A limestone relief depicting the profile of a man with one leg up. He carries a small bowl in each hand. He wears a shirt that goes down to his knees.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
Unable to open [object Object]: HTTP 0 attempting to load TileSource: https://ids.lib.harvard.edu/ids/iiif/47915592/info.json
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

A rectangular limestone relief depicting the profile of a man with one leg bent up. He faces towards the viewer’s left. He holds up two small bowls, one in each hand. He wears a shirt that goes down to his knees with a sash around his waist. His head and chin are covered in a snug headpiece. The entire piece is grey colored and there is wear along the edges.

Gallery Text

The figures depicted here—carrying bowls, trays, and young animals—once lined the stairways of buildings, effectively ascending alongside visitors. Each person wears a cap that also covers part of the face, along with tight-fitting riding gear or a long robe. The figures are usually interpreted as attendants bringing provisions for the royal table but sometimes are considered cult personnel bringing sacrificial offerings.

The motif was introduced by the site’s first builder, King Darius I. A photograph from the early 1880s shows that the two fragments on the left (1943.1065 and 1943.1066) come from the Palace of Darius. The fragment at right (1943.1311) is carved in the more linear style of the fourth century BCE and can be traced back to building efforts of King Artaxerxes III. Such continuity in the sculptural program allowed later rulers to align themselves with powerful predecessors.

Fragments from Persepolis

Persepolis (City of the Persians) is the Greek name for one of the capitals of the Achaemenid Persian empire (c. 550–330 BCE). The Persians called it Parsa—like the people and the region at the empire’s heart, today’s Fars province in Iran. Especially significant to ancient Persian identity, the city is a key site for Achaemenid archaeology. The empire was the last of the great Middle Eastern empires before Alexander’s conquest, extending from Egypt in the west to the Indus Valley in the east. The massive terrace at Persepolis contained monumental stairs, gate buildings, audience halls, residences, and a treasury; royal tombs were carved into nearby cliffs. The walls were of mud brick, but stairways, doorways, and columns were made of limestone and decorated with sculpture in relief and in the round. Subject peoples from across the empire contributed materials, labor, and know-how to the building efforts, and the site’s architecture and sculpture incorporated motifs from conquered regions. The result was a unified visual representation of Achaemenid kingship and empire.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.1066
Title
Relief Fragment: Attendant with Bowls
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture
Date
reign of King Darius I, 522–486 BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia, Persepolis (Persia)
Period
Achaemenid period
Culture
Achaemenid
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/291168

Location

Location
Level 3, Room 3440, Ancient Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Art, Ancient Middle Eastern Art in the Service of Kings
View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Limestone
Technique
Relief
Dimensions
76.2 cm h x 41.5 cm w x 12 cm d (30 x 16 5/16 x 4 3/4 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
From the Palace of Darius (east stairs of south facade), Persepolis (Iran). [E. Sassoon, Paris,(by 1935)], sold; to [Brummer Gallery, Inc, New York, (1935-1936)], sold; to Grenville L. Winthrop, New York, (1931-1943), bequest; to Fogg Art Museum, 1943.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.1066
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

THIS WORK MAY NOT BE LENT BY THE TERMS OF ITS ACQUISITION TO THE HARVARD ART MUSEUMS.

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Publication History

  • Eric Schroeder, "Relief Sculptures from Persepolis", Bulletin of the Fogg Art Museum (1943), Vol. 10, No. 2, 44-45, p. 44.
  • Dorothy W. Gillerman, ed., Grenville L. Winthrop: Retrospective for a Collector, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, 1969), p. 256 (checklist).

Exhibition History

  • Gods in Color: Painted Sculpture of Classical Antiquity, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/22/2007 - 01/20/2008
  • 32Q: 3440 Middle East, Harvard Art Museums, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Subjects and Contexts

  • Google Art Project

Related Objects

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu