Marble relief fragment with the head of Medea
Copy of a Greek marble relief of ca. 420–410 B.C.
This head is from a well-known relief that depicts the witch Medea and the two daughters of Pelias, king of Iolkos, in Thessaly. Medea tricked them into killing and boiling their father in hopes of rejuvenating him, and the scene shows them at a cauldron about to commit the terrible act. The original work was one of four reliefs that probably decorated the parapet surrounding the Altar of the Twelve Gods in the Athenian Agora.
This head is from a well-known relief that depicts the witch Medea and the two daughters of Pelias, king of Iolkos, in Thessaly. Medea tricked them into killing and boiling their father in hopes of rejuvenating him, and the scene shows them at a cauldron about to commit the terrible act. The original work was one of four reliefs that probably decorated the parapet surrounding the Altar of the Twelve Gods in the Athenian Agora.
Artwork Details
- Title: Marble relief fragment with the head of Medea
- Period: Imperial
- Date: 1st–2nd century CE
- Culture: Roman
- Medium: Marble
- Dimensions: H. 6 1/2 in. (16.5 cm.); width 5 1/2 inl (14.0 cm.); depth 2 in. (5.1 cm)
- Classification: Stone Sculpture
- Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1923
- Object Number: 23.160.86
- Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art
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