Great Altar at Pergamon [reconstruction]

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Title	Great Altar at Pergamon [reconstruction]
View	Gigantomachy, North frieze; the lion goddess, Ceto, detail of her drapery
Notes	The next group of fighters shows a 'lion goddess' said to be Ceto. This group does not immediately follow the Moirai; there is a gap which probably held another pair of fighters. They may have been Ceto's children, the Graeae. Ceto was the mother of several monsters, including a whale (Greek: Ketos) who rises at her feet
Work Type	architectural elements friezes (entablature components) architectural elements stairs built works religious structures shrines (structures) visual works sculpture (visual work) reliefs (sculptures)
Style/Period	Hellenistic Pergamene (sculpture style)
Creator Name	unknown
Creator Nationality	(Greek (ancient)
Subject.work	allegory architecture cycles or series deities mythology (Classical) archaeology Museology Greek Empire Asia Minor
Country	Germany
City	Berlin
State/Province	Berlin (state)
Location.Notes	GPS for museum, Museum Island; ancient Pergamon is modern Bergama, Turkey
Architectural Material	marble
Technique	carving (processes); construction (assembling)
Dates	ca.170 BCE-159 BCE (creation); excavated 1878-1886 (other)
Photographer	Gilchrist, Scott
Date Photographed	4/12/2009
Subject Information	The sculptures produced at Pergamon during the period of Attalid rule (282-133 BCE) are among the most important examples of Hellenistic court art. Many original works have been uncovered during more than a century of excavations at Pergamon itself. The first fragment of the Great Frieze of the Great Altar at Pergamon was excavated in 1871 by Carl Humann (1836-1896), which led to the discovery of the biggest relief cycle known from antiquity. Large parts of this frieze, which has over life-size figures and is almost 120 m long and 2.3 m high, now constitute the principal exhibit of the Pergamonmuseum in Berlin; a few fragments are in England. In Berlin, Italian restorers reassembled the panels comprising the frieze from the thousands of fragments that had been recovered. The frieze in high relief shows the battle between the Giants and the Olympian gods known as the Gigantomachy. There is a second, smaller (1.58 meters high) and less well-preserved frieze on the inner court walls which surround the actual fire altar on the upper level of the structure at the top of the stairs. It depicts events from the life of Telephus, legendary founder of the city of Pergamon and son of the hero Heracles. The exact date, dedication, builder and purpose of the altar is still debated. The work was restored in 2004.
Information.source	Grove Art Online; http://www.oxfordartonline.com/
Credit Line	copyright Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.
Collection Title	Archivision (architecture, urban design, gardens, landscapes and public art)

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Great Altar at Pergamon [reconstruction]

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