Classical Sculptural Reliefs

Remarkable reliefs and carvings representing mythological and historical themes, reflecting artistic achievements from ancient to medieval times.

Banquet scene. Roman period. Miletus.

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.

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

Martyrdom of St Emerenziana, 1660. By Ercole Ferrata

Column of Marcus Aurelius (Barbarian Embassy) circa 180-192 A.D.

Naked Adam, romanic cloister, Royal Monastery of San Juan de la Pena, Botaya, Huesca, Aragon, Spain, Europe

Nativity. Culture: French. Dimensions: Overall: 8 1/2 x 12 1/2 in. (21.6 x 31.8 cm). Date: 14th century. Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.

Italy, Calabria, Reggio Calabria, National Museum, Magna Grecia, Pinax from Mannella Sanctuary in Locri Epizefiri, Terracotta Votive Small Plank, Kidnapping of Kore.

PAVIA , BATALLA DE. REINADO DE CARLOS I , AÑO 1525. COMBATE ENTRE CARLOS I DE ESPAÑA Y FRANCISCO I DE FRANCIA EL 23-24 DE FEBRERO DE 1525. RELIEVE DEL ZOCALO DE LA FACHADA DEL PALACIO DE CARLOS V ( I DE ESPAÑA ) EN GRANADA.

Bacchanalian Relief, AD 1-100. Pakistan, Gandhara, Buner area, early Kushan period (AD 1-320). Schist; overall: 17.1 x 44.5 cm (6 3/4 x 17 1/2 in.).

Relief depicting the figure of Solon and a representation of the Light of Wisdom. At the right is Draco. Solon (c.638 c.558 BC) was an Athenian statesman, lawmaker, and poet. Draco (fl. c. 7th century BC) was the first recorded legislator of Athens in Ancient Greece. US Supreme Court, Washington DC. USA.

The Apocalypse. Ernst Alpers (German, active Hannover, Germany about 1867)

Stucco relief (Roman) depicting a female figure. 1st Century AD

Honorary decree. Athens grants the title of proxenos (consul) and benefactor to a citizen of Croton (South Italy). The relief depicts the Goddess Athena and possibly, Asclepios. Ca. 330 BC. Acropolis Museum. Athens. Greece.

FRISO OCCIDENTAL DEL PARTENON -CABALGATA DE CABALLEROS - SIGLO V AC. Author: PHIDIAS. Location: ACROPOLIS. ATHENS. GREECE.

Child's sarcopaghus. Surrounded by women, the mother sits on a throne chair nursing her infant while the nurse bathes a child; in the background the three Fates work the threads of the child's alloted life. Vatican Museums (Chiaramonti).

Reliefs of Osuna. 3rd-2nd centuries BC. Ashlar of Group A. Reliefs depicting a ritualized battle between two young men, accompanied by processions to the sound of the music. Ashlar with a woman playing a flute or auletris. Iberian culture. Osuna (Seville province, Andalusia, Spain). National Archaeological Museum. Madrid. Spain.

ARTE ROMANO. SARCOFAGO DE HIPOLITO. MUSEO ARQUEOLOGICO DE TARRAGONA.

Roman era. Sarcophagus of a child. Marble. 3rd cent. AD. From Appian Way. Rome. Vatican Museums. Pio-Clementine Museum. Octogonal Court.

Roman art. Society. Slave washing feet woman, before wedding ceremony. Relief. 2nd century. National Roman Museum. Palazzo Altemps. Rome. Italy.

Side view, Roman Phaedra Hippolytus sarcophagus, Sarcofago romano, Fedra e Ippolito, 2nd c., Antiquity, Camposanto Monumentale, Miracles Square, Piazza dei Miracoli also Campo dei Miracoli, Piazza del Duomo, Pisa, Tuscany, Italy, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Europe

(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.

