Arock relief orrock-cut relief is arelief sculpture carved on solid or "living rock" such as a cliff, rather than a detached piece of stone. They are a category ofrock art, and sometimes found as part of, or in conjunction with,rock-cut architecture.[1] However, they tend to be omitted in most works on rock art, which concentrate on engravings and paintings by prehistoric peoples. A few such works exploit the natural contours of the rock and use them to define an image, but they do not amount to man-made reliefs. Rock reliefs have been made in many cultures throughout human history, and were especially important in the art of theancient Near East.[2] Rock reliefs are generally fairly large, as they need to be in order to have an impact in the open air. Most of those discussed here have figures that are over life-size, and in many the figures are multiples of life-size.
Stylistically they normally relate to other types of sculpture from the culture and period concerned, and except forHittite and Persian examples they are generally discussed as part of that wider subject.[3] Reliefs on near-vertical surfaces are most common, but reliefs on essentially horizontal surfaces are also found. The term typically excludes relief carvings inside caves, whether natural or themselves man-made, which are especially found inIndian rock-cut architecture. Natural rock formations made into statues or other sculpture in the round, most famously at theGreat Sphinx of Giza, are also usually excluded. Reliefs on large boulders left in their natural location, like the Hittiteİmamkullu relief, are likely to be included, but smaller boulders may be calledstelae or carvedorthostats. Many or most ancient reliefs were probably originally painted, over a layer of plaster; in some traces of this remain.
The first requirement for a rock relief is a suitable face of stone; a near-vertical cliff minimizes the work required, otherwise a sloping rock face is often cut back to give a vertical area to carve. Most of the ancient Near East was well supplied with hills and mountains offering many cliff faces. An exception was the land ofSumer, where all stone had to be imported over considerable distances, and so theart of Mesopotamia only features rock relief around the edges of the region. TheHittites and ancient Persians were the most prolific makers of rock reliefs in the Near East.[4]
The form is adopted by some cultures and ignored by others. In the manycommemorative stelae of Nahr el-Kalb, 12 kilometres north ofBeirut, successive imperial rulers have carved memorials and inscriptions. The Ancient Egyptian,Neo-Assyrian andNeo-Babylonian rulers include relief imagery in their monuments, while the Roman and Islamic rulers do not, nor more modern ones (who erect slabs of stone carved elsewhere and fitted to the rock).[5]
Although prehistoric engravedpetroglyphs are common in Egypt, in general the form is not a very common one inAncient Egyptian art, and only possible in some parts of the country, generally those away from the main centres of population, as Abu Simbel was. There are a group of figures surrounding an image ofMentuhotep II, who died in 2010 BC and was the first pharaoh of theMiddle Kingdom.[6]
Before they were cut away and moved, the colossal figures outside theAbu Simbel temples were very high reliefs. Other sculpture outside temples cut into the rock qualifies as rock reliefs. Thereliefs at Nahr el-Kalb commemorateRameses II,[7] and are at the furthest reach of his empire (indeed beyond the area he reliably controlled) in modernLebanon.
The Hittites were important producers of rock reliefs, which form a relatively large part of thefew artistic remains they have left.[8] TheKarabel relief of a king was seen byHerodotus, who mistakenly thought it showed the EgyptianPharaohSesostris.[9] This, like many Hittite reliefs, is near a road, but actually rather hard to see from the road. There are more than a dozen sites, most over 1000 metres in elevation, overlooking plains, and typically near water. These perhaps were placed with an eye to the Hittite's relation to the landscape rather than merely as rulers' propaganda, signs of "landscape control", or border markers, as has often been thought.[10] They are often at sites with a sacred significance both before and after the Hittite period, and apparently places where the divine world was considered as sometimes breaking through to the human one.[11]
AtYazılıkaya, just outside the capital ofHattusa, a series of reliefs of Hittite gods in procession decorate open-air "chambers" made by adding barriers among the natural rock formations. The site was apparently a sanctuary, and possibly a burial site, for the commemoration of the ruling dynasty's ancestors. It was perhaps a private space for the dynasty and a small group of the elite, unlike the more public wayside reliefs. The usual form of these is to show royal males carrying weapons, usually holding a spear, carrying a bow over their shoulder, with a sword at their belt. They have attributes associated with divinity, and so are shown as "god-warriors".[12]
