Architectural Panel with a Relief of a Ram
Artist
Unknown
Date5th—6th century
Creation PlaceIran
MediumStucco
Dimensions28 x 26 x 8.3 cm (11 x 10 1/4 x 3 1/4 in.)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1938.102
DescriptionThe Worcester relief and its companion piece at the Louvre (*1), like the Chicago stucco pattern block (Kondoleon cat. no. 21), were used for the architectural decoration of Sasanian palaces. Because the Worcester and Paris rams face to the right and the foliage around them grows freely, the panels must have been part of an architectural frieze with a file of identical rams. The naturalistic stucco decorations in the palaces and houses at Ctesiphon (*2). These traits have been credited to the influence of the Roman craftsmen resettled near Ctesiphon by Chosroes I in "the New Antioch of Chosroes" after the Persian sack of Antioch in 540 (*3). In the Worcester panel there are traces of a creamy white slip on the ram's body. A full ram wearing a collar with the familiar fluttering ribbon, or pativ, a symbol of kingly glory, is seen in the representations of Sasanian kings on rock-cut reliefs, metalwork, and coins. Single rams are popular motifs for seals, textiles and metalwork probably because of the ram's association in Zoroastrian writings with the warrior god Verethragna and with royal glory or fortune (*4). (Kondoleon, 2000)
*1. Musee du Louvre, inv. No. OA 26174; Brussels 1993, 147, no. 6.
*2. See esp. Kroeger 1982, 3-136.
*3. Ghirshman 1962, 200, notes that the plan of Khusrau's city duplicated that of Antioch.
*4. See Gunter and Jett 1992, 136-37; and Harper 1978, 103. Particularly similar are the beribboned rams from a silk found in Antimoe in Egypt )(see Martiniani-Reber 1997, 111-12, no. 60).
Label TextStucco decoration, often naturalistic in style, decorated the palaces of Persian Sasanian kings (r. 224-651) built across Iran, especially in the southern province of Fars. This panel, which would have been part of a larger, architectural frieze, depicts a ram in relief. Wearing a collar and a fluttering ribbon (pativ), the ram is a symbol of royal glory and prosperity. It was a popular motif amongst Sasanian kings, and was prominently featured on a variety of objects, such as rock-cut reliefs, metalwork, coins, seals, and textiles. The ram and other Sasanian royal images and symbols were transmitted into Islamic art and architecture by complex networks of exchange and access over lands and centuries.ProvenanceReportedly found in the vicinity of Varamin, Iran.
On View
Not on view
Chinese
17th century, late Ming or early Qing dynasty