Frise du Parthenon.. Dimitrios Constantin (Greek, active 1858 - 1860s)

Portonaccio Sarcophagus, by Unknown artist, 180 - 190, 2nd Century, medium grain white marble. Italy: Lazio: Rome: Palazzo Massimo alle Terme: Sala XII - inv. 112327. Detail. Portonaccio Sarcophagus front battle figures prisoner woman soldiers lances/spears shields

Egypt - Tall al-Amarnah (Amarna, Tell el-Amarna), necropolis. Tomb of Merire. Detail, relief. De AgostiniUIGEverett Collection (938_05_86003104)

Alhambra Carlos V marble wall sculptures in Granada of Andalusia Spain

Marble sarcophagus with relief depicting Achilles at court of King Lycomedes, 240 a.d. circa, detail of Achilles wearing armor

Capital with the Temptation of Jesus. Culture: North French. Dimensions: Overall: 10 5/8 x 11 3/4 x 11 3/4 in. (27 x 29.8 x 29.8 cm)weight: 76lb. (34.5kg). Date: ca. 1175-1200.Probably originating from a cloister arcade, this capital depicts the temptations of Jesus. The narrative order is not sequential: the Devil tempts Jesus to change stones into bread; the Devil tempts Jesus with the kingdoms of the world; the Devil carries Jesus on his back to the top of the Temple; the Devil tempts Jesus to cast himself from the top of the Temple. The naturalism of the capital's forms, the antique character of the fluid drapery defining the anatomy of the figures, and the lively narrative quality of the presentation are all hallmarks of the emerging Gothic style. Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.

wolf, cloister of the Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes, Toledo, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain.

Detail of the Sarcophagus of Leocadi. 5th. Moses receiving the tables of law. Museum: Museu Nacional Arqueològic, Tarragona.

Detail of a relief of Imperial guards, (Apadana, East staircase) at Persepolis.

Triptolemos in Demter's throne Greek relief.

Wall frieze depicting a triumphal march. Assyrian, about 865-860 BC From Nimrud, North-West Palace, Iraq. Chariots, with the standards of Assyrian gods, return victorious to camp. In front of them some Assyrian soldiers play catch with enemy heads

Sculpted keystone depicting Juno and Jupiter, detail of the Arch of Dativius Victor (replica), Mogontiacum, Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Roman civilization, 3rd century AD.

Greek Art. Artemis and Kephisos with three nymphs. Marble. Votive relief, 410 BC. From Phaleron. National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Greece.

Adam and Expulsion from Paradise, capital of the cloister. Monastery of San Juan de la Peña (12th-13th centuries). Serrablo. Huesca. Spain.

Funerary stele of Knight Flavio Basso stationed in Noricum

Close-up of sculptures on a wall

In the left section of the scene, Poseidon holding a trident and Apollo holding a laurel branch with the other. beside them sit two sister divinities, Artemis and Aphrodite. Parthenon Frieze Athens

Arte fenicio. Estela funeraria, caliza, 475-450 a. C. procedente de Golgoi, Chipre. Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Plaque with Scenes at Emmaus. Culture: Carolingian. Dimensions: Overall: 4 9/16 x 9 1/4 x 1/4 in. (11.5 x 23.5 x 0.6 cm). Date: ca. 850-900.Among the finest ivory carvings in the Cloisters collection, this plaque depicts Christ's appearance to two of his disciples after his Resurrection. Christ, who is distinguished by his halo, meets the disciples along the road to the town of Emmaus, near Jerusalem. As described in the Gospel of Luke (24:13-35), although not recognizing Christ, they urge him to stay in town with them. Once within Emmaus, they finally recognize him as he breaks bread for their shared evening meal. Judging from the horizontal format and the recesses along the top edge to accommodate hinges, this plaque once served as the back panel of a small coffret. Originally, the recessed images of birds and flowers in the border were filled with gold foil. Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.

German or South Netherlandish 17th Century, The Triumph of Poverty, c 1600 The Triumph of Poverty

Delphi, Greece. North frieze of the Treasury of the Siphnians. The twins Artemis and Apollo fightig with Giant. 530-480 BC. Delphi Archaeological museum. Greece.

