I cavalli inv. 6454 e 15244 del Museo dell'Acropoli ed il frontone della Gigantomachia
In: Archeologia Classica: 55, 2003
Permalink: http://digital.casalini.it/4324115
The Gigantomachy pediment in the Acropolis Museum, Athens, still presents many problems concerning the identification of the original composition of the scene. In 1972 K. Stähler proposed the insertion of two marble horses, executed only in the foreparts, in the middle of the pediment. According to him they should belong to the frontal quadriga of Zeus. Since then Stähler's theory has been largely accepted without being analysed in detail. His reconstruction must, however, be rejected on numerous grounds. Most important of these are that three marble feet, excluded by Stähler from the scene in order to gain space for his hypothetical quadriga, certainly belong to the Gigantomachy pediment. Furthermore the probable findspot of the two horses has been identified: unlike all other fragments of the pedimental sculpture, found in the so-called Perserschutt, they must have come to light on the northern slope of the Acropolis.