The Assyrians probably took the form from the Hittites; the sites chosen for their 49 recorded reliefs often also make little sense if "signalling" to the general population was the intent, being high and remote, but often near water. The Neo-Assyrians recorded in other places, including metal reliefs on theBalawat Gates showing them being made, the carving of rock reliefs, and it has been suggested that the main intended audience was the gods, the reliefs and the inscriptions that often accompany them being almost of the nature of a "business report" submitted by the ruler.[13] A canal system built by theNeo-Assyrian kingSennacherib (reigned 704–681 BC) to supply water toNineveh was marked by a number of reliefs showing the king with gods.[14] Other reliefs at theTigris tunnel, a cave in modern Turkey believed to be the source of the riverTigris, are "almost inaccessible and invisible for humans".[15] Probably built by Sennacherib's sonEsarhaddon,Shikaft-e Gulgul is a late example in modern Iran, apparently related to a military campaign.[16]
The large carved rock relief, typically placed high beside a road, and near a source of water, is a common medium in Persian art, mostly used to glorify the king and proclaim Persian control over territory.[17] It begins withLullubi andElamite rock reliefs, such as those atKul-e Farah andEshkaft-e Salman in southwest Iran, and continues under the Assyrians. TheBehistun relief and inscription, made around 500 BC forDarius the Great, is on a far grander scale, reflecting and proclaiming the power of theAchaemenid Empire.[18] Persian rulers commonly boasted of their power and achievements, until the Muslim conquest removed imagery from such monuments; much later there was a small revival under theQajar dynasty.[19]
Behistun is unusual in having a large and important inscription, which like the EgyptianRosetta Stone repeats its text in three different languages, here all usingcuneiform script: Old Persian,Elamite, andBabylonian (a later form ofAkkadian).[20] This was important in the modern understanding of these languages. Other Persian reliefs generally lack inscriptions, and the kings involved often can only be tentatively identified. The problem is helped in the case of the Sassanids by their custom of showing a different style of crown for each king, which can be identified from their coins.[21]
Naqsh-e Rustam is thenecropolis of theAchaemenid dynasty (500–330 BC), with four large tombs cut high into the cliff face. These have mainly architectural decoration, but the facades include large panels over the doorways, each very similar in content, with figures of the king being invested by a god, above a zone with rows of smaller figures bearing tribute, with soldiers and officials. The three classes of figures are sharply differentiated in size. The entrance to each tomb is at the centre of each cross, which opens onto a small chamber, where the king lay in asarcophagus.[22] The horizontal beam of each of the tomb's facades is believed to be a replica of the entrance of the palace atPersepolis.
Only one has inscriptions and the matching of the other kings to tombs is somewhat speculative; the relief figures are not intended as individualized portraits. The third from the left, identified by an inscription, is the tomb ofDarius I the Great (c. 522–486 BC). The other three are believed to be those ofXerxes I (c. 486–465 BC),Artaxerxes I (c. 465–424 BC), andDarius II (c. 423–404 BC) respectively. A fifth unfinished one might be that of Artaxerxes III, who reigned at the longest two years, but is more likely that ofDarius III (c. 336–330 BC), last of the Achaemenid dynasts. The tombs were looted following the conquest of the Achaemenid Empire byAlexander the Great.[23]
Well below the Achaemenid tombs, near ground level, are rock reliefs with large figures ofSassanian kings, some meeting gods, others in combat. The most famous shows the Sassanian kingShapur I on horseback, with the Roman EmperorValerian bowing to him in submission, andPhilip the Arab (an earlier emperor who paid Shapur tribute) holding Shapur's horse, while the dead EmperorGordian III, killed in battle, lies beneath it (other identifications have been suggested). This commemorates theBattle of Edessa in 260 AD, when Valerian became the only Roman Emperor who was captured as a prisoner of war, a lasting humiliation for the Romans. The placing of these reliefs clearly suggests the Sassanid intention to link themselves with the glories of the earlierAchaemenid Empire.[24] There are three further Achaemenid royal tombs with similar reliefs atPersepolis, one unfinished.[25]
The seven Sassanian reliefs, whose approximate dates range from 225 to 310 AD, show subjects including investiture scenes and battles. The earliest relief at the site isElamite, from about 1000 BC. About a kilometre away isNaqsh-e Rajab, with a further four Sassanid rock reliefs, three celebrating kings and one a high priest. Another important Sassanid site isTaq Bostan with several reliefs including two royal investitures and a famous figure of acataphract or Persian heavy cavalryman, about twice life size, probably representing the kingKhosrow Parviz mounted on his favourite horseShabdiz; the pair continued to be celebrated in later Persian literature.[26]Firuzabad, Fars andBishapur have groups of Sassanian reliefs, the former including the oldest, a large battle scene, now badly worn.[27] AtBarm-e Delak a king offers a flower to his queen.
