The Arundel marbles are a collection of carved
Ancient Greek sculpture
The sculpture of ancient Greece is the main surviving type of fine ancient Greek art as, with the exception of painted ancient Greek pottery, almost no ancient Greek painting survives. Modern scholarship identifies three major stages in monumen ...
s and inscriptions collected by
Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel
Thomas Howard, 14th Earl of Arundel KG, (7 July 1585 – 4 October 1646) was a prominent English courtier during the reigns of King James I and King Charles I, but he made his name as a Grand Tourist and art collector rather than as a politic ...
in the early seventeenth century, the first such comprehensive collection of its kind in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. They are now in the
Ashmolean Museum
The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University of ...
,
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, having been donated in two groups.
History
The bulk of the collection was a gift by Arundel's grandson
Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk
Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk (12 July 162813 January 1684) was an English nobleman and politician. He was the second son of Henry Howard, 22nd Earl of Arundel, and Lady Elizabeth Stuart. He succeeded his brother Thomas Howard, 5th Duke of ...
in 1667, at the prompting of
John Evelyn
John Evelyn (31 October 162027 February 1706) was an English writer, landowner, gardener, courtier and minor government official, who is now best known as a diarist. He was a founding Fellow of the Royal Society.
John Evelyn's diary, or memo ...
and
John Selden
John Selden (16 December 1584 – 30 November 1654) was an English jurist, a scholar of England's ancient laws and constitution and scholar of Jewish law. He was known as a polymath; John Milton hailed Selden in 1644 as "the chief of learned ...
. The remainder were received in a second gift of 1755, when the extravagant
2nd Earl of Pomfret sold back to his mother,
Henrietta Louisa, Countess of Pomfret, those that had been at his house at
Easton Neston
Easton Neston is situated in south Northamptonshire, England. Though the village of Easton Neston which was inhabited until around 1500 is now gone, the parish retains the name. At the 2011 Census the population of the civil parish remained le ...
and she donated them to the Ashmolean, where they are sometimes called the Pomfret marbles.
The Earl of Arundel had supervised excavations in Rome, and deployed his agents in the Eastern Mediterranean, above all at
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
. Late in the seventeenth century, a visitor to Ottoman Turkey (in modern-day
Izmir) could complain that:
The earl displayed his unrivalled collections at
Arundel House
Arundel House was a London town-house or palace located between the Strand and the River Thames, near the Church of St Clement Danes.
History
During the Middle Ages it was the town house of the Bishops of Bath and Wells, when it was kno ...
, London, and one which his grandson did not leave to the collection, a 2nd-century AD relief from
Ephesus
Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in t ...
is on display in the 17th century gallery at the
Museum of London
The Museum of London is a museum in London, covering the history of the UK's capital city from prehistoric to modern times. It was formed in 1976 by amalgamating collections previously held by the City Corporation at the Guildhall, London, Gui ...
.
Some of these are not works of art but important inscriptions, the first Greek inscriptions that had been seen in England, from which historians have confirmed many dates in Greek history. Among them is the
Parian Chronicle
The Parian Chronicle or Parian Marble ( la, Marmor Parium, Mar. Par.) is a Greek chronology, covering the years from 1582 BC to 299 BC, inscribed on a stele. Found on the island of Paros in two sections, and sold in Smyrna in the early 17 ...
, inscribed about 263 BC so called because it was found on
Paros
Paros (; el, Πάρος; Venetian: ''Paro'') is a Greek island in the central Aegean Sea. One of the Cyclades island group, it lies to the west of Naxos, from which it is separated by a channel about wide. It lies approximately south-east of ...
, which gives Greek dates from 1582 BC down to 354 BC Among outstanding pieces is a relief that shows parts of the human body, outstretched arms: elbow to finger tips, foot, clenched fists and fingers each used as in that period of Ancient Greece as standard units of measure. Another important object from Arundel's collection is the so-called
Arundel Head
The Arundel Head is a Hellenistic bronze portrait of a dramatist or king from Asia Minor, now kept in the British Museum. Dating to the 2nd-1st centuries BC, the head once belonged to (and takes its name from) the famous English collector of class ...
, a
Hellenistic
In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...
bronze portrait of a philosopher or king from
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
now in the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
.
The Arundel marbles were catalogued as early as 1628, when, at the suggestion of Sir
Robert Bruce Cotton
Sir Robert Bruce Cotton, 1st Baronet (22 January 1570/71 – 6 May 1631) of Conington Hall in the parish of Conington in Huntingdonshire, England,Kyle, Chris & Sgroi was a Member of Parliament and an antiquarian who founded the Cotton library. ...
