Artwork Page for Circular Altar with Hermes and Pallas Athena

Details / Information for Circular Altar with Hermes and Pallas Athena

Circular Altar with Hermes and Pallas Athena

100 BCE–100 CE
Medium
marble
Measurements
Overall: 80 x 53.3 x 22.9 cm (31 1/2 x 21 x 9 in.)
Public Domain
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Location
103 Roman
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Did You Know?

Beyond the twelve Olympian deities, Greeks and Romans worshipped numerous other gods and goddesses.

Description

Preserving two figures (plus a faint foot) striding across a curving surface, this fragment constitutes approximately 1/6th of a large circular altar or statue base. Its full circumference accommodated 12 figures—likely the Olympian deities. Athena—with spear, helmet, and stylized aegis, or breastplate—is with either the smith god Hephaistos, holding a hammer, or the messenger god Hermes, with his staff. Now lost are Zeus, Poseidon, Demeter, and others. The eclectic carving style includes stylized drapery with zigzag and swallowtail folds, recalling the Archaic period (600–480 BCE), on tall and slender figures characteristic of later times.
A weathered, off-white marble fragment from a cylindrical altar depicts the gods Hermes and Athena in relief. On the left, a nude, bearded Hermes stands angled toward the right. Facing him, Athena wears a helmet and a long, draped robe, raising her right hand with the palm outward. She holds a vertical spear and a round shield. The coarse stone features broken edges and worn details throughout the figures' faces and limbs.

Circular Altar with Hermes and Pallas Athena

100 BCE–100 CE

Roman, said to be from Corfu, Greece

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