Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
This decorative relief is from the front of a mirror or the cheek piece of a helmet and depicts a scene from the Gigantomachy (1). It shows a bearded giant to the left, his scaly snake legs coiling below, with the snakehead of his right leg looking up, his muscular body frontal, and his arms raised above his head, preparing to hurl a boulder at Athena to his right. The light folds of Athena's drapery follow the curves of her legs; her chiton is cinched at the waist, and her aegis is clearly visible at her breast. Athena raises her right arm, and the remains of her tresses fall on her right shoulder. Her head and left arm and shoulder are lost. There is a rosette in the lower left corner pierced for attachment. The background is filled with small dots, and two small flowers are incised to the right of the giant.
The plate bears an extremely fine depiction of a section of the Gigantomachy (battle between gods and giants), which was a frequent motif in Greek art, particularly on large-scale sculptural works like temples and most notably on the Great Altar at Pergamon (2). Although this piece has been identified previously as a cheek piece, due to the shape, it compares well to other repoussé plaques that are still attached to mirror covers (3).
NOTES:
1. Compare D. B. Thompson, “Mater Caelaturae: Impressions from Ancient Metalwork,” Hesperia 8.3 (1939): 285-316, esp. 296, no. 9, which is described as the cheek-guard relief of a Giant, and depicts a youth lifting a bolder, as the giant does here. For a very similar piece, which has the same scene but with slightly different details of clothing, making it not likely to be the mate to Harvard’s example, see A. H. Smith, “Athene and Enceladus: A Bronze in the Museo Kircheriano,” Journal of Hellenic Studies 4 (1883): 90-95, there identified as a mirror relief.
2. See Die Antikensammlung: Altes Museum, Neues Museum, Pergamonmuseum (Darmstadt, 2012) 327-46.
3. See A. de Ridder, Catalogue des bronzes antique, Museé du Louvre (Paris, 1913) 48, no. 1712, pl. 79, for a relief with a similar shape that was initially identified as a mirror cover decoration and later suggested to be a cheek piece, even though no means of attachment to a helmet are visible. For relief plaques in the same shape as the Harvard piece that are still attached to their mirror covers, see H. B. Walters, Catalogue of the Bronzes in the British Museum: Greek, Roman and Etruscan (London, 1899) nos. 290-91.
Lisa M. Anderson
