Odysseus and Bellerophon reliefs - article ; n°1 ; vol.82, pg 27-46

Brian B.Shefton

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Bulletin de correspondance hellénique - Année 1958 - Volume 82 - Numéro 1 - Pages 27-46
20 pages
Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.

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• Publié par: BULLETIN_DE_CORRESPONDANCE_HELLENIQUE
• Publié le: 01 janvier 1958
• Nombre de lectures: 42
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

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Brian B. Shefton
Odysseus and Bellerophon reliefs
In: Bulletin de correspondance hellénique. Volume 82, 1958. pp. 27-46.
Citer ce document / Cite this document :
Shefton Brian B. Odysseus and Bellerophon reliefs. In: Bulletin de correspondance hellénique. Volume 82, 1958. pp. 27-46.
doi : 10.3406/bch.1958.2333
http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/bch_0007-4217_1958_num_82_1_2333AND BELLEROPHON RELIEFS ODYSSEUS
(Plates I-IV)
P. Jacobslhal in memoriam.
I
The first of the two fragmentary Melian reliefs published here (1)
(plate II, 2, and fig. 3) is not entirely unknown, for a description together
with an engraving appeared in Froehner's Catalogue of the Collection
H. Hoffmann, Paris, Sale 15th May 1899 (2), where it was stated to have
been found in the Piraeus. Jacobsthal in his Die Melischen Reliefs (3)
took note of it, but regarded it as a forgery. Evidently he onl^ knew
the engraving, as the whereabouts of the object after the sale was unknown.
In December 1955 it was seen in the shop of a well known antique dealer
in Paris and was photographed. Since then it has become inaccessible
once more. Even so, or perhaps all the more, it ought to be published
now, before it is forgotten again (4).
We see a man, dressed in a chiton and a wrap, or cloak, thrown over
his back and shoulders and reaching down his middle. His left hand
(1) I had much help and kindness from Mme Mollard of the Louvre for which I am very
grateful. I also owe to her the photographs of all the Louvre pieces as well as the relief in
Nantes. I had the advantage of being able to discuss technical points with R. A. Higgins of
the British Museum and with R. V. Nicholls who was good enough to pass on to me a number
of important observations on the terracottas, and whose acute criticism forced me to think
again on several issues. I also enjoyed much profitable consultation with my colleague
John Dunn, the potter. To all these my thanks.
Mel. Rel. stands for P. Jacobsthal, Die Melischen Reliefs, Berlin, 1931 ; ARVîor J. D. Beazley,
Attic Red-Figure Vase-Painters, Oxford, 1942; FR for Furtwàngler and Reichhold, Griechische
Vasenmalerei, Munich, 1904-1932.
(2) No. 129, engraving on p. 43.
(3) Op. cit., p. 94.
(4) The following details are based upon notes taken when I saw the relief in Paris. Yellow
reddish clay. Thickness 0.4-0.6 cm. Dimension of straight line from top right edge of upper
fold of garment at neck down to bottom right edge of chiton 8.6 cm. Original edge preserved
everywhere except at neck, where the head is alien, and the area of fracture extending from
the right elbow to the thighs. 28 Β. Β. SHEFTON
holds suspended on a thong (visible across the outside of the knuckles)
a tramp's outfit, a reeded mug, a full wineskin (1), and remnants of a
bread bag. Below and to the left of the there is preserved part
of his staff. The beardless head covered writh a hat is alien and must have
been added by a modern restorer.
If we compare our terracotta with the well known Melian relief of
Odysseus and Penelope in the Louvre, CA 860, (plate I) (2), we shall see at
once the close correspondences which enable us to put a name to our
hero, and restore the action of the scene, Odysseus in front of Penelope.
Before pursuing this comparison, we must however turn aside for a moment
to notice a curious terracotta relief in the British Museum (B 372), which
turns out to be a modern forgery moulded from our relief. A glance at
a picture of the piece (3) will make this relationship clear. The lower
edge of the break of our Odysseus can be discerned as an impression on
the forgery, and the fold ridges on the left stop where our relief breaks off !
The utter disintegration of form below that point is due to the forger's
independent completion of the figure. We can however be grateful for
his efforts, because his work by implication takes the history of our
fragment back as far as 1883, the year of the acquisition of the copy by
the British Museum (4) ; it also shows that by this time the alien head had
already been attached by the restorer.
The genuineness of our fragment is beyond doubt. The treatment
of its 'hack (5) (fig. 3) corresponds with that of other Melian reliefs (6)
and differs in every way from such forgeries as the London relief just
