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Relief of a Persian servant
Near Eastern, Iranian, Persian
Achaemenid
550–331 B.C.
Place of Origin: Iran, Persepolis, Palace of Xerxes, western stairway
Medium/Technique
Limestone
Dimensions
Overall: 69.2 × 32.1 × 10.2 cm (27 1/4 × 12 5/8 × 4 in.)
Credit Line
Charles Amos Cummings Fund
Accession Number31.372
CollectionsAncient Egypt, Nubia and the Near East
ClassificationsArchitectural elements – Relief
DescriptionRelief of a Persian servant at the annual "March of Nations" which took place in the Persian New Year festival near the spring equinox. This ceremony declared the loyalty of the nations encompassed by the Persian Empire to the king. In this relief, Persian and Median servants bring food and drink to the banquet following the ceremony. The Persian carrying a covered dish wears typical court dress whose naturalistic folds are unusual in ancient Near Eastern art and indicate the influence of Greek sculpture. Many Greek artisans were employed in the Persian court at this time.
ProvenanceFrom the façade of the east wing, South Stairs, Palace of Darius, Persepolis; between about 1880 and 1931, removed from the Palace of Darius [see note]. 1931, sold through Arthur Upham Pope (b. 1881 - d. 1969), Paris, to the MFA for £700 [see note]. (Accession Date: May 7, 1931)
NOTE: This relief was photographed in situ in the early 1880s and published by Marcel Dieulafoy, L’art antique de la Perse: Achéménides, Parthes, Sassanides, part 2, Monuments de Persepolis (Paris, 1884), pl. XV. It is possible, but not documented, that Pope sold this relief in 1931 with or on behalf of Ayoub Rabenou, for whom he offered other objects to the MFA at this time. Rabenou was instrumental in selling relief sculpture from Persepolis around 1931, as discussed by Lindsay Allen, " 'The Greatest Enterprise': Arthur Upham Pope, Persepolis and Achaemenid Antiquities," in Arthur Upham Pope and a New Survey of Persian Art, ed. Y. Kadoi (2016), 145-146. Many thanks to Dr. Allen for her assistance.
NOTE: This relief was photographed in situ in the early 1880s and published by Marcel Dieulafoy, L’art antique de la Perse: Achéménides, Parthes, Sassanides, part 2, Monuments de Persepolis (Paris, 1884), pl. XV. It is possible, but not documented, that Pope sold this relief in 1931 with or on behalf of Ayoub Rabenou, for whom he offered other objects to the MFA at this time. Rabenou was instrumental in selling relief sculpture from Persepolis around 1931, as discussed by Lindsay Allen, " 'The Greatest Enterprise': Arthur Upham Pope, Persepolis and Achaemenid Antiquities," in Arthur Upham Pope and a New Survey of Persian Art, ed. Y. Kadoi (2016), 145-146. Many thanks to Dr. Allen for her assistance.