Achilles and Penthesileia

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The statue group represents Achilles supporting the dying Amazon queen Penthesileia: he has killed her but at the same time has fallen in love with her. The group copies a famous hellenistic work, which was popular both for the beauty of the figures and the pathos of the story. The Aphrodisian version is a careful and high-quality work that aims to be true to the simple style of the original group. It had earlier been displayed elsewhere in Aphrodisias and was only brought to decorate the four-column pool at the Hadrianic Baths in late antiquity. The re-used base on which it stood is in situ: it was also brought from elsewhere. The Achilles and Penthesileia then was a venerable antiquity that had been lovingly cared for, restored, and re-displayed in a new setting.

Found at: Hadrianic Baths, Tetrastyle Court