Ancient Sculptural Reliefs

Depictions of ancient warriors, figures, and narrative scenes in classical sculpture. Notable for detailed craftsmanship and historical themes.

Dancing menades Dancing menades, 1st century, collection De Clercq, Rome Copyright: xZoonar.com/Tolox 23019414

Nereid Monument. Sculptured tomb from Xanthos. Classical period Lycia. Turkey. Variety of soldiers (hoplits, archers) Upper podium frieze. 390-380 BC. British Museum. London. England. United Kingdom.

Dancing menades Dancing menades, 1st century, collection De Clercq, Rome Copyright: xZoonar.com/Tolox 23019414

Roman art. Fragmentary marble sarcophagus with scenes from the Oresteia. 2nd century. Antonine period. Orestes. Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York. United States.

Roman sarcophagus dedicated to M. Aurelius Romanus. On the left. Homeric episode of the meeting of Odysseus and the sirens. Rome. National Roman Museum. Rome. Italy.

Romans fight with Barbarians. Relief.

Scene from the Legend of the True Cross. Culture: Northern French or Netherlandish. Dimensions: Overall: 19 1/2 x 27 3/4 in. (49.5 x 70.5 cm). Date: second half 14th century.Enthusiasm for embarking on Crusade waned during the fourteenth century, notwithstanding the the tight links drawn between belief in the True Cross and in the Crucifixion of Jesus, here witnessed not only by his mother Mary and Saint John (much effaced), but by a knight and his lady. Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.

Big greek sarcophagus in the Archeological museum in Istanbul, Turkey

Roman sarcophagus with the contest between The Muses and the Sirens. Severan period. 3rd C. AD. Athenas, Zeus and Hera, preside the musical. Detaill.

(Detail) from the Apotheosis of Homer, 3rd-century BC, marble relief, by Archelaus of Prieneis. The Apotheosis was a common scene in classical and neo-classical art, showing the poet Homer's elevation to divine status. Homer was the subject of a number of formal hero cults in classical antiquity.

Relief with centaur and mymph. White marble. 1st century AD. Rome, Via Prenestina. National Roman Museum (Baths of Diocletian). Rome. Italy.

Roman sarcophagus with the contest between The Muses and the Sirens. Severan period. 3rd C. AD. Athenas, Zeus and Hera, preside the musical. Detaill Siren, half woman and half bird.

Roman teacher with pupils. Romano-German period relief. GERMANY.

Sarcophagus decorated with the myth of medea. Detaill of Creusa death. Marble. 150-170 AD. Rome. National Roman Museum (Baths of Diocletian). Rome. Italy.

Arming of Telephus the son of Heracles, depicted on the Pergamum Altar in the Pergamum Museum in Berlin. It is a monumental construction built during the reign of King Eumenes 11 in the first half of the 2nd century BC on one of the terraces of the acropolis of the ancient city of Pergamum in Asia Minor. It is 35.64 meters wide and 33.4 meters deep. The front stairway is almost 20 meters wide. The base is decorated with a frieze in high relief showing the battle between the Giants and Olympian gods known as the Gigantomachy. In 1878 the German engineer Carl Human began official excavations on the acropolis of Pergamum. The excavation was undertaken in order to rescue the altar friezes and expose the foundation of the edifice. Later, other ancient structures on the acropolis were brought to light.

Relief with cupids fighting bulls, from Temple of Genetrix, Italy, Naples, National Archaeological Museum,

Roman art. Sarcophagus with Dionysian procession. Dancing maenad with satyr. Detail. Capitoline Museums. Rome. Italy.

SARCOFAGO. DETALLE. ROMANO S.IV. (DEPOSITO: MUSEO ARQUEOLOGICO NACIONAL).

Alhambra, wall of Carlos V Palace. Relief carving of a battle scene.

Turkey, Caria, Marble temple friese at archeological site of Nysa

Sarcophagus. Dionysus unveiling Arianna and dionysiac scenes. Marble. 160-180 Ad. Rome. Via Appia. National Roman Museum. Baths of Diocletian. Rome. Italy.

Triptolemus receiving wheat sheaves from Demeter and blessings from Persephone; 5th-century BC relief; National Archaeological Museum of Athens. Triptolemus; the son of Gaia and Oceanus is regarded as a representation of primordial man.