,
John Selden
John Selden (16 December 1584 – 30 November 1654) was an English jurist, a scholar of England's ancient laws and constitution and scholar of Jewish law. He was known as a polymath; John Milton hailed Selden in 1644 as "the chief of learned ...
compiled a catalogue: ''Marmora Arundeliana'' with the assistance of two others,
Patrick Young
Patrick Young (29 August 1584 – 7 September 1652), also known as Patricius Junius, was a Scottish scholar and royal librarian to King James VI and I, and King Charles I. He was a noted Biblical and patristic scholar.
Life
He was born at Seto ...
and
Richard James. In 1763
Richard Chandler published a fine edition of the inscriptions as ''Arundelian Marbles, Marmora Oxoniensia'' with a Latin translation, and a number of suggestions for filling the
lacunae (gaps).
Gallery
image:So-called Cicero excavated by the Earl of Arundel in Rome between 1613 and 1614 MH.jpg, So-called Cicero excavated by the Earl of Arundel in Rome between 1613 and 1614
image:Closeup of So-called Cicero excavated by the Earl of Arundel in Rome between 1613 and 1614 MH.jpg, So-called Cicero excavated by the Earl of Arundel in Rome between 1613 and 1614
image:Man wearing a toga excavated in Rome 1613-1614 and later given the name "Caius Marius" MH.jpg, Man wearing a toga excavated in Rome 1613-1614 and later given the name "Caius Marius"
image:First century CE togate torso bearing a 17th century CE head dubbed Caius Marius by the Earl of Arundel excavated in 1613-1614 CE MH.jpg, First century CE togate torso bearing a 17th century CE head dubbed Caius Marius by the Earl of Arundel excavated in 1613-1614 CE
image:Statue of a woman with hairstyle dating to the later Roman Republican or Augustan period but body dating to 200-100 BCE MH.jpg, Statue of a woman with hairstyle dating to the later Roman Republican or Augustan period but body dating to 200-100 BCE
image:Closeup of Statue of a woman with hairstyle dating to the later Roman Republican or Augustan period but body dating to 200-100 BCE MH.jpg, Closeup of Statue of a woman with hairstyle dating to the later Roman Republican or Augustan period but body dating to 200-100 BCE
image:The Oxford Bust or "Sappho" with head and torso coming from different statues and probably put together by a sculptor in the 1600s MH.jpg, The Oxford Bust or "Sappho" with head and torso coming from different statues and probably put together by a sculptor in the 1600s
image:The Oxford Bust or "Sappho" with head and torso coming from different statues and probably put together by a sculptor in the 1600s View 2 MH.jpg, The Oxford Bust or "Sappho" with head and torso coming from different statues and probably put together by a sculptor in the 1600s View 2
image:Portrait of a young man with hairstyle, facial features and long neck pointing to portraits made in the early 100s CE MH.jpg, Portrait of a young man with hairstyle, facial features and long neck pointing to portraits made in the early 100s CE
image:Sphinx commissioned by the Earl of Arundel to partner a Roman Sphinx, 17th century CE MH.jpg, Sphinx commissioned by the Earl of Arundel to partner a Roman Sphinx, 17th century CE
image:Sphinx, Roman, 50-200 CE Arundel Marble MH.jpg, Sphinx, Roman, 50-200 CE.
image:Roman statue of Eros, 100-200 CE Arundel Marble MH.jpg, Roman statue of Eros, 100-200 CE depicting Eros sleeping, his torch turned down, a symbol of death used in many Roman memorials.
image:Closeup of Roman statue of Eros, 100-200 CE Arundel Marble MH.jpg, Closeup of Roman statue of Eros, 100-200 CE depicting Eros sleeping, his torch turned down, a symbol of death used in many Roman memorials.
image:Fragment of a marble sarcophagus depicting two drunken boys from a Bacchic revel, made in Athens 140-150 CE MH.jpg, Fragment of a marble sarcophagus depicting two drunken boys from a Bacchic revel, made in Athens 140-150 CE
References
Sources
*
Denys Eyre Lankester Haynes, 1975. ''The Arundel marbles'' (Oxford : University of Oxford, Ashmolean Museum)
* Michael Vickers, ''Arundel and Pomfret Marbles in Oxford'' (Ashmolean Museum) {{ISBN, 1-85444-207-4
Benjamin Anderson, curator, ''The Invention of Antiquity'', exhibition at Bryn Mawr, 2004 "Epigraphy and Wanderlust"
Collection of the Ashmolean Museum
Collections of classical sculpture
Former private collections in the United Kingdom