Metope of a Centaur and Lapith
- Audio guide stop: 261
- Gallery: Room 18
- Maker: Pheidias
- Culture: Classical Greek
- Made in: Athens
- Date: 447BC-438BC
- Object type: metope
- Materials: marble
- Museum number: 1816,0610.11
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
Before you is a marble metope from the Parthenon, carved between 447 and 438 BC in Athens. This fragment belongs to the South metopes, a set that depicts the battle between Centaurs and Lapiths during a marriage feast.
In this scene, a young Lapith holds a Centaur's head from behind, prepared to strike. The wounded Centaur pushes against the injury with his hand as he rears up. The sculpture shows dynamic movement and dramatic tension, with the folds of a chlamys draped over the Lapith's arms.
Designed by Pheidias, the metope is a striking example of Classical Greek stone carving. Much of the original remains intact, though parts of the figure and frame are missing or restored. This metope, like the others, is now displayed in the British Museum, having been purchased from the 7th Earl of Elgin.
See it in person
Metope of a Centaur and Lapith is on display in Room 18 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and type its audio guide stop number, 261, from the gallery label, or take a photo of it, to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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