Etruscan cinerary urn with Eteocles and Polyneices (duel of the brothers) and Furies. 2nd century BC. Terracotta. Louvre Museum. Paris. France.

Italy, Calabria, Reggio Calabria, National Museum, Magna Grecia, Pinax From Mannella Sanctuary in Locri Epizefiri, Terracotta Votive Small Plank, Afrodite and Hermes.

Portonaccio sarcophagus. 180 AD. Batlle between Romans and Germanics in Marcomannics Wars. National Roman Museum. Palace Massimo. Rome. Italy.

Honorary decree. The content of the decree is not preserved. The relief depicts Ares, the God of war, crowning the honoree after a military victory. 4th century BC. Acropolis Museum. Athens. Greece.

Altar to Mars. A river god (the Tiber) is personified in the lower right. 1st C. From Ostia. National Roman Museum. Palace Massimo. Rome. Italy.

Sarcophagus decorated with a bust of the deceased and inscription of M. Claudianus, by Unknown artist, 330 - 335, 4th Century, marble. Italy: Lazio: Rome: Palazzo Massimo alle Terme: inv. 455. Detail. Left side of the sarcophagus depicting the procession of men at the funeral. Sarcophagus decorated with bust of the deceased and inscription of M. Claudianus. From Rome, Via della Lungara

Portonaccio sarcophagus. 180 AD. Batlle between Romans and Germanics in Marcomannics Wars. National Roman Museum. Palace Massimo. Rome. Italy.

Deatil of Trajans Column Rome 2013. Commenmorating Roman Emperor Trajans victory in the Dacian Wars.

Christian-Roman. Front of columnar sarcophagus with biblical scenes. 350-375 AD. Multiplication of the loaves and fishes. Miracle at Cana. Vaticans Museum. City of the Vatican.

Relief depicting Ulysses that breaks Circe's spell and regains his human form. From Chiusi, Siena province, Italy, Etruscan civilization

Italy, Abruzzo, Fossacesia, San Giovanni in Venere Abbey

Marble relief with Dionysus seated. 1st century AD. Roman bas relief. Neo Attic style. Naples archaeology Museum. Naples, Italy.

Adoration of the Magi, 13th century, stone carving, Santa Maria della Pieve, Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy, Europe

Sarcophagus. Drunken Dionysus held up by a Satyr and the Seasons. Marble. 4th century AD. Detail of farmers. Unknown provenance. National Roman Museum ( Baths of Diocletian). Rome, Italy.

Early Christian. Roman sarcophagus of Marcus Claudianus (330-335 AD). The Curing of the blind man, the prediction of Peter's denial of Christ and Resurection of Lazarus. Rome. National Museum of Rome. Massim Palace. Rome. Italy.

Danza baquica, siglo I antes de Cristo, arcilla con restos de policromia, Italia, coleccion Campana

Detail from the South Frieze of the Parthenon, Athens. Showing 6 horsemen and their horses. Greek, circa 443-438 BC

Relief depicting the Power of Government. On the right is a figure of Statecraft flanked by a defender of the Liberties and Rights of People. US Supreme Court, Washington DC. USA.

Columned sarcophagus. Euthios and Pyrrhon (Asian Archon). Roman period. 3rd cent. Laodicea. Private live. Hierapolis Museum. Turkey.

Relief from the Nereid Monument is a sculptured tomb from Xanthus in classical period Lycia, Turkey. It took the form of a Greek temple on top of a base decorated with sculpted friezes, and is thought to have been built in the early fourth century BC as a tomb for Arbinas, the Xanthian dynast who ruled western Lycia

Front panel the sarcophagus with biblical scenes. Carved in a Roman workshop, 4th c. AD. Abraham's sacrifice. Frederic Mares Museum. Barcelona, Spain.

