Fragments of the frieze of the Temple of Artemis Leukophryene at Magnesia ad Maeandrum: collage
Fragments of the frieze of the Temple of Artemis Leukophryene at Magnesia ad Maeandrum @musée du Louvre
Temple of Artemis Leukophryene, Magnesia ad Maeandrum (Turkey)
Magnesia ad Maeandrum, Asia Minor (Turkey)
Early second century BC
High relief and bas-relief, marble
Since 1843, the Louvre has housed one of the most important groups of architectural sculptures in the world.
The forty-three panels of the Ionic frieze of the Temple of Artemis Leukophryene ("with white eyebrows") at Magnesia ad Maeandrum make up the largest group of architectural sculptures in the Louvre.
Forty-three panels and fragments in the Louvre's collections which, along with numerous other sculpted panels, decorated the frieze of the Temple of Artemis at Magnesia ad Maeanderum, southeast of Ephesus.
The temple was built in the early second century BC and consecrated to a local deity, Artemis Leukophryene, known only to the Magnesians.
Some people consider her to be the descendant of an ancient Phrygian mother goddess. Others compare her with the Artemis honored at Ephesus. She probably had the general features of Artemis (huntress, mistress and protector of animals, etc.) but was also considered the founder and benefactress of the town.
The reliefs depict an amazonomachy, or battle between Greek warriors and Amazons. The edifice was mentioned by Vitruvius as being the work of the architect Hermogenes who developed certain innovations circa 200-190 BC.
The amazonomachy is conventional and repetitive, with groups of Greek warriors and Amazons fighting on foot and on horseback. The iconography is still very similar to the patterns devised in the fourth century BC, as on the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, although the proportions of the figures are less massive in the Magnesia frieze. The violence of the fighting is rendered by oblique lines giving rhythm to the composition - rearing horses, the positions of duelists, and wounded fighters collapsed on the ground.
The building was designed by the architect Hermogenes. Hermogenes favored eustyle, that is to say columns two and a quarter diameters apart. The pediment of the temple had openings to allow the goddess to appear. Finally, a continuous frieze nearly 175 meters long, whose reliefs are now in Paris, Istanbul, and Berlin, ran around the building - a feature hitherto unknown in Ionic temples in Asia Minor.
www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/fragment-frieze-temple-ar...
Fragments of the frieze of the Temple of Artemis Leukophryene at Magnesia ad Maeandrum: collage
Fragments of the frieze of the Temple of Artemis Leukophryene at Magnesia ad Maeandrum @musée du Louvre
Temple of Artemis Leukophryene, Magnesia ad Maeandrum (Turkey)
Magnesia ad Maeandrum, Asia Minor (Turkey)
Early second century BC
High relief and bas-relief, marble
Since 1843, the Louvre has housed one of the most important groups of architectural sculptures in the world.
The forty-three panels of the Ionic frieze of the Temple of Artemis Leukophryene ("with white eyebrows") at Magnesia ad Maeandrum make up the largest group of architectural sculptures in the Louvre.
Forty-three panels and fragments in the Louvre's collections which, along with numerous other sculpted panels, decorated the frieze of the Temple of Artemis at Magnesia ad Maeanderum, southeast of Ephesus.
The temple was built in the early second century BC and consecrated to a local deity, Artemis Leukophryene, known only to the Magnesians.
Some people consider her to be the descendant of an ancient Phrygian mother goddess. Others compare her with the Artemis honored at Ephesus. She probably had the general features of Artemis (huntress, mistress and protector of animals, etc.) but was also considered the founder and benefactress of the town.
The reliefs depict an amazonomachy, or battle between Greek warriors and Amazons. The edifice was mentioned by Vitruvius as being the work of the architect Hermogenes who developed certain innovations circa 200-190 BC.
The amazonomachy is conventional and repetitive, with groups of Greek warriors and Amazons fighting on foot and on horseback. The iconography is still very similar to the patterns devised in the fourth century BC, as on the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, although the proportions of the figures are less massive in the Magnesia frieze. The violence of the fighting is rendered by oblique lines giving rhythm to the composition - rearing horses, the positions of duelists, and wounded fighters collapsed on the ground.
The building was designed by the architect Hermogenes. Hermogenes favored eustyle, that is to say columns two and a quarter diameters apart. The pediment of the temple had openings to allow the goddess to appear. Finally, a continuous frieze nearly 175 meters long, whose reliefs are now in Paris, Istanbul, and Berlin, ran around the building - a feature hitherto unknown in Ionic temples in Asia Minor.
www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/fragment-frieze-temple-ar...