The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Tritoness or Scylla Relief Applique

Tritoness or Scylla Relief Applique

late 200s BCE
bronze with copper inlays
Overall: 22.4 x 24.5 x 7.8 cm (8 13/16 x 9 5/8 x 3 1/16 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1985.184
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Mythological sea creatures became popular metal vessel decorations around the 2nd-century BCE.

Description

The seaweed garment, finned gills, and webbed ears give this female bust appliqué all the hallmarks of an ocean dweller. She may be a Tritoness, a minor goddess of the sea and the female counterpart to the more common Triton. However, her intense gaze and raised arm clutching perhaps the hilt of a sword suggest she may be Scylla, a sea monster that first appears in Homer’s Odyssey. Without the Tritoness’s fishtail or Scylla’s lower body made of dogs’ heads, it is difficult to differentiate. Certain features are highlighted with a copper inlay such as the lips, eyes, and gills.
  • Swiss Private Collection since c. 1975; Robert Haber
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 12 archive.org
    Walter-Karydi, Elena. "Skylla. Bilder und Aspekte des Mischwesens." Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, 112: no. 6, 1997. pp 179-181.
    Walter-Karydi, Elena. “Dangerous is Beautiful: The Elemental Quality of a Hellenistic Scylla,” in Palagia and Coulson, eds. Regional Schools in Hellenistic Sculpture: Proceedings of an International Conference held at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, March 15-17, 1996. 1998. Mentioned: p. 271-279, Reproduced: fig. 1, 2.
    Szabados, Anne-Violaine and Noëlle Icard-Gianolio. "Skylla I" In: Lexicon iconographicum mythologiae classicae (LIMC). Supplementum 2009, p. 453-457, pl. 217-220. Düsseldorf: Artemis, 2009. Mentioned Vol.1, p. 456, Reproduced Vol. 2, p. 220, add. 27.
    Picón, Carlos A., and Seán A. Hemingway. Pergamon and the Hellenistic Kingdoms of the Ancient World. 2016. pp. 252-253, cat. 191
  • Pergamon and the Hellenistic Kingdoms of the Ancient World. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (April 18-July 17, 2016).
    The Metropolitan Museum of Art. NY(4/18/2016 - 7/17/2016): "Pergamon and the Hellenistic Kingdoms of the Ancient World"
    CMA 1986: "Year in Review for 1985," CMA Bulletin 73 (February 1986) 62, no. 2.
  • {{cite web|title=Tritoness or Scylla Relief Applique|url=false|author=|year=late 200s BCE|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1985.184