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in honour of Cornelius Lentulus, their patron and saviour.' He seems to have obtained the latter title on account of his services when Pompey was engaged in the suppression of the pirates in 67 B.C.

On the south wall are portraits of Greek poets and others,

rich design. See, for example, the cippus (No. 2350) erected to Agria Agathe by her heirs (fig. 48).

1383. Portrait head of Cnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus, with a base (originally connected with the head by a square pedestal), containing an inscription by the people of Cyrenè

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Fig. 48.-Sepulchral Monument of Agria Agathe. No. 2350.

including (1833) a fine bust of Euripides; also (1944) a poor statue of Septimius Severus (?) from Alexandria; and (1685) a figure of Thalia, the Muse of Comedy.

In the middle of this half of the room are :--

1886. An equestrian statue, restored as the Emperor Caligula (A.D. 37-41), but probably a work of a later period; (1719), a seated Sphinx; (2131), a group of two dogs and other decorative subjects.

1721. A group of Mithras slaying the bull (compare p. 92), dedicated by one Alcimus, the slave bailiff of Livianus, who has been identified as an officer of Trajan, in fulfilment of a vow. A work of the second century A.D. (fig. 49).

ALCIMVS TLCL LIVIAN I SER VILC SOLAVSD*D

ALCIMVS TICI

IIVIANI SER•VILC

S••V•SD.D.

Fig. 49.-Mithras and the Bull. No 1721.

On the South side of one of the square piers is a bust by Nollekens of Charles Townley, the collector of the principal Graeco-Roman sculptures.

[In order to visit the collections of smaller antiquities on the upper floor, the visitor must ascend the principal staircase, and turn to the right at the head of the stairs to enter the Room of Terracottas.

Near the head of the staircase are the collections of the remains of Roman civilisation, found in this country, and therefore forming a section of the Department of British and Mediaeval Antiquities].

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DEPARTMENT OF GREEK AND ROMAN ANTIQUITIES, BRITISH MUSEUM.

PLAN OF UPPER FLOOR.

UPPER FLOOR.

ROOM OF TERRACOTTAS.*

SUBJECT: GREEK AND ROMAN WORKS IN
TERRACOTTA.

The specimens in this room illustrate the art of working in terracotta (that is, baked clay') as practised by the Greeks and Romans from the beginning of Greek art onwards to the time of the Roman Empire.

As might be expected from the nature of the material and the small scale of most of the works with which we are concerned, the terracottas show a slighter and often a more playful manner when compared with the formal and deliberate work of the sculptor in marble. It is to this fact that a collection of terracottas owes its special charm. The works individually are for the most part unimportant, and made half mechanically in great numbers, but it is seldom difficult to understand the intention of the artists or to sympathise with the grace and humour of their productions.

The smaller terracottas are, for the most part, derived from the tombs or from the shrines of certain divinities. In the tombs the original intention was probably to bury the terracottas as substitutes for more valuable offerings for the benefit of the dead, or as votive offerings to the gods of the lower world. But it is hard to see how this applies to the statuettes of a later time, such as those of Tanagra and Eretria, where the original intention must have been almost forgotten, and where the terracottas were buried, like the vases and ornaments, as part of the furniture of the tomb, but without any special significance. In some cases the objects buried must have been merely children's toys.

In the shrines of divinities the usual objects are of a votive character, consisting of figures of the divinity, or by the process of substitution already mentioned, representations in clay of acceptable offerings.

The principal methods employed are the following:

(1) Figures of men, horses, etc., are rudely modelled in soft clay rolled in the hands, as children work with dough, and roughly pinched to the desired shapes. This method has been named, with doubtful appropriateness, the snow-man style.'

(2) Figures are built up with clay and carefully worked like a sculptor's model. Figures thus made are comparatively rare, and are usually works of the larger and more individual kind.

*The Terracottas are described in the Catalogue of the Terracottas, by H. B. Walters (1903), (35s.). A copy can be borrowed from the attendant.

(3) Figures and reliefs are made from moulds. smaller objects in terracotta are made in this way. model was first prepared in wax or clay.

Most of the

The original From this a mould was

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taken by squeezing clay on the model. This mould was baked and copies could then be readily taken from it. As may be seen on the many moulds exhibited (cf. fig. 50), in most cases the front of the figure is alone moulded. The irregular edges of the mould show that it was seldom prepared to fit to an opposite piece, as is necessary for casting a figure in the round. The simpler plan was usually adopted of pressing the clay into the mould and roughly finishing the back by hand. After the cast was removed from the mould finer details, such as the eyes, hair, etc., were often touched by hand to give increased precision. In the reliefs the same method may be followed of using a mould, or occasionally the slab of clay may be cut out and worked by hand.

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The arrangement on both left and right proceeds in historical order, beginning with the Eastern door by which we enter.

On the left side of the room, in Cases 1-24, are displayed terracottas found in Cyprus, Greece, and in ancient Greek colonies. On the right side of the room, in Cases 25-48, are terracottas which have been found in Italy and Sardinia, but chiefly on sites where Greek influence had prevailed.

The first block 1-8 contains terracottas of the archaic and early periods, namely:

Fig. 51. Primitive Terracotta.

Aegean period,
These are rude

Case 1. Terracottas of the Mycenaean or from Enkomi in Cyprus (cf. p. 129) and elsewhere. and highly conventional renderings of the nude human form (fig. 51).

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