A Winged Genius

Date883–859 BCE

Mediumalabaster

Dimensions236.8 x 133.4 cm (93 1/4 x 52 1/2 in.)

ClassificationsSculpture

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Terms

sculpture

Object number1930.42

DescriptionEight panels, cemented together, and reinforced with channel irons in an oak frame. Right arm raised in a gesture of anointing, this semi-divine genie stands with a date-palm spatheca flower associated with fertility and magical protection in Assyrian mythology in its right hand. It carries a pail in its left hand. The horned cap and double wings are attributes of divinity as is the knee-length tunic with tassels worn beneath a fringed coat. This semi-divine genie wears earrings, armbands and a necklace; his bracelets are decorated with a rosette, perhaps a symbol of the goddess Ishtar and associated with fertility.

Label TextThe Assyrian kings, who ruled in Mesopotamia from the ninth through the seventh century B.C., projected an image of themselves as all-powerful, divinely sanctioned monarchs. They adorned their palaces with monumental friezes that displayed their authority and wealth. This low relief, once painted in bright colors, belonged to a series of slabs adorning the fabulous palace of the great ruler Assurnasirpal II at ancient Kalhu (biblical Calah, or modern Nimrud), the Assyrian capital in central Iraq. Standing in profile, according to artistic convention, the figure in the frieze is a winged "genius," or protective being. He wears the horned cap, knee-length tunic, and long, fringed cape associated with divinities. Whether fertilizing the Tree of Life or anointing the king (depicted on another slab), the genius clutches in his raised right hand a conical date-palm spathe, the male part of the flower. In his left hand he holds a small pail that would have contained a magical liquid or pollen. Running through the chiseled relief like an incantation is a cuneiform inscription detailing the king's ancestry and such achievements as his prowess in warfare and hunting and his march to the Mediterranean in search of cedar timbers for his palace.ProvenanceSold to the Worcester Art Museum by the Bourgeois Galleries, New York, June 30, 1930. Statement from the gallery at time of purchase: "The relief was discovered by a man called Halepian of Mussul in 1916 near the ruins of old Khorsabad, capital of King Sargon, sold by him to Makri Ohanian, who exported it to Europe with an export license from the English government dated June 17th 1924 and sold this year to Dr. Jacob Hirsch of Geneva from whom we purchased it."

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