912) with the 'Iris ' of the east pediment of
the Parthenon, and compare the figures on the first frieze
with those of the Temple of Wingless Victory.
CATALOGUE OF SCULPTURE.
its form. Several tombs, however, are extant of a less
sumptuous kind in which the main features occur,
namely, a solid base, and an architectural superstructure.
Compare for example the tombs of Payava (No. 950) and
of Merehi (No. 951), and among later monuments the
tomb at Mylasa (Antiqs. of Ionia, ii., pis. 24-30 ; Benn-
dorf, Beisen, i., pi. 49). The Mausoleum of Halicarnassos
(see p. 65) was a yet more splendid example of the same
general type.
The sculptural adornments of the Nereid Monument
belong to the same cycle as those of the larger Lycian
tombs, such as that of Payava (No. 950). The series
consists of battles, field sports, banquets, and sacrifices,
and there can be little doubt that the structure is the
tomb of an individual, perhaps a prince, and not as the
earlier writers supposed, a monument commemorating an
historical event.
The Nereid Monument was thought by its finder to
commemorate the conquest of Xanthos by Harpagos, and
to be earlier than 500 B.C. Such an early date is clearly
impossible from the style both of the sculpture and of the
architecture. The conquest of Harpagos was also taken
as the subject by W. Lloyd, who, however, placed the
date after the Persian wars. This also is certainly too
early. Moreover, the second frieze does not correspond
with the story told by Herodotus. Among more recent
writers there has been considerable difference of opinion.
The monument has been assigned to the closing years of
the fifth century, or early part of the fourth century B.C.
It is clear that the sculptures, especially the statues
and the first frieze, have much in common with Attic
works of the fifth century ; compare, for example, the
Nereid (No. 912) with the 'Iris ' of the east pediment of
the Parthenon, and compare the figures on the first frieze
with those of the Temple of Wingless Victory.