Fragment of a Frieze with the Miracle of Loaves and Fishes 6th-7th century On this heavily damaged stone, Christ sits enthroned under an arch, extending his right hand toward twelve baskets. Saint Mark the Evangelist (6:33-44) wrote that from a meager five loaves and two fish, Christ was able to feed a crowd of five thousand peoplewith twelve baskets of food left over, as here. In this depiction, angels stand to Christ’s left and right; beyond them, apostles or saints carry books in their left hand and gesture with their right as if speaking or preaching.. Fragment of a Frieze with the Miracle of Loaves and Fishes 454052

England, London, British Museum, Elgin Marbles, Reliefs depicting Horsemen

Archaic metope showing Actaeon and Artemis, 5th century BC. Artist: Unknown

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.

TURKEY. Bergama. Pergamon. Relief with mythological scene (3rd-2nd c. BC). Greek art. Relief on marble.

SARCOFAGO PALEOCRISTIANO-MULTIPLICACION PANES. Location: MUSEO ARQUEOLOGICO-COLECCION. CORDOBA. SPANIEN.

Italy. Rome. Forum of Nerva. Built in 85-97 A.C. It was started by Emperor Domitian but officially completed and opened by his successor, Nerva. It is also referred to as the Transient Forum (Forum Transitorium). Entablature. Detail showing scenes of myth of Arachne.

Early Christian. Roman sarcophagus of Marcus Claudianus (330-335 AD). Curing ot the blind man. Via della Lungara next S. Giacomo, Rome. National Museum of Rome. Massim Palace. Rome. Italy.

Fragment pilaster with dancing boys, pilaster ornament building component sandstone stone, sculpted

Arula (small altar) depicting winged Nike, terracotta unearthed in Centocamere, Calabria, Italy. Ancient Greek civilization, Magna Graecia, 5th Century BC.

Alexander Sarcophagus. 4th century BC. Long side depicting Alexander and the Macedonians hunting lions with Abdalonymus and the Persians. Pentelic marble. From the Royal Necropolis of Sidon. Archaeological Museum. Istanbul. Turkey.

Grave stele of Eupheros depicting an young athlete holding a strigil. Ca. 430 BC. Marble. Archaeological Museum of Kerameikos. Athens. Greece.

Roman Art. Sarcophagus with Dionysus and Ariadne. Marble. C. 200 A.C. From Vigna Casali, Rome. Carlsberg Glyptotek Museum. Copenhagen. Denmark.

Relief with the Seer Calchas. Unknown

Marble cinerary urn. Culture: Roman. Dimensions: Overall: 14 1/4 x 21 1/4 x 16 1/8 in. (36.2 x 54 x 41 cm). Date: 1st half of 1st century A.D..This Roman cinerary urn is highly unusual in having the spoils of war as its principal theme. Despite the fragmentary nature of the piece, the trophies and piles of weapons and armor that cover the back and sides of the rectilinear box are very striking. In both detail and composition, the panels are representative of high-quality workmanship, suggesting that the work was a special commission. Sadly, much of the front, where the inscription recording the name of the deceased would have been, is missing. The urn is said to have been excavated from a tomb near Anagni, southeast of Rome, in 1899. Other marble funerary urns in the Museum's collection (see 96.9.222a, b; 25.78.29; and 27.122.2a, b; on display in the courtyard) belong to much more common types of Roman funerary art, cinerary urns that either resemble actual receptacles (vases or bask

The Death of the Buddha. AD100-300 Ancient Gandhara. The Buddha lies on a couch. This is the moment of passing into the great nirvana, the final release from the cycle of rebirth. Behind the deathbed are grieving local princes.

ROMAN SCULPTURE - THE OCULIST.

Relief of a centaur and Lapith fighting, The Bassai Sculptures, Temple of Apollo, Bassae, Greece. Artist: Unknown

SEPULCRO DE SIXTO IV - ALEGORIA DE LA DIALECTICA - SIGLO XV. Author: ANTONIO DE POLLAIOLO (1432-1498). Location: BASILICA DE SAN PEDRO-INTERIOR. VATICANO.

