Nereid Monument of Xanthos
The Nereid monument of Xanthos was built towards the end of the 5th century BC. Tomb erected in the ancient city of Xanthos in Lycia in today's Turkey . In the 1840s, it was excavated under the direction of Charles Fellows and shipped to London . There a front was rebuilt as a partial reconstruction in the British Museum .
description
The front of the tomb was rebuilt from original parts in the British Museum, with the height of the base being significantly reduced. The tomb had the shape of a small temple of the Ionic order of 4 × 6 columns on a high pedestal substructure. In the intercolumns there were sculptures, among them the eponymous statues of Nereids . Numerous friezes adorned the monument: two friezes were on the base, one frieze adorned the architrave - there is no actual frieze as a structural element - and another the cella walls . The large, lower frieze on the base depicts various battle scenes, each side of the smaller, upper frieze, which was originally separated from the upper one by two layers of stone, shows the battle for a city, its conquest and surrender. The architrave frieze also shows battle scenes, but also bear hunts, sacrificial scenes and the preparation of a feast. Sacrificial scenes and banquets were also the subject of the cella frieze. In the gable on the east side, a ruling couple sits opposite each other, surrounded by smaller accompanying figures, which are interpreted as the couple's children. According to the little that has been preserved from the west side, the train into battle was depicted there. Originally there were stone clinics for the dead in the cella .
literature
- Pierre Coupel , Pierre Demargne : Le monument des Néréides. L'architecture. (= Fouilles de Xanthos vol. 3). Klincksieck, Paris 1969.
- Georges Roux : Un chef-d'œuvre d'architecture gréco-lycienne. Le monument des Néréides à Xanthos. In: Revue des études grecques . Vol. 88, 1975, pp. 182-189.
- Jean-François Bommelaer: Sur le Monument des Néréïdes et sur quelques principes de l'analysis architecturale. In: Bulletin de correspondance hellénique . Vol. 110, 1986, pp. 249-271.
- William AP Childs, Pierre Demargne, Pierre Coupel, Anca Lemaire: Le monument des Néréides. Le décor sculpté. (= Fouilles de Xanthos vol. 8). Klincksieck, Paris 1989.
Web links
- Building entry for the Nereid Monument of Xanthos in the Arachne archaeological database