DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2532#0232
183 DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES
The head is evidently that of a fully matured girl or young woman and, in its original position,
was meant to be seen almost in full face (about J, full face"). The variation from the full face view
consisted in the turn of the head to the right, so that the left side of the face was less fully visible
than the right side. This is manifest from the fact that the right side (her left) is less complete
in its modeling and elaboration. The hair, sketchily treated throughout, is hardly modeled at all
on the left side, not more fully than it is on the back ; the eye on this side is smaller and less fully
and delicately worked in the orb, lids, and brow. The same applies to the cheek. In the profile
view here given we have nevertheless presented this imperfect side because it illustrates so fully
the methods of cutting away the stone from the background of the relief, and the use of the drill
for this purpose — to which frequent reference has been made above. The whole square and
massive outline characteristic of these heads is here manifest in both views, as is also the peculiar
rendering of the several features, — eyes, nose, and, especially, the mouth. The hair, treated in a
more sketchy manner than is the case in any of the other heads, is parted in the middle, the masses
in front drawn over on either side, and tied together behind. They thus cover the ears, leaving
only the lobes visible at either side. A noteworthy peculiarity in the treatment of this hair is the
fact that the parting is not accurately in the middle of the head, above the centre between the
brows, and that its line and direction does not follow the line of the nose. Further notice will be
taken of this fact in the description of the helmeted head on Plate XXXIII. As this head was
not supposed to be seen in the profile view, neither of the ears is indicated with any degree of finish,
— the lobes are merely sketched in. If we bear in mind the sketchy character of the work and
the fact that this small head was to be seen at some distance from the spectator, we must be struck
by the grandeur and dignity coupled with a severe grace which the artist here succeeded in giving
to his work.
No. 3. Female Head from the Metopes. Parian marble.
A girl or young woman whose hair is grasped on the top of her head by some adversary (traces
of the fingers still visible), the head being pulled over to the left.
Dimensions : —
Height of fragment (including 3 cm. of neck)......... 19.6 cm.
Breadth of fragment ............. 13.
Depth of fragment .............. 13.
Extreme breadth of face ............. 8.6
Outer corner of eye to outer corner.......... 7.1
Inner corner of eye to inner corner........... 2.1
Length of nose (broken) ............. 3.7 ?
Breadth of nose (at nostrils) ............ uncertain
Breadth of mouth .............. 2.8
Breadth of eyes.............. 2.8
riie scene given in this metope was evidently one of contest in which a female figure is being
violently grasped by the hair. This situation is often presented in battles of Amazons (three times
on the Phigalian Frieze, in the Mausoleum Frieze, and on numerous vases) ; or in scenes of the sack
of a city (as when Cassandra is dragged from the altar at which she has taken refuge) ;1 or, finally,
in such scenes of abduction as are to be found in the Centaur battles. As the destruction of Troy
was represented in the sculptures, according to the testimony of Pausanias, and the battles of Ama-
zons, from the testimony of the extant monuments themselves, this head would probably belong to
a group from one or other of these scenes. The situation, to the indication of which this head
gave expression, is strongly individual, and thus the artistic treatment of this head differs in some
respects from that of the others. It is more violently drawn to one side, and this action necessitates
a greater degree of expression than is to be found in the placid heads hitherto described. The
hair being drawn up on the top, the slightly indicated waves are all vertical in the grooves; while
the line of demarcation between the hair and the forehead is indicated in a severe and precise arch
from temple to temple; the brow remains comparatively smooth, but the line of the eyebrows is
not so " placidly " horizontal with flat, broadened lines as is the case, for instance, in the head that
we have just described. The line of the brow thus rises sharply upwards from the outer angle
1 Cf. Overbeck, Bildwerke zum thebischen und troisclien Heldenkreis, pi. xxvii.
The head is evidently that of a fully matured girl or young woman and, in its original position,
was meant to be seen almost in full face (about J, full face"). The variation from the full face view
consisted in the turn of the head to the right, so that the left side of the face was less fully visible
than the right side. This is manifest from the fact that the right side (her left) is less complete
in its modeling and elaboration. The hair, sketchily treated throughout, is hardly modeled at all
on the left side, not more fully than it is on the back ; the eye on this side is smaller and less fully
and delicately worked in the orb, lids, and brow. The same applies to the cheek. In the profile
view here given we have nevertheless presented this imperfect side because it illustrates so fully
the methods of cutting away the stone from the background of the relief, and the use of the drill
for this purpose — to which frequent reference has been made above. The whole square and
massive outline characteristic of these heads is here manifest in both views, as is also the peculiar
rendering of the several features, — eyes, nose, and, especially, the mouth. The hair, treated in a
more sketchy manner than is the case in any of the other heads, is parted in the middle, the masses
in front drawn over on either side, and tied together behind. They thus cover the ears, leaving
only the lobes visible at either side. A noteworthy peculiarity in the treatment of this hair is the
fact that the parting is not accurately in the middle of the head, above the centre between the
brows, and that its line and direction does not follow the line of the nose. Further notice will be
taken of this fact in the description of the helmeted head on Plate XXXIII. As this head was
not supposed to be seen in the profile view, neither of the ears is indicated with any degree of finish,
— the lobes are merely sketched in. If we bear in mind the sketchy character of the work and
the fact that this small head was to be seen at some distance from the spectator, we must be struck
by the grandeur and dignity coupled with a severe grace which the artist here succeeded in giving
to his work.
No. 3. Female Head from the Metopes. Parian marble.
A girl or young woman whose hair is grasped on the top of her head by some adversary (traces
of the fingers still visible), the head being pulled over to the left.
Dimensions : —
Height of fragment (including 3 cm. of neck)......... 19.6 cm.
Breadth of fragment ............. 13.
Depth of fragment .............. 13.
Extreme breadth of face ............. 8.6
Outer corner of eye to outer corner.......... 7.1
Inner corner of eye to inner corner........... 2.1
Length of nose (broken) ............. 3.7 ?
Breadth of nose (at nostrils) ............ uncertain
Breadth of mouth .............. 2.8
Breadth of eyes.............. 2.8
riie scene given in this metope was evidently one of contest in which a female figure is being
violently grasped by the hair. This situation is often presented in battles of Amazons (three times
on the Phigalian Frieze, in the Mausoleum Frieze, and on numerous vases) ; or in scenes of the sack
of a city (as when Cassandra is dragged from the altar at which she has taken refuge) ;1 or, finally,
in such scenes of abduction as are to be found in the Centaur battles. As the destruction of Troy
was represented in the sculptures, according to the testimony of Pausanias, and the battles of Ama-
zons, from the testimony of the extant monuments themselves, this head would probably belong to
a group from one or other of these scenes. The situation, to the indication of which this head
gave expression, is strongly individual, and thus the artistic treatment of this head differs in some
respects from that of the others. It is more violently drawn to one side, and this action necessitates
a greater degree of expression than is to be found in the placid heads hitherto described. The
hair being drawn up on the top, the slightly indicated waves are all vertical in the grooves; while
the line of demarcation between the hair and the forehead is indicated in a severe and precise arch
from temple to temple; the brow remains comparatively smooth, but the line of the eyebrows is
not so " placidly " horizontal with flat, broadened lines as is the case, for instance, in the head that
we have just described. The line of the brow thus rises sharply upwards from the outer angle
1 Cf. Overbeck, Bildwerke zum thebischen und troisclien Heldenkreis, pi. xxvii.