DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2533#0087
RELIEFS 2-5
51
Dodona,1 but of a manifestly later date. Here, however, the ornament has been treated
in a precisely similar fashion, the ends of the scroll being held in each hand. In spite
of the lateness of the Dodona plaque, a quasi-Oriental influence may easily be detected.
A similar position of hands may be noticed on the Euphorbus plate.2
An almost exact duplicate of our figure may be found on the gold hormus from
Camirus.3 Though the centaur, with whom our figure invites comparison, has no wings,
the most striking similarity of style is noticeable when we compare the two. The treat-
ment of the hair, body, nates, and legs is identical. The wings are supplied by the Arte-
mis on the same jewel, and, moreover, present the same peculiarity we have commented on
before, namely, that they grow directly from the breast, concealing the upper part of the
arm and shoulder. Our figure, in fact, might almost be composed by a combination of
the centaur and the Artemis on the hormus. This jewel, which is certainly Rhodian,
exhibits more than any other work known to us so marked a similarity of style and
technique with our plaque as to suggest some very close connection between them.
More than this we do not venture to say, since it has not yet been determined whether
Rhodians were influenced by Argives, or vice versa. It may well be the case that the
Rhodian types are derived from Argos, since Camirus, according to legend, was a colony
of Argos, founded by the Heraclid Tlepolemus,4 and was counted as one of the towns
of the Doric Hexapolis. The presence, also, of the Argive alphabet in Rhodes is Avell
known. (Cf. the Argive lambda on the Euphorbus plate.) As a last comparison, we
might mention a relief somewhat similar in style, but probably earlier, found at Aegina.5
This relief exhibits the greatest similarity in the treatment of the hair. That it is Pelo-
])onnesian and not Aeginetan seems fairly evident.
In summing up, we may say that, while our plaque exhibits Hellenic features, espe-
cially in the modeling of the figure, the spirit of the composition and the introduction of
the wings are distinctly of Oriental origin. Moreover, we find absolutely no Mycenaean
or Geometric elements, but those which are characteristic of the early Corinthian vases.
We are forced, however, to assign our relief to a slightly later date than those vases
which exhibit this " Thierbandigerschema," since the conventional and decorative treat-
ment of the ornament of our plaque, admittedly without a meaning, is certainly later
than this schema, not earlier. Therefore we may assign it approximately to the begin-
ning of the seventh century b. c. Even in the best period of Greek art, such a deco-
rative solecism may be met with, as, for instance, in the beautiful red-figured vase of
astragalus shape, signed Sv/n'crKo? eVoiecre, in the Papa Giulio Museum at Rome.
Nos. 2-5. — These are all of similar technique, and evidently contemporaneous. Frag-
mentary as they are, we have still enough to show that their dimensions were from 0.10
to 0.12 m. long and 0.7 to 0.9 m. wide. Of all our reliefs, these show the metal influ-
ence in a most marked manner, the incuse circles being probably an imitation of the nail-
heads used to fasten bronze sheathing to wood, while the division into fields, as well as
the technique, finds its parallel in the series of bronze reliefs from Olympia,0 Dodona,7
the Acropolis,s and the temple of the Ptoan Apollo.9 The subject of the reliefs Nos. 2-4
1 Carapanos, Dodona, pi. xviii. fig. 3.
2 Salzmann, Necropole de Cameiros, pi. liii. ; cf. also
pi. xxvi.
3 Ihid. pi. 1.
4 Diod. IV. 58; V. 57; Piud. Ol. vii.
5 Stais, 'E<p. 'APX. 1895, p. 263, pi. xii.
0 Fnrtwangler, Olympia, IV. (' Die Bronzen ') pis.
xxxvii., xxxviii.
7 Carapanos, Dodona, pis. xvi.-xviii.
8 /. H. S. 1892-93, p. 249 (Bather) ; Wolters, Athen.
Mitt. 1895, p. 473.
9 B. C. H. 1892, p. 348, pis. x., xi. (Holleaux).
A survey of such reliefs is given by De Ridder in his
monograph, " De Ectypis quibusdam aeneis, quae falso
vocantur Aegino-Corinthiaca."
