Catalogue - Metropolitan Museum of Art

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88 Targitaus (the Scythian Heracles) struggling with a monster, chariot finial. Bronze, height 16.3 cm. (67/6 in.). Scythian, 4th century B.C. Ukrainian SSR, Dnepropetrovsk region, Slonovskaya Bliznitsa kurgan. Excavations of I. E. Zabelin, 1861. Hermitage, Dn 1861, 1/2. B. N. Grakov, "Skifsky Gerakl," KSIIMK (1950), issue 34, p. 14, fig. 2. 89 Winged goddess (possibly the Scythian goddess Artimpasa), chariot finial. Bronze, height 15.7 cm. (63/16 in.). Scythian, 4th-beginning of the 3rd century B.C. Ukrainian SSR, Dnepropetrovsk region, Alexandropol kurgan. Chance find, 1851. Hermitage, Dn 1851, 1/15. Artamonov, Splendor, pl. 189. 90 Crescent-shaped finial decorated with three small birds (two holding bells). Bronze, height 28.9 cm. (11% in.). Scythian, 4th-beginning of the 3rd century B.C. Ukrainian SSR, Dnepropetrovsk region, Alexandropol kurgan. Chance find, 1851. Hermitage, Dn 1851, 1/17. Artamonov, Splendor, pl. 191. 91 Walking griffin in an openwork frame hung with two bells, finial. Bronze, height 15.5 cm. (6/8 in.). Ukrainian SSR, Dnepropetrovsk region, Alexandropol kurgan. Hermitage, Dn 1853, 1/3. Artamonov, Splendor, pl. 190. 92 Ketos seizing an animal, finial. Bronze, height 13.3 cm. (5/4in.). Ukrainian SSR, Dnepropetrovsk region, Krasnokutsk kurgan. Hermitage, Dn 1860, 1/19. Artamonov, Splendor, fig. 123. 89
Objects from the Siberian collection of Peter I 93 (Color plate 21) In this gold plaque representing a lion- griffin attacking a horse, the artist has ingeniously filled the P-shape demanded by the plaque's use as a scabbard mounting with the two S-forms of the struggling animals. A further attempt at introducing a strict geometrical structure into this seemingly chaotic design was made by the regular distribution of round and flame- shaped insets of colored stones, now fallen out. Lion-griffin attacking a horse, plaque. Gold, length 19.3 cm. (75/ in.). Scytho-Siberian animal style, 5th-4th century B.C. Siberian collection of Peter I. Hermitage, Si 1727, 1/6. S.I. Rudenko, Sibirkskaya kollektsiya Petra I (Moscow-Leningrad, 1966), pl. VIII, 8. 94 (Color plate 21) Here a tiger and an animal monster defying zoological classification are fiercely locked in combat. Of particular artistic interest is the deliberate contrast of realistically seen and monstrously imagined animals, of free-flowing forms and strict repetitive designs (such as the three aligned paws of the tiger or the five tiny griffins' heads forming the monster's mane and tip of its tail). Horned predatory animal attacking a tiger, plaque. Gold, length 16.8 cm. (6% in.). Scytho-Siberian animal style, 4th-3rd century B.C. Siberian collection of Peter I. Hermitage, Si 1727, 1/11. Rudenko, Sibirskaya kollektsiya, pl. VI, 4. 95 (Color plate 21) Human figures are rare enough in the nomads' art to make this plaque worthy of special notice, but its subject is of extraordinary interest in the history of world literature. The warrior lying under a tree with his head in a woman's lap is a motif still living in a Hungarian folk ballad (the Hungarians are ethnically and linguistically descendants of steppe nomads that came to Central Europe in the early Middle Ages), but also featured in the 10th-century German heroic epic Waltharius, in Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival (about 1200), and in the Arthurian story of Sir Balin and Sir Balan (mid-13th century). It is of special interest that in the three latter stories this motif is connected with a hero distinguished by carrying two swords. This plaque is one of a pair (its companion piece, a mirror image, is not in this exhibition): they were probably made for a pair of matching swords to be worn by a warrior on either hip-which is specifically described in WIaltharius as a Hunnish custom. Warrior resting (probably a scene from a legend), plaque. Gold, length 16.2 cm. (6% in.). Siberian collection of Peter I. Hermitage, Si 1727, 1/161. Rudenko, Sibirskaya kollektsiya, pl. VII, 1. 96 (Color plate 22) Animal fighting a snake, plaque. Gold, length 14.5 cm. (511x6 in.). 4th-3rd century B.C. Siberian collection of Peter I. Hermitage, Si 1727, 1/7. Rudenko, Sibirskaya kollektsiya, pl. IX, 2. 97 (Color plate 22) The horizontal fluting and zoomorphic handles of this cup are signs of Iranian influence. The shape of the vessel, however, is not typical of Near Eastern works, and the exaggerated stylization of the animals' rib cage appears on many objects from Siberia. Cup with handles in the form of sculptured predatory animals. Gold, height 10.2 cm. (4 in.). Achaemenid, 5th-4th century B.C. Siberian collection of Peter I. Acquired from M. P. Gagarin, 1716. Hermitage, Si 1727, 1/71. M. I. Artamonov, Sokrovishcha sakov (Moscow, 1973), pl. 216, fig. 288. 115
Page 1 and 2: Catalogue The State Hermitage Museu
Page 3 and 4: Quiver decorated with horsemen and
Page 5 and 6: 25 (Color plate 4) The subject matt
Page 7 and 8: 34 (Color plate 6) The coiling of t
Page 9 and 10: 46 The volute-krater was a Laconian
Page 11 and 12: 60 This type of cauldron, with upri
Page 13 and 14: 68 (Color plate 10) This scabbard c
Page 15 and 16: 74 77 (Color plate 15) Among the la
Page 17: 83 (Color plate 20) The decoration
Page 21 and 22: 100 (Color plate 24) The figural ca
Page 23 and 24: 115 (Color plate 23) The felt lions
Page 25 and 26: 129 Leather bridle ornamented with
Page 27 and 28: The Culture of Siberia 143 Stag, fi
Page 29 and 30: Sarmatian art 1st century B.C.-lst
Page 31 and 32: 172 (Color plate 29) Scythians are

Catalogue - Metropolitan Museum of Art

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