- Identification and Creation
-
- Object Number
- 1940.13
- Title
- Fragment of a Wall Relief: Head of a Winged Protective Spirit
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Work Type
- relief, sculpture
- Date
- 883-859 BCE
- Places
- Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia, Assyria
- Period
- Neo-Assyrian period
- Culture
- Neo-Assyrian
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/291708
- Physical Descriptions
-
- Medium
- Alabaster
- Technique
- Relief
- Dimensions
- 65.5 cm h x 50.5 cm w x 10 cm d (25 13/16 x 19 7/8 x 3 15/16 in.)
- Provenance
- Sir Henry Layard, (by 1848), gift; to Lady Charlotte Guest Schreiber, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, (1848-1895), by inheritance; to Captain Vere Brabazon Ponsonby, Ninth Earl of Bessborough, (by 1895). [Spink and Son, Ltd, London, by 1939-1940], sold; to Fogg Art Museum, 1940.
- Acquisition and Rights
-
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Mrs. Percival Lombard, Mrs. John Bartol, Miss Dorothy Bartol, Mr. and Mrs. Frederick R. Grace, and the Alpheus Hyatt Purchasing Fund
- Accession Year
- 1940
- Object Number
- 1940.13
- Division
- Asian and Mediterranean Art
- Contact
- am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
- The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.
- Descriptions
-
- Description
- Representing the head of a winged genie, or protective spirit, this relief fragment was part of the wall decoration of the throne room of King Ashurnasirpal II's Northwest Palace at Nimrud (ancient Kalhu) in Iraq. Placed to the right of the throne base, the genie - wearing the horned cap of a deity - was probably performing a ritual. It was one of several representations of genies intended to ensure the protection of this important room. Across the genie's body ran Ashurnasirpal II's "standard inscription," giving the titles and the achievements of the Assyrian king. Hunt and battle scenes carved on the long walls of the room conveyed a similar message. The appearance of these reliefs was originally enhanced by paint. This particular fragment was presented by Sir Austen Henry Layard, the excavator of Nimrud, to his cousin, Lady Charlotte Guest, in 1848.
- Publication History
-
Frederick Randolph Grace, "An Assyrian Winged Genius", Bulletin of the Fogg Art Museum (1940), Vol. 9, No. 2, 22-28, cover ill.
John Malcolm Russell, From Nineveh to New York: the strange story of the Assyrian reliefs in the Metropolitan Museum and the hidden masterpiece at Canford Manor, Metropolitan Museum of Art / Yale University Press (New Haven, 1997), Chapter 3
Klaudia Englund, Nimrud Und Seine Funde, VML, Verlag Marie Leidorf (Rahden, 2003), p. 52
Stephan Wolohojian, ed., Harvard Art Museum/Handbook (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2008)
- Exhibition History
-
Gods in Color: Painted Sculpture of Classical Antiquity, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/22/2007 - 01/20/2008
Re-View: S422 Ancient & Byzantine Art & Numismatics, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 04/12/2008 - 06/18/2011
32Q: 3460 East Arcade, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 06/28/2021
- Subjects and Contexts
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Google Art Project
Collection Highlights
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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