Relief depicting Orpheus, Eurydice and Hermes, Roman copy after the original Greek work, marble

12 Apostles' sarcophagus. 5th century. Jesus, Paul and Peter and apostles. Sant'Apollinare in Classe. Ravenna. Italy.

Ten marble fragments of the Great Eleusinian Relief ca. 27 B.C.-A.D. 14 Roman National Museum, Athens. The ten fragments have been set into a cast of the original relief.Demeter, the goddess of agricultural abundance, stands at the left, clad in a peplos and himation (cloak) and holding a scepter. At the right is Persephone, her daughter and the wife of Hades, the god of the underworld. She is dressed in a chiton and himation. Each goddess extends her right hand toward a nude youth, but it is no longer possible to determine what they held. The boy is thought to be Triptolemos, who was sent by Demeter to teach men how to cultivate grain. On contemporary Athenian vases, he is usually shown as a bearded adult seated in a winged chariot about to set out on his civilizing mission. The original marble relief was found at the sanctuary of Demeter at Eleusis, the site of the Eleusinian mysteries, a secret cult that was famous throughout antiquity. The original Greek work and a number of Roman

Sarcophagus with Dionysian procession and drunken Dionysus 160-180 AD. Rome. National Roman Museum (Baths of Diocletian). Rome. Italy.

Gallo-Roman Endymion sarcophagus. Endymion sleeping, detail from a scene with the legend of Endymion and Selene. Panel of a marble sarcophagus, early 3rd century AD. Found in 1806 at Saint-Médard d'Eyrans, France

Polychrome terracotta relief depicting Ulysses and Penelope, 450 B.C.

Panel from a Casket with Scenes from Courtly Romances, c. 1330-50 or later. France, Lorraine, Gothic period, 14th century. Ivory; overall: 13 x 26.2 x 1 cm (5 1/8 x 10 5/16 x 3/8 in.). Among the most lavish and deluxe products of French ivory workshops of the 1300s were large caskets carved with elaborate scenes drawn from courtly romances. The panel shown here comes from such a casket. The largest panel (here) once formed the lid and depicts a tournament, the most splendid and romantic of knightly activities. Just to the right is a favorite allegory of chivalric love: knights assaulting the castle of love. These images suggesting chivalry, fertility, virginity, youth, and an idealized courtly love likely derive from manuscripts including the Roman de la Rose and the poems of Chrétien de Troyes. Such texts were often found within the libraries of the aristocracy, so the casket’s symbolic images would have been readily understood. Such caskets may have originally been gifts between a

Sarcophagus with the myth of Ulysses, by Unknown artist, 2nd Century, white marble, bas, relief. Italy: Campania: Naples: National Archaeological Museum. Detail. Sarcophagus women

Funerary relief. The deceased rests on a Kline, an animal figure. Limestone with traces of red paint. Second half of the fifth Century BC. Athienou, Nicosia

Triton the mythological Greek god, the messenger of the sea. He was the son of Poseidon and Amphitrite. depicted on the Pergamum Altar in the Pergamum Museum in Berlin. It is a monumental construction built during the reign of King Eumenes 11 in the first half of the 2nd century BC on one of the terraces of the acropolis of the ancient city of Pergamum in Asia Minor. It is 35.64 meters wide and 33.4 meters deep. The front stairway is almost 20 meters wide. The base is decorated with a frieze in high relief showing the battle between the Giants and Olympian gods known as the Gigantomachy. In 1878 the German engineer Carl Human began official excavations on the acropolis of Pergamum. The excavation was undertaken in order to rescue the altar friezes and expose the foundation of the edifice. Later, other ancient structures on the acropolis were brought to light.

Poseidon, Apollo and Artemis in the meeting of gods. East section of the Parthenon frieze, 5th century BC. Acropolis of Athens. Acropolis Museum. Athens. Greece.

Early Classical. Late Archaic. Satyr wielding a tree branch. Frieze block carved in relief, from the animal frieze that used to run around the top of the podium suporting Building G. Acropolis Xanthos. Lycia. Turkey. Made during the reigh of King Kuprlli (480-440BC). British Museum. London. England. United Kingdom.

Attic sarcophagus (2nd century). Pentelic marble. Decorated with relief depicting Atlanta with two hunters and hunting wild boar of Calydon with Meleager and Atalanta. Ayios Ioannis (Patras). National Archaeological Museum. Athens. Greece.

