Phoenix Ancient Art S.A.

The first eagle is a sculpture in the round, with a frontal pose and the head turned slightly to the bird’s left. The details of the animal’s anatomy, mainly its feathers, are all carved in shallow relief; the eagle’s eyes and mouth have each been depicted with simple incisions, the first being an incised circle, the second a simple line on the bird’s beak respectively. To portray the feathers on the bird’s head, the artist carved them as small, somewhat elongated, densely packed triangles. Moving down to the neck and shoulders of the eagle, the feathers have been carved as registers of small triangles, these ones squatter than those on the head. These feathers extend around the upper portion of the animal’s back, spanning shoulder-to-shoulder. On the wing, the shape of the feathers has changed from triangles to long, ovoid shaped ones. This shape was also used to represent the longer tail feathers of the bird. The tail itself extends down below the eagle’s talons, approximately halfway down the pedestal, to which the underside of the tail is attached. On the eagle’s legs, the scales have been carved as elongated triangles, similar to those present on the head, only on a larger scale. These feathures stop at the bird’s claws, which are represented as extending out both forward and backward from the leg, with each side having three joints. The claws rap around a cylindrical perch, which stands atop a platform and pedestal. The platform is rectangular while the pedestal is a block with convex sides. The pedestal itself rests on a base, which, like the pedestal, is also rectangular; both the pedestal and the base are demarcated from the block by an incised groove.

Similar to the first eagle, the second eagle is also carved in the round with a frontal pose and the details carved in shallow relief. The carvings on the head are particularly fine and intricate; there are small, grooved incisions around the eyes, while below these are small feathers shaped like elongated triangles. These feathers have been spaced in order to appear natural, with some feathers larger or shaped differently than others and some overlapping others. This type of feather extends to the neck of the bird, where they are slightly larger and have been carved in somewhat deeper relief. On the shoulders, the feathers have been carved in four registers of triangles, which extend around the bird’s back and across the bird’s breast. These four registers terminate sharply at the wings, where the feathers are now depicted as long and oval-shaped. Three registers of these feathers make up the wings. This feather shape is also used on the tail, which extends down below the talons of the bird and attaches to the pedestal on which the bird is perched; the tail of this eagle does not stretch down as far as the tail of the first eagle though. On the eagle’s legs, the artist has carved many small, elongated feathers in a manner similar to those present on the bird’s head. These feathers terminate at the top of the claws, which are shown grasping a cylindrical perch. The eagle and the perch are attached to a pedestal, which is itself affixed to a block of marble. The pedestal is rectangular and has an incision running near its edge, forming a lip, while the front and rear faces of the block of marble have been shaped like a convex wave. Unlike the first eagle’s perch, this block of marble is not attached to any base.

During the Roman period, the eagle was associated with the god Jupiter, and was often shown as his companion. Thus, the image of the eagle was one that occurred frequently in Roman times; a good example of a Roman period eagle is a relief fragment that is currently housed at Princeton University and has been dated to the 3^rd century A.D. Our eagles are a slightly later eastern variant from Southern Anatolia, exhibiting a more rectilinear pedestal and composition in keeping with other examples of Late Roman eagles from the eastern provinces of the Empire. There is a fragmentary eagle in Istanbul that displays similar surface treatment of the wings and feathers as our pair, and another more complete statue in the Kayseri Museum in the Kültepe region of Turkey. This eagle also shows the static pose, rectangular base and emphasis on surface effect that all combine to give a general impression of monumentality and strength.

Bittel, K., “Beiträge zur kleinasitischen Archäologie,” AfO, 11, 1936-37, p. 55.

Bossert, H.T., Altanatolien, Berlin, 1942, no. 1015.

Padgett, Michael (ed), Roman Sculpture in the Art Museum: Princeton University.