Detail View: The AMICA Library: Relief of a Fallen Warrior from the Shield of the Athena Parthenos

AMICA ID: 
AIC_.1928.257
AMICA Library Year: 
1998
Object Type: 
Sculpture
Creator: 
Roman copy of the fifth-century B.C. Greek original by Phidias
Creator Name: 
Pheidias
Creator Nationality: 
European; Southern European; Mediterranean
Creator Dates/Places: 
Greek; fl. c.500-432 B.C. Early Western World,Ancient Mediterranean,Ancient
Creator Name-CRT: 
Phidias
Creator Nationality: 
European; Southern European; Roman
Creator Role: 
Artist (copy)
Creator Dates/Places: 
Roman Republic and Empire
Creator Name-CRT: 
Roman
Title: 
Relief of a Fallen Warrior from the Shield of the Athena Parthenos
Title Type: 
preferred
View: 
full view
Creation Date: 
Imperial Period, 2nd century A.D.
Creation Start Date: 
100
Creation End Date: 
200
Materials and Techniques: 
Marble relief
Subject Description: 
The relief panel depicts one figure drawn from the shield of the cult statue of Athena Parthenos from the Parthenon in Athens. The shield, designed by Phidias in the mid-fifth century B.C., illustrated a battle scene including this heroic, collapsing warrior who reaches behind him toward his wound. A series of panels copying figures from the shield were commissioned for Roman buyers, but the shipment sank in Piraeus, Athens' harbor where they were discovered in 1928.
Creation Place: 
Early Western World,Roman Republic and Empire
Dimensions: 
H.: 53.3 cm (21 in.); W.: 78.7 cm (31 in.); D.: 15.2 cm (6 in.)
AMICA Contributor: 
The Art Institute of Chicago
Owner Location: 
Chicago, Illinois, USA
ID Number: 
1928.257
Credit Line: 
The Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of Alfred E. Hamill
Rights: 
Context: 
Roman copy of the fifth-century B.C. Greek original by Phidias. Object found: Piraeus Harbor, Greece in 1925. During the second and first centuries B.C. the Romans conquered the cities and kingdoms that made up the Greek world; however, they promptlyturned to Greece for much of their artistic inspiration. Educated Romans spoke Greek, studied with Greek scholars in Athens and Ionia, and copied Greek styles in writing, speaking, architecture, painting, and sculpture. They removed original art from theGreek world to decorate their private and public buildings, and when demand outstripped supply, they commissioned copies of Greek originals. Sculptures with mythological references were sought because they bespoke educated and cultured Roman patrons who placed sculpture in their gardens, baths, and living rooms according to the meanings they wanted to convey.
Related Image Identifier Link: 
AIC_.E19443.TIF