Ashmolean Museum: FAQ 2 - The Metrological Relief (1)

	Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology
	Department of Antiquities
	Frequently Asked Questions
	The Metrological Relief

What is it?

A marble slab roughly triangular in shape carved in relief with the upper body of a man looking to his left and with his arms outstretched. The slab is broken across the left forearm.
The slab is 2.09 m long, 62 cm high in the centre, and the height of the side that is still complete is 26.15 cm. It is approximately 10 cm thick.
The marble has been analysed and is neither from Athens nor Paros (two major sources of white marble). It may have been quarried in modern Turkey or another Greek island.
Until 1988, the Oxford piece was the only known metrological relief. Then another example was discovered on Salamis, near Athens.

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Last updated: jcm/18-oct-1999