Page:Travels & discoveries in the Levant (1865) Vol. 1.djvu/41

Rh with much concern the injury which had been inflicted on one of the finest slabs of the frieze,—one representing seated figures of deities, which has been discovered since Lord Elgin's visit, and of which a cast exists in the British Museum. The hand of one of the seated figures in this relief overhung the chair in a most easy and natural position; it was the more precious, because we have very few examples of hands from the finest period of Greek art. One day a foreign visitor, watching an opportunity when the custode's back was turned, broke off this hand. I regret that I cannot record the name of this miscreant; but I heard that he was a midshipman in the Austrian service, and that his Government punished this exploit with a heavy fine. The inside of the Temple of Theseus has been converted into a temporary Museum, in which have been deposited a number of most interesting sculptures from various sites, so huddled together that none of them can be properly seen.

Here may be seen the celebrated figure in relief, of a warrior, found near Brauron, with the name of the sculptor, Aristokles, inscribed on the base. This name occurs on another base of a statue found at Athens, and it is supposed that the sculptor to whom it refers is one mentioned by Pausanias, as the father of Kleœtas. It has been thought, from the evidence of these two inscriptions, that his date might be between Olymp. 75 and 85, B.C. 480—440.

The name of the artist of this relief being known, and the date thus approximately fixed, the relief is consequently of the highest interest, as a specimen