Classification
Culture
Dimensions
height: 45 m
Date
BC after 367 - around 350
Material
Iconography
Findspot
Present location
ID
Per-5901
References
Cook, B. F.: Relief Sculpture of the Mausoleum At Halicarnassus. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005; Jenkins, Ian: The Mausolea of Halicarnassus. Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies. Supplement, 2010, No. 104. Exploring Ancient Sculpture: Ess
The plan of the Maussolleion evokes the shape of funerary monuments in Caria (Asia Minor). Greek tradition, however, held it to have been designed and decorated by Greek architects and sculptors. More than one thousand fragments of statues were found in the area; this is the largest sculptural group that survived from fourth-century BC Greek art. The Carian ruler, Maussollos commissioned the leading Greek artists of the time, whose art had a relevant message to non-Greeks as well. The tomb was adorned with reliefs representing mythical battles, their subjects were typical in the decoration of Greek temples. Thus, by means of this monument, such an honour was bestowed upon a Hellenised Carian ruler that Greeks themselves had bestowed upon their gods.
The memory of Maussollos was preserved in a number of ways in the ancient tradition. His tomb – in part because of its rich sculptural decoration – was regarded as one of the Seven Wonders.
