DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2532#0204
154
MARBLE STATUARY FROM THE IIERAEUM
metopes, but also in those which we assign to the pediments. In contradistinction to
the Parthenon marbles (where even the parts that were not visible to the spectator, the
backs of the pedimental figures, received a comparatively high finish), these works are
roughly blocked out on the back and on the inner side of the figures that are freely
undercut from the background of the metopes.1 The treatment of the back of the
large pedimental torso (Plate XXXVII.) illustrates this fully. This rough working of
the invisible portions stands in the strongest contrast to the high and delicate finish of
the nude and the drapery where they were visible.
The blocking out and the working away of superfluous marble (the rough surface thus
remaining invisible, or being carefully worked over in the finish when visible) was carried
out, moreover, in a peculiar manner, the traces of which can still be clearly recognized.
This peculiar method con-
sists in the free use that is
made of the drill. The
drill was of course fre-
cpiently resorted to, to bore
holes for the fixing of
bronze ornaments or ac-
cessories to the statues, as
is evident in the earhole
of the large Hera head
(Frontispiece and Plate
XXXVI.), at the side of
the helmet (Plate XXXI.,
•I), at the side of the large
torso from the pediments
(Plate XXXVIL), or the
warrior head from the me-
topes (Plate XXX.); as
well as in the hands hold-
ing swords and spears
(Fig. 82). Its use is not
uncommon for this pur-
pose, for we find it as
early as in the figures from
the pediment of the temple
of Athena at Aegina. But
a more peculiar use of the
drill for blocking out or
undercutting the marble is
manifest in these Argive
sculptures, and this method
I have not met before.
When the sculptor had
to cut away the marble from the back or the side of a head, as it rose freely from the
1 Plate XXX., and the backs or sides of heads nearest the background in the metopes, Plates XXXI., XXXII.,
xxxin.
Fig. 81. — Legs and other Fragments, probably from the
Pediments of the Heraeum.
MARBLE STATUARY FROM THE IIERAEUM
metopes, but also in those which we assign to the pediments. In contradistinction to
the Parthenon marbles (where even the parts that were not visible to the spectator, the
backs of the pedimental figures, received a comparatively high finish), these works are
roughly blocked out on the back and on the inner side of the figures that are freely
undercut from the background of the metopes.1 The treatment of the back of the
large pedimental torso (Plate XXXVII.) illustrates this fully. This rough working of
the invisible portions stands in the strongest contrast to the high and delicate finish of
the nude and the drapery where they were visible.
The blocking out and the working away of superfluous marble (the rough surface thus
remaining invisible, or being carefully worked over in the finish when visible) was carried
out, moreover, in a peculiar manner, the traces of which can still be clearly recognized.
This peculiar method con-
sists in the free use that is
made of the drill. The
drill was of course fre-
cpiently resorted to, to bore
holes for the fixing of
bronze ornaments or ac-
cessories to the statues, as
is evident in the earhole
of the large Hera head
(Frontispiece and Plate
XXXVI.), at the side of
the helmet (Plate XXXI.,
•I), at the side of the large
torso from the pediments
(Plate XXXVIL), or the
warrior head from the me-
topes (Plate XXX.); as
well as in the hands hold-
ing swords and spears
(Fig. 82). Its use is not
uncommon for this pur-
pose, for we find it as
early as in the figures from
the pediment of the temple
of Athena at Aegina. But
a more peculiar use of the
drill for blocking out or
undercutting the marble is
manifest in these Argive
sculptures, and this method
I have not met before.
When the sculptor had
to cut away the marble from the back or the side of a head, as it rose freely from the
1 Plate XXX., and the backs or sides of heads nearest the background in the metopes, Plates XXXI., XXXII.,
xxxin.
Fig. 81. — Legs and other Fragments, probably from the
Pediments of the Heraeum.