We return through the Elgin Room, and by the door in the middle of the east wall enter the Nereid Room, which contains sculptures from the 'Nereid Monument,' probably a royal tomb of the late 5th century, at Xanthos in Lycia. The walls are occupied by the friezes; on the floor are figures of the 'Nereids,' or sea goddesses, which stood between the columns, in attitudes as if skimming over the waves. Note especially in 909 the modelling of the body through the clinging drapery (as if wet); at the hem of the garment is a sea-bird floating with spread wings. Nos. 929 and 930 are two lions, with archaic and conventional manes. We descend the steps into the Mausoleum Room. Halfway down the steps the best view can be had of the sculptured tops of two large Lycian tombs from Xanthos (4th century; 950, 951). Both of these, though in stone, imitate carpentry, a Lycian tradition. [On the balustrades at the foot of the steps are small lions by Alfred Stevens, which, with others set about the Museum, were originally placed on a low railing, now removed, in Great Russell Street.]
Facing us are the remains of the MAUSOLEUM, the tomb built at Halicarnassos for Mausolus, Prince of Caria, by his wife and sister Artemisia in 353-351 B.C.; it was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. In the 15th cent. the Knights of St. John used the remains to build their castle. In 1846 some reliefs were sent to England by Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, in 1856 others were excavated by Sir C. Newton. On the west side, 1045. Fine but damaged equestrian torso; 980. Column with architrave, frieze, cornice, and ceiling. In the middle, 1000-1004. Colossal chariot group, which crowned the whole structure, including fragments of two horses, a wheel, and the figures of Mausolus and Artemisia. [The two last, however, are now thought not to have formed part of it, but to have stood in the cella.] This group was the work of Pythios, who with Satyros designed the monument and described it in a lost book. On the east wall are reliefs from the monument. The sculptors were, it is believed, for the north side Bryaxis, for the west Leochares, for the south Timotheos, and for the east Scopus, the first sculptor to represent the expression of emotion on faces. Nos. 1006-1031. the 'Frieze of the Order' (i.e. believed to be that which crowned the colonnade), with a battle of Greeks and Amazons, in higher relief and more spaced out than the Parthenon frieze (note the strong and rhythmical outlines of the composition). Above are the 'Centaur Frieze' (1032-1035) and the 'Chariot Frieze' (1036-1037). No. 1037. Charioteer (separately placed in the south-west corner and represented by a cast in the series) is attributed to Scopas and is noteworthy for the forward stoop against the wind and the characteristic intensity of gaze achieved by deepening the hollows of the eyes. By the west wall: 432. Colossal seated Dionysos, from the Acropolis at Athens. Colossal lions (1075, etc.) are set about the room. An alabaster vase, found in the Mausoleum, is inscribed with the name of Xerxes in Persian, Median, Assyrian, and Egyptian.
In the north-west corner, and behind the chariot group, are sculptures from the Temple of Athene Polias at Priene: 1152. Portrait-statue of a man; 1350. Colossal lion, from Cnidos, which originally, like the chariot group, surmounted a pyramid on a monument.
A door in the west wall leads to the Mausoleum Annexe (admission on application to the commissionaire), which contains Greek and Roman sepulchral and votive reliefs. The south door leads to the Room of Greek Inscriptions (admission on special application, for students only).
We quit the Mausoleum Room by the staircase at its north end, at the head of which are Roman busts and sarcophagi, turn to the right, and reach the north Egyptian Vestibule.
Thence we may either ascend the north-west Staircase (turning to the right at the top) to visit the room containing the smaller Greek and Roman objects, or proceed to examine the Egyptian, Assyrian, and Babylonian collections on the ground-floor.