(1) This may have hung from his arm independently. There is a line joining it with the
wrist, unless it is part of his staff.
(2) Mel. Bel., pi. 51 and pi. 64 b (back) ; S. Mollard-Besques, Catalogue raisonné des figurines
et reliefs en terre-cuite, I, Paris 1954, pi. 73, C 105.
(3) II. B. Walters, Catalogue of Terracottas, London 1903, pi. 20, bottom right; Mel. Eel.,
pi. 75 b.
(4) It was the gift of Cecil Torr, who had bought it in a shop in the Piraeus, see for this
II. B. Walters [op. cit. above note 3), p. 134. The piece has not been included by R. A. Higgins
in his recent Catalogue of the British Museum Terracottas.
(5) The upper portion of the back is covered with a modern deposit due to the restorer
who attached the head, and must be ignored. There is a similar on the right extremity
suggesting that the restorer had been busy there too.
(6) See e.g. Mel. Rel., p. 103, fig. 22, and pi. 64, b ; also Bull. Metropolitan Museum XXVII,
1932, p. 45, fig. 2. In the text there and in AJA XXXVI, 1932, p. 205, Miss Richter has
undoubtedly found the correct explanation for the markings on the back of most reliefs : "The
ridges are due to the removal of the excess clay by means of a string pulled in rotary motion,
the deeper ridges being caused by dragged impurities in the clay or unevennesses in the string ".
Particularly compelling is the evidence of the back of the Louvre Odysseus relief {Mel. Bel.,
pi. 64 b; here fig. 1). The fanlike pattern there is just what happens when the direction of
the pull is varied to avoid dragging the clay along in one direction and so cause deformation of
the relief. The string is not however used universally. The back of the Louvre Pegasus
[Mel. Bel., no. 83; here fig. 2) shows the marks of the craftsman's hands working the clay into
the mould, after the excess clay had been removed. (I have had here the expert advice of my
friend and colleague John Dunn.) ODYSSEUS AND BELLEROPHON RELIEFS 29
■,/;j,||1i|p| ! rJf/i
Fig. 1. — Back of relief in Louvre (Odysseus and Penelope).
British and discussed finally Museum (1) the the nature Β style 372, of of also its the relationship, speaks figure work for its just bears genuineness. elucidated, the stamp with of authenticity the forgery
But what of its relationship with the Melian relief of Odysseus and
(1) Cf. Mel. Bel., pi. 65 b. 30 Β. Β. SHEFTON
Penelope in the Louvre? The differences between the two reliefs are
apparent. Odysseus in the Louvre is naked, except for his cloak, ours
wears a chiton as well. The relief is in open work with most of
the background cut away, ours has the background filled in. Against
these differences however the resemblances are all the more striking.
The attitude is identical and the details of modelling can be matched,
such as the two folds running down the cloak covering the farther shoulder,
the muscles along the thigh, and above all the minutiae of the objects held
by Odysseus in his left hand. In fact one relief helps to interpret the
other in these details (1).
The Louvre relief must have come first. Ours is an exact replica
with additions due to remodelling. Amongst indications of the priority
in time of the Louvre relief only one need be picked out. The genitals
of Odysseus on our relief should not of course be showing, since he is
dressed in a chiton; they are rightly exposed on the Louvre
Odysseus. When the remodelling was done, the artist evidently did not
obliterate those parts but left a vague opening in the dress, which has no
basis in reality; though he did not mind adding to the original, he did not,
or could not take away. These observations, and particularly the last
one, lead to one conclusion only, namely that the remodelling of the
Odysseus was done by working on a baked mould, indeed on the original
mould of the Louvre relief (2). This would account for the way the
chiton is drawn, the outlines and folds in ridges (i.e., furrows incised into
the mould), a minimum of modelling and nowhere any advancing below
the surface plane of the original positive (hence no obliteration of the
genitals, as this would have required filling in of a hollow in the baked
mould, which is technically impossible) (3). A certain lack of fluidity of
(1) The objects are a reeded mug (" oinochoe shape 8 ", cf. ARV, p. ix), a small wineskin
full to bursting, and a bag, no doubt for solid food. This latter object, all but lost on our relief,
is fully visible on the Louvre plaque. For the manner of carrying the wineskin compare the
Ilerakles on the Andokides painter's Boston amphora {ARV, p. 2, no. 10; good pictures now
in J. D. Beazley, Development of Attic Black-Figure, Berkeley, 1951, pi. 34-5). The same triad
of the tramp's baggage, cup, wineskin and bread container, is carried by Odysseus on the Chiusi
skyphos by the Penelope painter {ARV, p. 721, no. 2).
(2) The case for a reworking of the