Recherche par auteur > Cipriani Mariella

Two large reliefs in pentelic marble were discovered around the nineties of the last century in the excavations of the villa of Herodes Atticus at Eva/Loukou, in the eastern Peloponnese. These are two precious panels (framed and in perfect condition) developed in height, 1.60 m x ca 1.00 m, with a single figure standing in the center of the scene, in a precise landscape. Preserved in the small archaeological museum of Astròs, in the ancient Thireatide (invv. 281 and 384), they represent two winners athletes in competitions, with their sporting attributes, and were probably placed as pendants. For their feature of being little known, they have not experienced yet an accurate investigation. Our paper is focused on their importance in relation to the well known category of the "mythologische Prachtreliefs", such as the "series" Colonna and Spada, or the Capitoline museum reliefs, which appear in close typological and stylistic relationship with the two reliefs. The slabs, found not far away from each other in the southern stoa of the villa, overlooking the garden-peristyle that evok a greek gymnasium, were probably dedicated to the celebration of the agonistic ideology. They shed new light on the understanding of the choice of themes represented in large marble panels, ideologically related to the desires and tastes of rich and cultured clients. In this sense, they are the reflection in the domestic sphere of the villa of the public activity of Herodes Atticus, expecially in relation to the establishment of Ephebeia and his Evergetism in the pan-hellenic sanctuaries. At the same time, the two Prachtreliefs, found in a known context, confirm the already advanced hypothesis for the definition of the large "luxury reliefs" as decorative elements of important spaces of private villas, representative of the status and ideology of their owners.