Relief sima with riders
Π4935
Clay
The best-preserved part of the temple sima
Length: 329 cm. Width: 36 cm.
Palaikastro
Temple of Dictaean Zeus
Archaic period:
Late 7th c. BC:
Gallery:
XVCase:
Not in caseExhibition thematic unit:
Geometric - Archaic - Classical period (10th-4th c. BC). Cities and SanctuariesSanctuaries
Description
Set of six metopes, part of the terracotta sima (gutter) of the temple of Dictaean Zeus. They bear a repeated theme of a chariot drawn by a pair of galloping horses, a charioteer and two hoplites, one preparing to mount the chariot. Under the horses is a running hound. These are the best-preserved metopes of the temple, which were found during the second phase of the 1904-1905 excavation. They were originally painted, as the traces of red on the horses indicate. The metopes are the only surviving part of the architectural decoration of the temple. The central scene is missing: it has been suggested that this may have depicted the birth of Zeus.Bibliography:
R.C. Bosanquet, Excavations in Palaikastro IV, Annual of the British School at Athens Vol.11 (1904-1905),"The Architectural Terracottas", 300-305, fig. 19, p. 302, pl. XV. F. Driessen-Gaignerot, The frieze from the temple of Diktaean Zeus at Palaikastro, Πεπραγμένα Ι Διεθνούς Κρητολογικού Συνεδρίου, ΤΟΜΟΣ Α5 Ιστορικοί Χρόνοι, Χανιά 1-8 Οκτωβρίου 2006, Chania 2011, pp. 424-436.Author:
M. K.Photographs' metadata