Melian reliefs were produced on the island of Milos from about 470 to 416 BC.[1] Most of them were found on this island. They share the same technical features, with a shallow relief, not higher than 1.5 cm (0.59 in) and a flat back. Details were once painted, but the paint is now most often gone. They show most often narrative subjects from Greek mythology. They were perhaps made for wooden boxes[2] Another option is, that they were placed on walls.[3] providing an inexpensive imitation for reliefs made in more expensive materials, such as ivory. Many of them show holes for an attachment.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/66/Triton_Theseus_Louvre_MNC746.jpg/220px-Triton_Theseus_Louvre_MNC746.jpg)
In 416 BC, Milos was ransacked by Athens in the Peloponnesian War. The population was sold into slavery. This is most likely the end of the production of the Melian reliefs.[citation needed] [speculation?]
References
edit- ^ Gisela M. A. Richter: A new Melian Relief, inː The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Feb., 1932, Vol. 27, No. 2 (Feb., 1932), pp. 44.
- ^ Gisela M. A. Richter: A new Melian Relief, inː The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Feb., 1932, Vol. 27, No. 2 (Feb., 1932), pp. 44.
- ^ J. Walter Graham: The Ransom of Hector on a New Melian Relief, in: American Journal of Archaeology , Jul., 1958, Vol. 62, No. 3 (Jul., 1958), p. 316