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Cuirass fragment with relief of Aeneas carrying Anchises, frontal view. (©Archaeological Exploration of Sardis/President and Fellows of Harvard College)
Cuirass Fragment with Relief of Aeneas Carrying Anchises
- Date
- Roman
- Sardis or Museum Inv. No.
- S58.007
- Material
- Marble, Stone
- Object Type
- Sculpture
- Sculpture Type
- Cuirass Statue, Mythological Figure
- Site
- Sardis
- Findspot
- Findspot unknown.
- Description
The shoulder strap of the cuirass is decorated in relief with the figure of Aeneas carrying Anchises on his shoulder. Their heads are missing, and the lower part of Aeneas’ body, as well as his r. arm. His l. hand can be seen around the far side of Anchises, supporting him. Both men are wearing short tunics and are nude above the waist. There are incised folds in the tunic of Anchises. At the borders of the strap there are three vertical bands on each side.
A large clamp hole (H. 0.06; W. 0.094; D. 0.09) below the r. shoulder was cut for attaching the r. arm.
There is little modeling of the figures; drilling is used in a rather coarse manner to separate Anchises’ legs. Although the subject points to a post-Augustan date, it is impossible to pinpoint the period due to the poor state of preservation.
- Condition
White marble.
Battered r. shoulder of cuirassed statue preserved.
- Dimensions
- P.H. 0.35; W. 0.23; D. 0.28; larger than life.
- Comments
- For the same arrangement of figures, cf. arch of Beneventum, the congiarium relief: Pieranges, Arc de Trajan, pls. XXIV and XXVII. Also a sarcophagus: Lawrence, Asiatic Sarcophagi, 153, fig. 41. Also the altar of the Gens Augusta from Carthage: Raymond Lantier, Fouilles de Afrique, 491, fig. 12. Also Ryberg, Rites, pl. XXVII, fig. 41c. Galinsky, Aeneas, 4-10, 51-61, figs. 1-7, 27, 29, 39-41, 90-94.
- See Also
- Bibliography
- Author
- NHR