Italy, Sicily region, Agrigento, Cathedral of San Nicola, interior, Roman sarcophagus with the myth of Phaedra, detail: love sick Phaedra

Parthenon. North frieze. Block N X, figures 37-43. Procession of sacrifice. One man (38) ties a ribbon around his head. Another one (41) has his hair arranged in braids that cross at the nape of the neck. Attributed to Phidias and his workshop. Pentelic marble. 5th century BC. Acropolis Museum. Athens. Greece.

Europe, Greece. Leda and Swan (Zeus). Relief.

Roman art. Part of a front panel of a sarcophagus of a child with a chariot race in Circus Maximus. Marble. 130-192 century AD. Rome. Pio-Clementine Museum. Vatican Museums.

Pergamum Altar in the Pergamum Museum in Berlin. It is a monumental construction built during the reign of King Eumenes 11 in the first half of the 2nd century BC on one of the terraces of the acropolis of the ancient city of Pergamum in Asia Minor. It is 35.64 meters wide and 33.4 meters deep. The front stairway is almost 20 meters wide. The base is decorated with a frieze in high relief showing the battle between the Giants and Olympian gods known as the Gigantomachy. In 1878 the German engineer Carl Human began official excavations on the acropolis of Pergamum. The excavation was undertaken in order to rescue the altar friezes and expose the foundation of the edifice. Later, other ancient structures on the acropolis were brought to light.

Marble funerary naiskos (small temple). The young in the middle has been identified with Polydeukion, the favourite pupil of Herodes Atticus. The youth's nudity, the horse, and the snake that he is feeding characterize him as a hero. A young slave holds out his helmet. Middle of the 2nd century. It was found near the Monastery of Loukou, Arkadia. National Archaeological Museum of Athens, Greece.

Ancient Greece. Athens. Relief Fragment dedicated for a victory of the tribe Leontis in the anthippasia (cavalry battles), a contest reserved for Athenians at the Panathenaic Games. Early 4th century BC. Museum of the Ancient Agora. Athens, Greece.

Greece, Athens. Stage relief from the Theatre of Dionysus. Roman Age. 2nd century BC. Back of the stage. Relief depicting a scene from the myth of Dionysus.

Roman sarcophagus from Pozemia, c. 140. Detail of Centauromachya. National Roman Museum (Baths of Diocletian). Rome. Italy.

Early Christian. Roman sarcophagi. Shepherd between rams. Unknown. 3rd- 4th C. AD. Vatican Museums.

Etruscan. Cineray urns on podium. Chamber tomb of the Pruni family near Chiusi, Etruria. 200-100 B.C. Reliefs. Detail. Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Copenhagen. Denmark.

Bas-reliefs trouvés à Mantinée en trois plaques , Antiquities, Bas-reliefs, Goddesses, Muses Greek deities. Nicholas Catsimpoolas Collection

Front side of sarcophagus depicting child surrounded by Muses

Kopf, le Jugement de Salomon. Probably James Anderson (British, 1813 - 1877)

Sarcophagus of Julius Larcius Sabinus, with relief depicting Centaurs and Nikai, Monumental Cemetery of Pisa (UNESCO World Heritage Site, 1987), Tuscany, Italy, Roman civilization, 2nd century.

Amazon sarcophagus. Marble. Tel Mevorah. Roman Period. Early 3rd century AD. Batlle between the Amazons and the Greeks. Relief. The lid bears te unfinished images of the deceased and his wife. Rockefeller Archaeological Museum. Jerusalem. Israel.

Account of the Treasurers of the goddess Athena for the years 377-376 and 376-375 BC. Relief depicting a bearded man (Erechtheus) seated on a rock and part of a female figure moving swiftly to the left. Acropolis Museum. Athens. Greece.

Mithras, ancient Persian god of light and ruler of universe, slaying the bull. Roman marble sculpture. AD100-150, Vienna, Kunsthistorische Museum.

Roman civilization. Marble sarcophagus with Apollo playing lyre and Muse with trumpet

Depicted here are two more bulls with their young himation-clad drivers on each side (137-140). The second from left (138) stands in the frontal pose. turning his head and raising his hand to adjust the fillet on his head

Roman art. Sarcophagus. Detail reliefs. Student with writing wax tablet and stylus, along with their teacher. Vatican Museums. Vatican City.

