DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4615#0051
EXPLORATION OF THE SITE OF THE TEMPLE. 49
was made. This was a large drum of one of the thirty-
six sculptured columns described by Pliny as cohimnce
ccelatai. The position in which this was found proved
that it was part of one of the sculptured columns of the
west front, which was, like the other columns, six feet and
half an inch in diameter. It had fallen upon its side, and
the side which lay uppermost was to a great extent
chopped away, but on raising it on end the remains of
five life-size figures were seen. Until this immense
block, six feet high, and more than six feet in diameter,
was raised to the surface, I had an anxious time of it.
For any mischievously disposed person might have
chopped all the sculptures off in the course of a single
night. It took fifteen men fifteen days to raise it up to
the surface, and I put it at once into a temporary wooden
case, to protect it from injury.
The principal figure represented on this drum is
Hermes, with the caduceus in his right hand, the petasus
hanging from his neck behind, and the chlamys twisted
round his left arm. He stands nearly erect and looks
upward, as if awaiting a message from Zeus. Thanatos,
a nude figure, is the next most perfect figure, with large
wings closed, and with sheathed sword, but with a
melancholy face. An erect female figure, headless and
otherwise much damaged, is supposed to represent a
goddess, possibly Thetis. The remains of two seated
female figures, also headless and much damaged, might
have represented two other goddesses, but as the heads
and upper parts of the figures are hacked away no one
can say whom they represented.
This beautiful unique block of marble now forms the
central object in the Ephesian Gallery of the British
D
was made. This was a large drum of one of the thirty-
six sculptured columns described by Pliny as cohimnce
ccelatai. The position in which this was found proved
that it was part of one of the sculptured columns of the
west front, which was, like the other columns, six feet and
half an inch in diameter. It had fallen upon its side, and
the side which lay uppermost was to a great extent
chopped away, but on raising it on end the remains of
five life-size figures were seen. Until this immense
block, six feet high, and more than six feet in diameter,
was raised to the surface, I had an anxious time of it.
For any mischievously disposed person might have
chopped all the sculptures off in the course of a single
night. It took fifteen men fifteen days to raise it up to
the surface, and I put it at once into a temporary wooden
case, to protect it from injury.
The principal figure represented on this drum is
Hermes, with the caduceus in his right hand, the petasus
hanging from his neck behind, and the chlamys twisted
round his left arm. He stands nearly erect and looks
upward, as if awaiting a message from Zeus. Thanatos,
a nude figure, is the next most perfect figure, with large
wings closed, and with sheathed sword, but with a
melancholy face. An erect female figure, headless and
otherwise much damaged, is supposed to represent a
goddess, possibly Thetis. The remains of two seated
female figures, also headless and much damaged, might
have represented two other goddesses, but as the heads
and upper parts of the figures are hacked away no one
can say whom they represented.
This beautiful unique block of marble now forms the
central object in the Ephesian Gallery of the British
D