Asset number
190540001
Description
Marble relief (Block XI) from the South frieze of the Parthenon. The frieze shows the procession of the Panathenaic festival, the commemoration of the birthday of the goddess Athena. Block XI represents parts of three horsemen. They are dressed identically to the ones on the previous block, Block X: body armour worn over a short tunic, probably a cloak and boots. The armour is of the kind made out of two metal parts hinged at the sides, beaten to the shape of a male torso. The head of figure S30 is in the Acropolis Museum, Athens. Metal reins, which are now lost, were inserted in drill-holes. The remains of the three horsemen on this block are uniform in style. However those of the horses on the previous block, Block X, although part of the same group of riders, are carved differently. They were, perhaps, carved by different hands. For more information on the composition of riders see South frieze Block I. The horsemen of the South frieze are less well preserved than those of the North, and the composition is less varied. The explosion of the Parthenon in 1687 damaged the South frieze the most.
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