Circular Altar with Hermes and Pallas Athena
Unknown Artist
100 BCE–100 CE
Medium
marble
Dimensions
80 × 53.3 × 22.9 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Greek and Roman Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust
Accession Number
1915.559
About this artwork
Preserving two figures (plus a faint foot) striding across a curving surface, this fragment constitutes approximately 1/6th of a large circular altar or statue base. Its full circumference accommodated 12 figures—likely the Olympian deities. Athena—with spear, helmet, and stylized aegis, or breastplate—is with either the smith god Hephaistos, holding a hammer, or the messenger god Hermes, with his staff. Now lost are Zeus, Poseidon, Demeter, and others. The eclectic carving style includes styliz...