Sassanian reliefs are concentrated in the first 80 years of the dynasty, though one important set are 6th-century, and at relatively few sites, mostly in the Sassanid heartland. The later ones in particular suggest that they draw on a now-lost tradition of similar reliefs in palaces instucco. The rock reliefs were probably coated in plaster and painted.[28]
The rock reliefs of the preceding Persian Seleucids andParthians are generally smaller and more crude, and not all direct royal commissions as the Sassanid ones clearly were.[29] At Behistun an earlier relief including a lion was adapted into a recliningHerakles in a fullyHellenistic style; he reclines on a lion skin. This was only uncovered below rubble relatively recently; an inscription dates it to 148 BC.[30] Other reliefs in Iran include theAssyrian king in shallow relief atShikaft-e Gulgul; not all sites with Persian reliefs are in modern Iran.[31] Qajar reliefs include a large and lively panel showing hunting at the royal hunting-ground ofTangeh Savashi, and a panel, still largely with its colouring intact, at Taq Bostan showing the shah seated with attendants.
The standard catalogue of pre-Islamic Persian reliefs lists the known examples (as at 1984) as follows:Lullubi #1–4;Elam #5–19; Assyrian #20–21; Achaemenid #22–30; Late/Post-Achaemenid and Seleucid #31–35; Parthian #36–49; Sasanian #50–84; others #85–88.[32]
Although carving into solid rock is more a feature of Indian sculpture than of any other culture, most Indian sculptures fall outside the strict definition of rock reliefs because they are either fully detached statues, or are reliefs within rock-cut or natural caves, or temples entirely cut from the living rock. In the former group are many colossalJain figures oftirthankara, and in the later Hindu and Buddhist works at theElephanta Caves,Ajanta Caves,Ellora, theAurangabad Caves, and most of theGroup of Monuments at Mahabalipuram.[33] Especially at Ajanta, there are many rock reliefs in the open, around the entrances to the caves, either part of the original designs or votive sculptures added later by individual patrons.[34]
However, there are a number of significant rock reliefs in India, with theDescent of the Ganges atMahabalipuram the best known and perhaps the most impressive. This is a large 7th-century Hindu scene with many figures that uses the form of the rock to shape the image.[35] TheAnantashayi Vishnu is an early 9th-century horizontal relief of the recliningHindu godVishnu inOrissa, measuring 15.4 metres (51 ft) in length, cut into a flat bed of rock.[36][37] while the largest standing image is theGommateshwara statue inSouthern India.[38] AtUnakoti,Tripura there is an 11th-century group of reliefs related toShiva, and atHampi scenes from theRamayana. Several sites, such asKalugumalai and theSamanar Hills inTamil Nadu, haveJain reliefs, mostly of meditatingtirthankaras.
Buddhism, originating in India, took the traditions of cave androck-cut architecture to other parts of Asia, including the creation of rock reliefs.[39] In these the emphasis shifted to religious subject matter; in earlier reliefs deities had normally appeared only to show their approval of the ruler. The colossal Buddha figures are nearly all in very high relief, only still attached to the rock face at the rear. Several have or had "image houses", or buildings enclosing them, which meant that they could normally only be seen very close up, and the impressive view from further back was lost to pilgrims.
InSri Lanka colossal Buddha figures include theAvukana Buddha statue, 5th century and almost free-standing, with only a narrow strip at the back still connecting it to the cliff, and the four 12-century Buddha figures atGal Vihara; the brick foundations for image houses can be seen here. The seven 10th-century figures atBuduruvagala are in much lower relief. There are very lively elephants carved around a temple pool atIsurumuniya.[40] Of the colossal lion gateway to the hill-palace atSigiriya, only the paws remain, the head having fallen off at some point.
The three famous ancient Buddhist sculptural sites in China are theMogao Caves,[41]Longmen Grottoes (672–673 for the main group) andYungang Grottoes (460–535), all of which have colossal Buddha statues in very high relief, cut back into huge niches in the cliff,[42] though the largest figure at Mogao is still enclosed by a wooden image house superstructure in front of it; this is also thought to be a portrait of the reigning empressWu Zetian. One of the Longmen figures is effectively in a man-made cave, but can be seen from outside through a large window opened in the outer face (see gallery). Smaller rock-cut sculptures and paintings decorate the cave temples at these sites.
