Nereid from the Tomb at Xanthos

The Nereid monument at Xanthos, probably a tomb for a local king, takes the form of a small temple on a high podium. It was lavishly decorated with sculpture, including Nereids, spirits who lived under the sea. The sculptor here has taken the opportunity to show deep sweeping folds in their wet and windswept garments. Xanthos was close to the sea in ancient Lycia, which is in modern-day south west Turkey

Number

212

Material

Marble

Location of Original

London British Museum 910

Size

1.41m

Accession

Purchased in 1884 from Brucciani

References

Lippold: Griechische Plastik, 208 (n.1-2)
Richter: Sculpture & Sculptors of the Greeks (1950), fig.302
Lawrence: Classical Sculpture (1928), 233
Smith: Catalogue of British Museum Sculpture II (1900), 35
Burn: Greek and Roman Art (1991), 117

Date

c.400 BCE

Provenance

Found at Xanthos

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