Greek
Pergamon Altar: Leg and Hand
Description:
PERGAMON ALTAR: The Pergamon Altar was built between 180 and 159 BC during King Eumenes II’s rule of Pergamon, a city in Asia Minor. The frieze depicts a Gigantomachy – the battle between the giants and the Olympian gods. The frieze surrounds the Pergamon altar and describes the battle scene on all four sides. The figures, in high relief, are arranged in dramatic action telling of the Hellenistic period in Greek art. The cast shows the fragment of a leg and hand.
In 1878, Carl Wilhelm Humman began excavations of Pergamon where he found many sculptures and parts of the altar’s frieze. As Humman’s excavations were permited by the Ottoman Empire and suported by the Berlin Sculpture Museum, the incredible findings where transported to Berlin. The reconstructed Pergamon Altar can be viewed at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, Germany.
Period of Original: Greek
Origin of Original: Greece
Location of the Cast: 20 W. 44 St. New York, NY USA
Provenance: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Condition: Cast has been thoroughly cleaned.
Additional Information:
