Polygnotos's Nekyia

A Reconstruction and Analysis

Bibliographic Data

ID20534733
AuthorsMark D Stansbury-O'Donnell, Mark D Stansbury-O’Donnell (corresponding author)
Year1990
Volume94
Issue2
Pages213-235
Publication date1990-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9114 • E-ISSN: 1939-828X
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2307/505950
OpenAlexW2318995087
LanguageEN
Citations received6

Following the methods used previously in a reconstruction of the Iliupersis of Polygnotos in the Lesche of the Knidians at Delphi (AJA 93 [1989] 203–15), a new reconstruction of its companion painting, the Nekyia, is proposed. The composition of the Nekyia is found to be generally similar to that of the Iliupersis, with three predominant foci arranged triangularly on three walls: the sacrifice of Odysseus on the north, Achilles and Patroklos in the center of the western wall, and groups of heroes from both sides of the Trojan War on the south wall. The Nekyia differs from the Iliupersis in making much greater use of intermediate levels between the two main zones, resulting in a chiastic compositional structure. An analysis of the composition reveals individual responsibility and dike to be important themes as they were in the Iliupersis, but the idea of Greek unity in the face of both internal and external problems is also expressed by the choice and arrangement of figures around Achilles. A comparison of Pausanias's descriptions of individual figures with those found in fifth-century red-figure vase painting concludes that there are no certain quotations of the Delphi paintings on pots

Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Art history · Composition (language) · Face (sociological concept) · Literature · Painting · Sacrifice · Trojan · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Classical Antiquity Studies · Computer Science · Historical and Literary Studies · History · Philosophy

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub