Votive reliefs
Relief plaques, usually set on pillars in sanctuary precincts, are the commonest sculptural dedications.
They may show the donor, often with his family, making a sacrifice or offering, and the deity is often shown also, at a larger
size, receiving them. Where a hero is honoured he is commonly shown either with a horse, or reclining at feast - a model for
the 'death-feast' motif which is seen on tombstones in the period when the dead were regarded as to some degree heroised.
- Votive relief from the Athenian Acropolis. Piper and dancers. About 500 BC
- Votive relief from Athens, to the river god Kephisos. Apollo sits on his tripod at the left; the river god (man-bull)
Acheloos at the right; Kephisos is a figure among the assembly of mortals, including the donor, Xenokrateia. About 410 BC.
Cast No. D047
- Votive relief to Zeus Philios, seated right with a consort. The donor's family approach from the left. 4th century BC.
- Votive relief given by a poet to the Muses, made by Archelaos, about 300 BC. It shows the Muses, and, below, a scene of
homage to Homer as a hero. The donor is on a pedestal centre right.
Cast No. D095
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