Assyrian Bas-relief with the Head of a Winged Genius

3D Image

by Geoffrey Marchal
published on 11 June 2018

Bas-relief with the head of a winged genius, Nimrud, north-westerly palace (Iraq), neo-Assyrian empire, reign of Ashurnasirpal II, 883-859 BCE, gypsum stone. Musée du Cinquantenaire (Brussels, Belgium). Made with ReMake and ReCap Pro from AutoDesk.

The winged genius relief, a fragment of a panel at least 2.3 meters high, and the associated “standard inscription” were part of a ritual scene repeated many times in the palace of Ashurnasirpal II, Nimrud. The figure wears a horned crown, a traditional attribute of a protective deity who has to defend the king against demons and help him to defeat his enemies. All the details are carefully rendered, in accordance with the Assyrian canon: the divine tiara, the long hair and the curly beard, the beautiful dangle earrings or the fringed garment. The bas-relief creates plays of light that distort the genius to make an impressive guardian of the new residence of the sovereign.

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