Faculty of Classics - University of Cambridge

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Nereid Monument at Xanthos, Frieze

Four reliefs from the largest frieze on the tomb. The satrap, or king, for whom the tomb was built was called Erbinna, and although he was not Greek he was keen to identify himself with Greek art and culture. The architecture of the tomb is influenced by the Ionic temples of the Athenian Acropolis, and the frieze shows battles between the Greeks and their enemies. Friezes on other parts of the monument show more peaceful occupations such as banqueting and religious ceremonies

Material: 
Marble
Location of Original: 

London British Museum 850a&b, 859, 863

Size: 
1.01m
Accession: 

Purchased in 1884 from Brucciani

References: 

Lippold: Griechische Plastik, 208, pl. 76.1
Walston: Catalogue of Casts in the Museum of Classical Archaeology (1889), 72, nos.329-335
Schuckhardt: Athenische Mittheilungen LII (1927), 95-
Smith: Catalogue of British Museum Sculpture II (1900), 12, 15, 17
Lethaby: Journal of Hellenic Studies XXV (1915), 208-

Date: 
c.400 BCE
Provenance: 

Found at Xanthos

Number: 
214

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