metope

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Object Type
Museum number: 1816,0610.1
Title: Series: The Parthenon Sculptures
Description: Marble metope from the Parthenon (South metope II). The South metopes in The British Museum show the battle between Centaurs and Lapiths at the marriage-feast of Peirithoos. A Lapith stands in front of a Centaur, kneeling on the Centaur’s back and clasping his throat with his left hand. The Centaur, facing right, has been thrown on his right foreleg, his head is forced back and his mouth wide open. The fingers of his right hand grasp the right shoulder of the Lapith. A chlamys hangs over the Lapith’s left arm and behind his back. The Centaur’s left arm and right foreleg and the Lapith’s head and right arm are missing. Parts of the frame are restored.
Producer name
Cultures/periods
Production date: 447BC-438BC
Production place: Made in: Athens
Findspot: Excavated/Findspot: Parthenon
Materials
Dimensions: Thickness: 127 centimetres
Curator's comments: This includes the right foreleg of a centaur formerly catalogued Sculpture 342.15.
Bibliographic references: Sculpture / Catalogue of Greek Sculpture in the British Museum (305); Smith 1892 / A Catalogue of Sculpture in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum (p.133); Smith 1910 / The sculptures of the Parthenon (p.30, pl.16 (fig.1)); Brommer 1967 / Die Metopen des Parthenon (pp.77-78, pl.164-167); Berger 1986 / Der Parthenon in Basel; Dokumentation zu den Metopen (p.83, pl.73, 76-77); Choremi-Spetsieri 2004 / The Sculptures of the Parthenon: Acropolis, British Museum, Louvre (p.50, fig.24)
Location: On display (G18)
Subjects: centaur; centauromachy; lapith
Acquisition name: Purchased from: Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin; Donated by: Léon Jean Joseph Dubois (fragment)
Acquisition date: 1816
Acquisition notes: Most of metope acquired from Elgin but right foreleg of centaur acquired from Dubois.
Department: Greek and Roman
Registration number: 1816,0610.1
Additional IDs: Miscellaneous number: South Metope II
Conservation

Free entry

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