Caption

Fragment of an orthostat with relief decoration, unknown Neo-Assyrian workshop. Fragment of a stone wall-cladding slab orthostat with a relief representation of a man shooting a bow. The realistically carved horse head, with a trimmed mane and a low horseshoe-shaped plume on top, features a meticulously rendered bridle. The rider, shown in left profile, holds a drawn bow with an arrow in his left hand and wears a helmet. As is customary, the eye is shown full face. The long beard and mustache are schematic and give the impression of being unfinished. In the upper left corner, traces of an inscription having been chiseled off are visible, and similar traces appear between the bow and the rider's head, indicating the slab's secondary use. Neo-Assyrian art, 7th century BC c. 668–c. 631 BC, reign of Ashurbanipal. From the South-Western Palace Kuyunjik/ancient Nineveh, orthostat; height 28 cm, width 32 cm, depth 7.8 cm, weight 10.6 kg., A roughly rectangular stone slab with an irregular broken edge, showing a weathered, pitted surface in shades of light gray and off-white with patches of darker gray. The slab has subtle streaks and scratches across its face and a few small rounded pits with rusty brown and ochre flecks. The edges reveal rougher, darker gray and beige tones, with one corner showing a pronounced chip. The background behind the slab is a uniform mid to dark gray.

Credit line

Photo12/Liszt Collection

Reference

LZT26A03_052

License type

Rights managed

Available size

94.5Mb (7.2Mb) / 20.0in x 18.4in / 6000 x 5507 (300dpi)

Keywords

Fragment orthostat relief decoration unknown Neo-Assyrian workshop stone wall-cladding slab orthostat relief representation man shooting bow realistically carved horse head trimmed mane low horseshoe-shaped plume top features meticulously rendered bridle rider shown left profile holds drawn bow arrow left hand wears helmet customary eye shown full face long beard mustache schematic give impression unfinished upper left corner traces inscription having chiseled off visible rider's head indicating slab's secondary Neo-Assyrian art 7th century BC c 668–c 631 Bc reign Ashurbanipal South-Western Palace Kuyunjik ancient Nineveh height 28 cm width 32 cm depth 7.8 cm weight 10.6 kg roughly rectangular stone slab irregular broken edge showing weathered pitted surface shades light gray off-white patches darker gray slab subtle streaks scratches across face small rounded pits rusty brown ochre flecks edges reveal rougher beige tones corner showing pronounced chip background uniform mid dark gray.