Attic Votive Relief

At the center of the scene a young hunter, followed by a dog, solemnly proceeds with his horse towards a figure wrapped in a cloak, who performs a gesture of adoration. On the sides of the background, characterized by a rocky slope, sit two figures preserved up to waist level, a male and a female. The two are divided in the center by a building with a central figure standing. The relief, for the typically Attic style, is dated to the fifth century BC and represents a unique specimen. The rocky landscape in the background places the scene on the slopes of the Acropolis of Athens, home to several cults, such as that of Hippolytus. This beginning of the cult can be fixed from the fifth century BC and was documented in antiquity by a monument, located on the southern slopes of the Acropolis, near a sanctuary of Asclepius and Hygieia. These deities are linked to the myth of Hippolytus, since following his death he was brought back to life by the god Asclepius. Thus the two side figures can be identified as the health deities, while the central building can be identified as the monument of Hippolytus, or as a temple which stood above of Aphrodite or Themis. The exceptional Torlonia relief was found near the Mausoleum of Cecilia Metella, an area previously occupied by the villa of Herod Atticus, the famous Athenian politician and philosopher who promoted the construction of the Odeion on the slopes of the Acropolis.

Inventory: MT 433

Material: White marble

Technique: Work sculpted through the use of: chisels (also square-tipped and toothed) rasps

Dating: Classical period

Origin: From the vicinity of the Tomb of Cecilia Metella on Via Appia