A catalogue of sculpture in the Department of ... - Warburg Institute

SEPULCHRAL RELIEFS. 301some instances, as in the tomb at Cadyanda in Lycia(No. 766), the banquet appears to be merely a scene fromdaily life, and as such it closely resembles some of the vasepaintings. In No. 737 and other late examples, the relief,though of the type of the banquet, is commemorativerather than votive.In Athens the type of the Sepulchral Banquet was alsoapplied to another purpose, namely, for votive reliefs toAsclepios. The two classes of monuments are completelyassimilated in those examples in which worshippers cometo sacrifice at the end of the couch. Numerous specimensof reliefs have been found in the temenos of Asclepios atAthens, and it is possible that the sculptures from theElgin Collection, Nos. 714, 715, belong to this series. Inthe newly-discovered papyrus fragments of Herodas, thesons of Praxiteles are mentioned as authors of a reliefdedicated to Asclepios. A figure of Asclepios, composedlike the principal figure of the sepulchral reliefs, has alsobeen found on a vase from the Temple of the Cabeiri atThebes ('E077/i,cpts, 1890, pi. 7). For other examples ofthe same type on vases of different meanings, see AthenischeMittheilungen, xiii., pi. 9 ; Arch. Anzeiger, 1890, p. 89. Forthe most recent discussion of the whole question, seeRoscher, Lexicon, p. 2565.Hero and Horse.—There isanother type of sepulchralrelief, somewhat akin to that above described, in which,however, the horse of the hero takes a more prominentposition. The hero is seen either riding on his horse orstanding near it, and receiving a libation poured out by afemale figure, sometimes a Victory. Here also the snakeis frequently introduced to mark the sepulchral characterof the relief. In the earliest examples the connectionbetween this type and the foregoing is made clearer by thepresence of diminutive figures of supplicants bringingofferings, or making gestures of adoration. Compare a