Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons^™

The Three-Figured Reliefs: Copies Or Neoattic Creations?, Peter E. Nulton Ph.D.

Peter E. Nulton Ph.D.

The well-known group of four three-figured reliefs, existing in several copies and once assigned to the Altar of Pity in Athens, has always eluded interpretation as a coherent iconographical program. The four scenes depicted are Orpheus and Eurydice, Herakles in the garden of the Hesperides, Herakles with Perithoos and Theseus, and Medea with the Peliads. Though some have questioned the association of the reliefs with the Altar, the conventional dating has not been challenged, in spite of the growing recognition that some of the pieces (most notably the Orpheus relief) are largely unparalleled in the Classical Greek idiom. Careful reexamination …

Centum Homines: The Prototype Of The Alexander Mosaic And The Military Museum In The Hellenistic World, Peter Nulton

Peter E. Nulton Ph.D.

Although it is generally accepted that the Alexander Mosaic copies a painting of the 4th Century BCE, the attribution of this prototype has never been settled. Numerous attempts have been made to associate it with painters recorded in Pliny's Natural History, notably Philoxenos of Eretria, and Alexander's court painter, Apelles.

If the painting were the work of any artist whose name survives, as strong a case can be made for Aristeides of Thebes as for Apelles or Philoxenos. Since Pliny's comment that Aristeides painted a battle against the Persians follows his treatment of the works of Apelles, he is likely …