Germany, castrum of Mainz, Relief from the base of a column representing legionaries attacking

'Tomb Relief of Aristobulus'. Ancient Greece, 2nd century BC. Dimensions: h. 98 cm. Museum: State Hermitage, St. Petersburg.

Damia Forment (1480-1540). Spanish sculptor. Cathedral of Santo Domingo de la Calzada. Main Altarpiece, 1537-40. Detail. Saint Dominic releasing the captives. Spain.

Votive relief with Ares and Aphrodite

Augustus, (63 B.C.-14 D.C.). First emperor of the Roman Empire. Augustus of Prima Porta. White marble statue. 1st century. Detail of the breastplate carved in relief depicting the return of the Roman legionary eagles lost to Parthis by Mark Anthony (40s B.C.) and by Crassus (53 B.C.). Braccio Nuovo. Chiaramonti Museum. Vatican Museum. Vatican City.

Sarcophagus in the Terme Museum, National Museum of Rome, Lazio, Italy, Europe

Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. Tomb of Mausolus. Turkey. Amazon frieze. 350 BC. British Museum. London.

Pedestal of a funerary monument. Relief of Hermes as a guide of souls. Attic style. 5th century BC. Athens. National Archaeological Museum, Greece.

Cain, detail from Stories of Genesis, by Wiligelmus (active ca 1099-1120), marble bas-relief, facade of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption and Saint Geminianus (UNESCO World Heritage List, 1997), Modena, Emilia Romagna. Italy, 12th century.

Mercat central,detalle arquitectonico.Valencia.Comunidad Valenciana.España.

Marble sarcophagus, Relief depicting Prometheus myth, Detail, one of the Parcae or Fates spinning thread, From Arles

Iran, Shiraz, Persepolis. Persepolis aka Takht-e Jamshid or Throne of Jamshid. Bas relief carvings remain one of the highlights of this ruined capital of the Achaemenian Empire started by Darius I.

Relief portraying opening of will, magistrate sitting on curule seat (sella curulis) while togaed figure hands him some tablets

Satrap Sarcophagus. Second half of the 5th century BC. Achaemenid dynasty. Relief depicting The Departure. The satrap sitting on the throne, with a tiara on his head and the scepter in his hand, preceded by a young man driving a chariot. Marble. Sidon Royal Necropolis. Chamber Vi. Archaeological Museum. Istanbul, Turkey.

Marble votive relief dedicated to goddess Artemis Bendis. Made in Athens about 400-375 BC. From Piraeus, Attica.

Deatil of Trajans Column Rome 2013. Commenmorating Roman Emperor Trajans victory in the Dacian Wars.

ARTE ROMANO. ASIA MENOR. Fragmento de un friso del s. II d. C. donde se representa un GIGANTOMAQUIA. A la izquierda, la DIOSA ATENEA ATACANDO A DOS GIGANTES que en lugar de piernas tienen serpientes. Procedente de Afrodisia (Turquía). Museos Arqueológicos (Museo de las Antigüedades). Estambul. Turquía.

Aimé-Jules Dalou (1838-1902). "Fisherman". Patinated plaster, between 1895 and 1898. Museum of Fine Arts of the City of Paris, Petit Palais. Fishing, fisherman, patterned patina, fish, wearing

Sarcophagus with relief representing a lion hunt, from Barcelona, 2nd century. Museum: Museo Arqueológico Nacional, Madrid.

Frieze of the Mausoleum. Dated 350 BC

The Parthenon frieze. East side. 447-432BC. Greek Classical period. Part of the central section of the east frieze.

Italy, Sicily, Syracuse, Sarcophagus of Adelfia, wife of the magistrate Valerio, from the catacombs of San Giovanni

Early Christian. Roman sarcophagus of Marcus Claudianus (330-335 AD). The miracle at Cana and Orant (or possibly Mary at Cana). Via della Lungara next S. Giacomo, Rome. National Museum of Rome. Massim Palace. Rome. Italy.

Circular Altar with Hermes and Pallas Athena, 100 BC-AD 100. Roman, said to be from Corfu, Greece. Marble; overall: 80 x 53.3 x 22.9 cm (31 1/2 x 21 x 9 in.).

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