The Death of Priam. Marble relief. 50 BCE - 50 CE.
Neoptolemos drags King Priam from the altar of the palace at Troy and prepares to kill the old man with a short sword. Hekabe, kneeling on the altar behind Priam, stretches out her arms in horror and in an appeal for mercy. Neoptolemos wears a plumed helmet and a mantle and carries a large, round shield on his left arm. Priam is clothed in a Persian cap, a sleeveless chiton, and a himation about his lower limbs, while Hekabe is dressed as an Athenian goddess of the Pheidian period and later, Doric chiton with overfold and himation drawn up over the back of her head.
The relief was re-used by a Roman woman to decorate her tomb. The inscription on the side of the altar reads:
AVRELIASECVNDA
SEVIVA. FECIT.SIBI.ET.SV
IS
(these two letters on the bottom molding)
"Aurelia Secunda in her lifetime made it for herself and her family." The inscription is dated about A.D. 200.
The relief must date in the late Republic or early imperial period, being based on a work of sculpture or painting made in Greece in the late fifth century B.C. The style has been long recognized as that of the frieze of the temple of Apollo at Bassae. Although allegedly found near Florence, the death of Priam relief was probably carved in Rome or southern Italy.
Exhibited at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Boston, USA.
Art Boston Museum of Fine Arts Hellenistic Mythology Original Photo Relief Roman Sculpture Trojan War USA