Doryphoros and Horse Relief

Funeral relief of a young spearbearer walking with his horse. The figure is closely derived from the free-standing Doryphoros of Polykleitos. It was found at Argos, which was Polykleitos’s place of birth.

The heavy spear of the original, a weapon of war, has been converted into an athlete’s javelin for the purposes of this relief; the hair of the young man appears to be tied like that of an athlete, and there are no symbols of battle in the scene

Number

184

Material

Marble

Location of Original

Athens National Museum 3153

Size

0.51m

Accession

Purchased in 1884 from Martinelli of Athens

References

Lippold: Griechische Plastik, 163 (n.14 - actually on next page)
Richter: Sculpture & Sculptors of the Greeks (1950), 248, fig.649
Walston: Catalogue of Casts in the Museum of Classical Archaeology (1889), 64, no.285
Papaspiridi: Guide du Musée Nationale d'Athènes (1927), 266

Date

Late C5 BCE

Provenance

Found at Argos

Search Casts

Museum of Classical Archaeology, Cambridge

Every cast tells two stories.
One ancient. One modern.

Admission is free.

Opening hours

Tues-Fri: 10-5pm
Sat: 2-5pm (Univ. term-time only)
Sun & Mon: Closed

Closed on Bank Holiday Mondays

Visit us

Museum of Classical Archaeology
Faculty of Classics
Sidgwick Avenue
Cambridge
CB3 9DA

Get in touch

Tel. +44 (0)1223 330402
Email museum@classics.cam.ac.uk
Join our mailing list

For an explanation of what personal information we gather when you visit the University’s website and details of how that information is used please see the following University Privacy policy:

https://www.cam.ac.uk/about-this-site/privacy-policy

Copyright statement

All images and material on our websites are ©Museum of Classical Archaeology, University of Cambridge unless otherwise stated. Please contact us to reproduce our images using a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence.

Important Information

Museum of Classical Archaeology Web Accessibility Statement