Fragments of the Ionic Frieze from Nymphaeum: Characteristics of composition and execution of decor

Abstract

During the archaeological excavations of the Bosporan polis Nymphaeum (Northern Black sea area) two limestone blocks of Ionian frieze were found. The decorative floral relief, consisting of a winding branch of the acanthus with offshoots of palmettes, lilies and rosettes, is made with great skill. At least two stonemasons were involved in the work, and their stylistic manners can easily be distinguished in their rendering of details. The masters creating the common ornament of “a winding dranch” worked within one paradigm, but at the same time adapted the decor to constructive realities by extending the curves of horizontal “branches” to fit the dimensions of particular blocks of stone and their functions in the design of the frieze. They marked the location of the critical elements, of which traces preserved in the form of grooves left by the drill; where the remains of the paint layer preserved too what gives an idea of the polychrome character of the frieze survived. Thus ornamental relief was located on a blue background, the red color was present in the color of the flowers. No complete analogy to the rich and at the same time elegant composition of the plant frieze has yet been found in architecture but its main motif is widely used in various types and forms of art. Judging by the character of the individual elements execution, it is obvious that in such a form the ornament took shape by the middle of the fourth century BC. The authors are inclined to attribute the blocks of the Nymphaeum considered here to the second half of the fourth century BC.