Tracey Sweek, St John Simpson. An unfinished Achaemenid sculpture from Persepolis
Tracey Sweek, St John Simpson. « An unfinished Achaemenid sculpture from Persepolis », in : D. Saunders, ed., British Museum. Technical Research Bulletin 3. 2009, p. 83-88.
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1This article dwells on a relief that, from the external facade of the Apadana’s north staircase, shows two grooms, the one finished and the other not. This relief, discovered in 1811, is subjected to a technical and interdisciplinary study of the carvings on the two parts of the slab. Insights are provided into the sequence of carving Achaemenid reliefs, the tools used at each stage, and the relation between a rigid plan and the sculptor’s individuality. It would be worthwhile to compare these new findings with the previous studies on Achaemenid stonework and sculptors by Nylander, Tilia and Roaf. The sculpture (BM 1825, 0421.4: ME 118839) is only one among the several unfinished carvings from Persepolis. The authors suggest that the most obvious answer to explain why they remained incomplete might be the “vastness of the site and the magnitude of the task”. These unfinished details were probably concealed under a layer of polychrome paint that was extensively applied on them.
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Référence électronique
Carlo Lippolis, « Tracey Sweek, St John Simpson. An unfinished Achaemenid sculpture from Persepolis », Abstracta Iranica [En ligne], Volume 32-33 | 2013, document 124, mis en ligne le 01 juillet 2016, consulté le 10 décembre 2025. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/abstractairanica/40430 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/abstractairanica.40430
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