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metope
Object Type
metope
Museum number
1816,0610.8
Title
Series:
The Parthenon Sculptures
Description
Marble metope from the Parthenon (South metope IX). The South metopes in The British Museum show the battle between Centaurs and Lapiths at the marriage-feast of Peirithoos. A Lapith, on the left, is rolled backwards over a hydria by a Centaur. The Centaur has grasped the Lapith’s raised left leg with his left hand. A chlamys hangs down from the left arm and behind the back of the Lapith. The heads of both figures are in the Acropolis Museum, Athens. The right arm and the lower right leg of the Lapith, the left part of the torso, the arms and the hind leg of the Centaur are missing. Parts of the frame are restored.
Producer name
Designed by:
Pheidias
Cultures/periods
Classical Greek
Production date
447BC-438BC
Production place
Made in:
Athens
Findspot
Excavated/Findspot:
Parthenon
Materials
marble
Dimensions
Thickness:
132 centimetres
Curator's comments
This scene is comparable with the scene on South metope IV.
Bibliographic references
Sculpture / Catalogue of Greek Sculpture in the British Museum
(312)
Smith 1892 / A Catalogue of Sculpture in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum
(pp.137-138)
Smith 1910 / The sculptures of the Parthenon
(p.31, pl.20 (fig.1))
Brommer 1967 / Die Metopen des Parthenon
(pp.89-91, pl.193-196)
Berger 1986 / Der Parthenon in Basel; Dokumentation zu den Metopen
(p.88, pl.91-93, 103)
Choremi-Spetsieri 2004 / The Sculptures of the Parthenon: Acropolis, British Museum, Louvre
(p.64, fig.36-38)
Location
On display
(G18)
Subjects
centaur
centauromachy
lapith
Associated objects
cast
(CRM.1192)
mould
(CRM.2348)
Acquisition name
Purchased from:
Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin
Acquisition date
1816
Department
Greek and Roman
Registration number
1816,0610.8
Additional IDs
Miscellaneous number:
South Metope IX