Altar. Relief. Myth of Cleobi and Bitone. Marble. Imperial Age. Rome. National Roman Museum. Baths of Diocletian. Rome. Italy.

Roman art. Early Christian. Feeding the multitude. Miracles of Jesus. Relief. Sarcophagus. Vatican Museums.

""Mourners Sarcophagus"", marble, from the royal necropolis of Sidon, Lebanon. Detail, wives of Strabo I, king of Sidon.

Great Eleusinian relief , Bas-reliefs, Antiquities, Goddesses, Gods, Triptolemus Greek mythology, Demeter Greek deity, Persephone Greek deity. Nicholas Catsimpoolas Collection

Bacchus childhood. 1st-2nd centuries AD. Relief depicting Mercury carrying Bacchus child in arms who reaches out his hands. Marble. From Rome (Italy). National Archaeological Museum. Madrid. Spain.

Relief portraying legionnaires mounting assault

Roman frieze showing centaur, mythological creature with the head, arms, and torso of a human and the body and legs of a horse

CLAUSTRO ROMANICO DE LA CATEDRAL DE GERONA - DETALLE DE UNA IMPOSTA - CONSTRUCCION DE UN TEMPLO:OBREROS TRANSPORTANDO UN BARRIL - SIGLO XII. Location: CATEDRAL DE SANTA MARIA-INTERIOR. GERONA. SPAIN.

FACHADA-BASAMENTO CON HERCULES. Location: EXTERIOR. ONATE. Guipuzcoa. SPAIN.

Bas-relief with a view of the Portus Augustis, circa 200, The Torlonia Marbles. Collecting Masterpieces, Gallerie d'Italia, Milan, Lombardy, Italy, Europed. C.

Sarcophagus of the Oresteia. Mid-2nd century AD. Reliefs depicting the revenge of Orestes: the death of Clytemnestra and the traitor Aegisthus, the arrival of the hero at Delphi and his appearance before the Athenian court at the Areopagus, where he will be acquitted. Marble. From Husillos (Palencia province, Castile and Leon, Spain). National Archaeological Museum. Madrid. Spain.

Doge's Palace, corner capital Noah's Drunkenness with his sons Shem (covering Noah's nakedness with a cloth) and Ham, Venice, Italy, Europe

The Battle of the Kings, (undated pre-1928). Arthur Joseph Gaskin (d.1928)

Detail from the Parthenon Frieze. Greek marble sculpture, made between 443-438 BC. The full frieze shows a narrative procession of men, women & horses.

Grave Stele of Herophanta and Posideos. Unknown

Greek art. Funerary relief of Aristobala. Farewell scene. 3rd century BC. Marble. The state Hermitage Museum. Saint Petersburg. Russia.

Greek civilization, Gigantomachy, detail of north side of frieze of Siphnian Treasury, circa 525 BC

Alhambra Carlos V marble wall sculptures in Granada of Andalusia Spain

Five Good Emperors, Relief representing the Emperor Marcus Aurelius (Marcus Annius Verus, 121 - 180 A.D.) on his triumphal chariot, imperial age

DETALLE DEL TIMPANO DE LA PUERTA DEL RELOJ - SIGLO XIV - GOTICO ESPAÑOL. Location: CATEDRAL-EXTERIOR. Toledo. SPAIN.

France, Bouches-du-Rhone, Marseille. Carved stone figurines, Abbaye St-Victor

Turkey, Istanbul. Detail from Lycian sarcophagus in the Archeological Museum of Istanbul

Pergamon Altar. Built by order of Eumenes II Soter. 164-156 BC. Marble and limestone. Gigantomachy. South frieze. The three-faceted goddess Hecate fighting with a torch, a sword and a lance against the giant Klytios. Next to her is Artemis (she doesn't appear) fighting with a bow and arrow against a Giant who is perhaps Otos (he doesn't appear). Her hunting dog kills another Giant with a bite to the neck. Pergamon Museum. Berlin. Germany.