51
Dodona,1 but of a manifestly later date. Here, however, the ornament has been treated
in a precisely similar fashion, the ends of the scroll being held in each hand. In spite
of the lateness of the Dodona plaque, a quasi-Oriental influence may easily be detected.
A similar position of hands may be noticed on the Euphorbus plate.2
An almost exact duplicate of our figure may be found on the gold hormus from
Camirus.3 Though the centaur, with whom our figure invites comparison, has no wings,
the most striking similarity of style is noticeable when we compare the two. The treat-
ment of the hair, body, nates, and legs is identical. The wings are supplied by the Arte-
mis on the same jewel, and, moreover, present the same peculiarity we have commented on
before, namely, that they grow directly from the breast, concealing the upper part of the
arm and shoulder. Our figure, in fact, might almost be composed by a combination of
the centaur and the Artemis on the hormus. This jewel, which is certainly Rhodian,
exhibits more than any other work known to us so marked a similarity of style and
technique with our plaque as to suggest some very close connection between them.
More than this we do not venture to say, since it has not yet been determined whether
Rhodians were influenced by Argives, or vice versa. It may well be the case that the
Rhodian types are derived from Argos, since Camirus, according to legend, was a colony
of Argos, founded by the Heraclid Tlepolemus,4 and was counted as one of the towns
of the Doric Hexapolis. The presence, also, of the Argive alphabet in Rhodes is Avell
known. (Cf. the Argive lambda on the Euphorbus plate.) As a last comparison, we
might mention a relief somewhat similar in style, but probably earlier, found at Aegina.5
This relief exhibits the greatest similarity in the treatment of the hair. That it is Pelo-
])onnesian and not Aeginetan seems fairly evident.
In summing up, we may say that, while our plaque exhibits Hellenic features, espe-
cially in the modeling of the figure, the spirit of the composition and the introduction of
the wings are distinctly of Oriental origin. Moreover, we find absolutely no Mycenaean
or Geometric elements, but those which are characteristic of the early Corinthian vases.
We are forced, however, to assign our relief to a slightly later date than those vases
which exhibit this " Thierbandigerschema," since the conventional and decorative treat-
ment of the ornament of our plaque, admittedly without a meaning, is certainly later
than this schema, not earlier. Therefore we may assign it approximately to the begin-
ning of the seventh century b. c. Even in the best period of Greek art, such a deco-
rative solecism may be met with, as, for instance, in the beautiful red-figured vase of
astragalus shape, signed Sv/n'crKo? eVoiecre, in the Papa Giulio Museum at Rome.
Nos. 2-5. — These are all of similar technique, and evidently contemporaneous. Frag-
mentary as they are, we have still enough to show that their dimensions were from 0.10
to 0.12 m. long and 0.7 to 0.9 m. wide. Of all our reliefs, these show the metal influ-
ence in a most marked manner, the incuse circles being probably an imitation of the nail-
heads used to fasten bronze sheathing to wood, while the division into fields, as well as
the technique, finds its parallel in the series of bronze reliefs from Olympia,0 Dodona,7
the Acropolis,s and the temple of the Ptoan Apollo.9 The subject of the reliefs Nos. 2-4
1 Carapanos, Dodona, pi. xviii. fig. 3.
2 Salzmann, Necropole de Cameiros, pi. liii. ; cf. also
pi. xxvi.
3 Ihid. pi. 1.
4 Diod. IV. 58; V. 57; Piud. Ol. vii.
5 Stais, 'E<p. 'APX. 1895, p. 263, pi. xii.
0 Fnrtwangler, Olympia, IV. (' Die Bronzen ') pis.
xxxvii., xxxviii.
7 Carapanos, Dodona, pis. xvi.-xviii.
8 /. H. S. 1892-93, p. 249 (Bather) ; Wolters, Athen.
Mitt. 1895, p. 473.
9 B. C. H. 1892, p. 348, pis. x., xi. (Holleaux).
A survey of such reliefs is given by De Ridder in his
monograph, " De Ectypis quibusdam aeneis, quae falso
vocantur Aegino-Corinthiaca."