TheTang dynastyLeshan Giant Buddha, the largest of all, was built with a superstructure covering it, which was destroyed by the Mongols. Such large figures were a novelty in Chinese art, and adapted conventions from further west.[43] TheDazu Rock Carvings include scenes with unusually large numbers of figures, such as a famous and large scene of the Buddhist Judgement of Souls. These are set back into the cliff and the shelter has enabled them to retain their bright colours.[44] Other Chinese Buddhist cave sites with external rock reliefs includeLingyin Temple with many small reliefs, and theMaijishan Grottoes with a main colossal group;[45] unusually for figures of such a size, they are inbas-relief.
TheBamiyan Buddha figures were two standing Buddha figures of the 6th century inAfghanistan which were destroyed by theTaliban in 2001; they probably were one of the immediate influences on the Chinese sites further east on theSilk Road.[46] In Japan theNihon-ji temple includes a colossal seated Buddha completed in 1783, 31 metres tall. Japanese "Great Buddha" statues are called "daibutsu", but most are in bronze.
Sites elsewhere includeKbal Spean nearAngkor inCambodia, which has both Hindu and Buddhist reliefs. These are placed in rocky shallows of the river, with water flowing over them. Large numbers of shortlingams and deities were intended to purify the water that flowed over them on its way to the city.[47]
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The Greco-RomanAthena relief of Sömek in modernTurkey, with awarrior nearby, are two of the relatively few examples from the ancient Greek and Roman worlds.[48] Nearby atAdamkayalar there are a series of standing figures in classical niches, probably funerary memorials of the 2nd century AD; similar figures are found atKanlidivane. All these sites are from former Hittite andNeo-Hittite territories. The cliff at Behistun, as well as Darius's famous relief, has aSeleucid recliningHercules of 148 BC with a Greek inscription.[49] Also from the fringes of the Roman world, the famous rock-cut tombs ofPetra, Jordan include figurative elements, mostly now battered by iconoclasm, for example the best-known tomb, known asThe Treasury.[50]
Standing alone in early medieval Europe is theMadara Rider inBulgaria, cut around 700 above the palace of a ruler of theBulgars. It shows a rider, about double life-size, spearing a lion, with a dog running behind him.[51] Though the medium of rock relief is without parallels anywhere near, this motif, known as theThracian horseman, had long been common on stelae in the region, and such motifs appear in metalwork,[52] such as the ewer with a mounted warrior and his prisoner in the enigmaticTreasure of Nagyszentmiklós, and are common in Sasanian silver bowls, which may well have been traded as far as the Balkans.
The (probably) 12th-centuryExternsteine relief in southern Germany measures 4.8 m high by 3.7 m wide. It shows theDescent from the Cross of Jesus, a standard scene from Christian art, with a total of ten figures.[53]: 4 The circumstances of its making remain unclear, and despite the extensive tradition of medieval reliefs on buildings, making them on natural rock formations at a large size remained very rare.
Pre-Columbian rock reliefs, mostly using a low relief, include those atChalcatzingo in Mexico, probably from around 900–700 BC. These reflectOlmec style, though the city was controlled by local rulers. They are on vertical cliff faces, and comparable in style and subject matter to stelae and architectural reliefs in the same tradition.[54]
TheInca tradition is very distinctive; they carved rock with mainly horizontal representations of landscapes as one form ofhuaca; the most famous are theSayhuite Stone and the Quinku rock. These show a landscape, but also many animals; it is not clear if the landscapes represent a real place or are imaginary. These permanent works formed part of a wider Inca tradition of visualizing and modelling landscapes, often accompanied by rituals.[55]
Modern rock reliefs tend to be colossal, at several times life-size, and are usually memorials of some sort. In America,Mount Rushmore is mostly in a very high relief, and theStone Mountain relief commemorating threeConfederate generals in bas-relief. Therock sculpture of Decebalus inRomania is a huge face on an outcrop above theDanube, begun in 1994.[56] TheLion Monument orLion of Lucerne, inLucerne,Switzerland, is one of the most artistically successful, designed byBertel Thorvaldsen and carved in 1820–21 by Lukas Ahorn, as a memorial for theSwiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during theFrench Revolution.[57]
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