temple-relief
- Museum number
- 1816,0610.39
- Title
- Series: The Parthenon Sculptures
- Description
-
Marble relief (Block XL) 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 parts of three riders. On the left, the lead rider wears an animal skin cap, tunic and leather boots with overflap. To the right is a rider, bareheaded and with bare arms, wearing a tunic belted at the waist and long boots, like those of the previous rider. Coming in from the right is the leg and rein hand of the rider on the previous block (Block XLI), whose horse rears dramatically. 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 among the riders of the North frieze great variation 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.
The head of a horse and of a rider are preserved in a fragment joined to the top right corner, and presented to the museum by the Dilettanti Society in 1817.
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.
- Production date
- 438BC-432BC
- Location
- On display (G18)
- Acquisition date
- 1816
- Department
- Greek and Roman
- Registration number
- 1816,0610.39
- Additional IDs
-
Miscellaneous number: North Frieze, Block XL