The Bassae-Frieze
200 Years of Guesswork
Architectural sculpture and especially pediments or friezes showing mythological scenes have been dealt with by scholars for centuries. Aspects of interest were naming the different people depicted, referring the scene to a myth or the context of the building the sculpture comes from. Due to inscriptions, some scenes can be identified easily, whereas others offer a great variety of possible interpretations. One of these examples is the Bassae-Frieze that was found in 1812. As yet, there is still no satisfying interpretation of its content although many scholars have suggested various readings of this well-known piece of classical Greek art. In his paper, Sporleder points out some problematic aspects concerning the frieze’s content, and by comparing it with other examples of architectural sculpture, he comes to conclusions relevant for wider questions regarding architectural sculpture.
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