Loading
 

Source Image: PR208_01_15 of Frieze of Column of Marcus Aurelius

annotations
Increase Brightness Increase Contrast
Monochrome Sharpen

Description

Detail of a hand crossing the border between spirals.

Monument
Column of Marcus Aurelius 
Monument Part
Frieze 
Monument Type
Architecture 
Material(s)
Luna Marble (Archaeometric identification)  
Date
ad 180 - ad 192 
Keywords
BarbarianSpiral Border  
Collections
Column of Marcus Aurelius, Rome  

Location

Original Location
Rome 

Evidence for working practices

No evidence is available for this source.

Notes

The way in which the hand is carved out of the spiral border suggests that the border was carved before the rest of the frieze was completed. In general the architectural framework - including the internal staircase and the laying out of the windows - was planned as a first phase of work and then the spirals were added before work on the carving of the frieze began. The layout of this scene, in which the figures do not quite fit the space available, supports the view that there was no single drawing of the whole frieze from which carvers copied. Rather the carvers seem to have had quite a lot of free reign to fit what was required into the available space.

Related Images