Roman Art. Italy. Ara Pacis Augustae. Tellus panel. Relief depicting Tellus nursing Romulus and Remus. Dated 13 BC. Museum of the Ara Pacis. Rome. Italy.

SARCOFAGO PALEOCRISTIANO DE BRIVIESCA (QUINTANA BUREBA). DEPOSITO: MUSEO PROVINCIAL DE BURGOS.

SEGOVIA SANTA MARIA LA REAL DE NIEVA IGLESIA DE NUESTRTA SEÑORA DE LA SOTARREÑA CLAUSTRO DETALLE CAPITEL CAZA DEL OSO.

Relief portraying legionnaire in typical armor of order, from Cuma, Campania Region, Italy

Byzantine warriors. Byzantine ivory. 11th cent. TURKEY.

Saint-Trophime church tympanum The damned

The Deposition. Artist: Leonhard Kern (German, Forchtenberg, Hohenlohe 1588-1662 Schwäbisch Hall). Culture: German, Schwäbisch Hall. Dimensions: Overall: 12 13/16 × 10 1/8 in. (32.5 × 25.7 cm). Date: ca. 1640-50.Despite the ravages of the Thirty Years War, Leonhard Kern's shop in Schwäbisch Hall flourished, producing statuettes and small reliefs of high quality in boxwood, ivory, and alabaster. They extended the precepts of Renaissance art deep into the seventeenth century, thanks to Kern's memories of his study in Italy (1609-12) and his emulation of Italian masters such as Giambologna. To the latter he may owe the V-shaped cleft in the mountains that part in this scene to reveal Jerusalem and to enframe the Holy Women above center, as well as the rectilinear cluster of figures at right that include Joseph of Arimathea, carrying a stack of linens and directing the preparation of the dead Christ's body for burial. Yet these are not strict quotations and the design, characteristically

Dionysiac marble relief, in Herculaneum in Rome, discovered in 2009, Italy, Naples, Neapolitan National Archeological Museum

Carlos V palace - relief on the facade, The Alhambra, Granada, Region of Andalusia, Spain, Europe.

scene of the conquest of Majorca,Memorial Cross landing in Gran Via de la Creu. Santa Ponça, It was inaugurated in 1929, on the occasion of the commemoration of the seventh anniversary of the conquest, Calvia, Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain.

Historic coffins in the crypt of Palermo Cathedral, Sicily, Italy, Europe

Roman sarcophagus. Tyre. Legend of Achilles. Priam kneeling before Achilles for body of his son Hector. 2nd century AD. Marble. National Museum of Beirut, Lebanon

A lenos sarcophagus with processus consularis. Roman. 270 AD. National Roman Museum. Palace Massimo. Rome. Italy.

Tombstone. Heroized horseman. Mid-3rd century AD. From Brestnik, Plovdiv region, Bulgaria. National Archaeological Museum. Sofia. Bulgaria.

Marble sarcophagus with the myth of Selene and Endymion early 3rd century A.D. Roman An inscription at the center of the lid informs us that this trough-shaped sarcophagus was dedicated to a woman named Arria, who lived fifty years and ten months, by her daughter Aninia Hilara. Arrias portrait is carved just to the right of the inscription. The story of Endymion is shown in strongly undercut relief on the front of the sarcophagus. In the center, Selene, the moon goddess, alights from her chariot to visit her beloved, the shepherd Endymion, who reclines at the right. Endymion, most beautiful of men, has been granted eternal youth and eternal sleep. A female figure stands over him, pouring out the magic potion of immortality and holding a bunch of sleep-inducing poppies. The scene is flanked on the left end of the sarcophagus by a rising Helios, the sun god, and on the right by a descending Selene, each in a chariot. On the back, a bucolic scene with herdsmen among grazing bulls and uny

Roman civilization, Relief with Marcus Curtius on horseback leaping into chasm Lacus Curtius

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