Asset number
1562528001
Description
Marble relief (Block XXIX) from the North frieze of the Parthenon. The frieze shows the procession of the Panathenaic festival, the commemoration of the birthday of the goddess Athena. This block shows the two leading riders of the North frieze cavalcade. The lead horseman himself is missing, but the effect his reining in has on his horse is visible. The horse is brought to a sudden stop in anticipation of the chariot that is carved on the next block (Block XXVIII). A trailing arm, circular shield and part of flying drapery is carved to the left of the lead horseman. This is part of the foot soldier, who climbs into the chariot on Block XXVIII. The horsemen of the cavalcade on the North frieze are composed of a series of phalanxes overlapping one on another in an unequal division. There is great variation among the riders of the North frieze in composition and in dress. Some are heavily draped in mantle and tunic, while others are all but naked. Some ride bareheaded, while others wear a distinctive form of cap. Metal reins, which are now lost, were inserted in drill-holes. An attaching fragment of the block, the head of a rider, is in the Acropolis Museum, Athens. For more information on the North frieze see North frieze Block XLVII. The northern branch of the procession follows a similar pattern to the southern.
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