In this metope, the 28th in the original series, the Centaur is
victorious; the Lapith lies dead under his feet. Brandishing the
lion's skin on his extended left arm with a triumphant gesture, and
lashing his tail, the Centaur rushes forward to meet a new foe, with
the ends of the lion's skin flying behind him. His right arm, now
wanting, must have wielded the weapon with which he has slain the
Lapith. The Lapith lies on his chlamys, his head thrown back, his
right leg bent up, his right hand lying over his right flank, his
whole form relaxed by death. Carrey's drawing gives the head, left
foreleg, and greater part of the right arm of the Centaur, but wholly
misinterprets the figure of the Lapith. For dramatic power in the
conception and truth in the modelling of the forms, this metope is
unrivalled.
_Mus. Marbles_, VII., pl. 10; Baumeister, _Denkmaeler_, p. 1177,
fig. 1366; Michaelis, pl. 3, xxviii.; _Stereoscopic_, No. 91.
[Sidenote: =318.=]
In this metope, the 29th of the original series, the Centaur is
carrying off a Lapith woman. Clasping her firmly round the waist with
his left hand, he has raised her from the ground. We see from Carrey's
drawing that his right hand, now wanting, grasped her right arm above
the elbow, so as to make her efforts to escape of no avail; with her
left hand she vainly endeavours to loosen his hold round her waist.
The disorder of her drapery shows the violence of the struggle. Her
chiton has slipped from its attachment on the left shoulder, leaving
her left breast exposed. Over her left arm is the end of a mantle,
which, passing round her back, and twisted over her right arm, floats
unconfined behind the Centaur. His head has the pointed ears which are
characteristic of the semi-bestial type, but which do not occur on the
other heads of Centaurs in these metopes. Carrey's drawing gives the
head of the female figure, and the right arm and tail of the Centaur.
There are traces of the bead and reel moulding on the margin of this
metope. The drapery is beautifully wrought, but the design in its
present condition seems rather tame.
_Mus. Marbles_, VII., pl. 11; Michaelis, pl. 4, xxix.;
_Stereoscopic_, No. 92.
[Sidenote: =319.=]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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