Cast of marshal from East frieze of Parthenon (figure 48 of Slab VI)

From: Parthenon, Athens

RA Collection: Art

The cast is of a single figure (48) from slab VI of the east frieze of the Parthenon. It shows a young man who faces the procession and has his back to a similarly-dressed young man who is signalling. Both of these young men are parade marshals.

This portion of the original slab is now in the British Museum and was acquired from Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin in 1816. However, between 1787 and 1800 the original block suffered serious losses; the head and left foot of this figure have been recovered in Athens. The Royal Academy cast reproduces the complete figure as known from a mould made in the 1780s by the French vice-consul and antiquarian Louis-Francois-Sebastien Fauvel.