Iran, Achaemenid (550–330 BCE), Persepolis / 486–465 BCE
Fragment of a Wall Decoration from the Palace of Xerxes: "Guardsman" in Procession
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Fragment of a Wall Decoration from the Palace of Xerxes: "Guardsman" in Procession as sculpture (Iran, Achaemenid (550–330 BCE), Persepolis · 486–465 BCE).
This relief was probably once brightly painted.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this sculpture as gray limestone.
The museum's collection notes: In 486 BC, Xerxes succeeded Darius I as king of Persia. His empire, then the world’s largest and most powerful, encompassed an area from Libya to western India and from Ethiopia to Afghanistan. This relief fragment of one of his guards probably comes from the west stairway of his enormous palace at Persepolis. As chronicled by Herodotus, the Greeks defeated Xerxes in a clash of conflicting political systems: democracy and monarchy.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtFragment of a Wall Decoration from the Palace of Xerxes: "Guardsman" in ProcessionOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.