Modillions of Hellenistic date from Rhodes – Expression of private luxury in domestic and funerary architecture

Abstract

Original title: Konsolengeisa hellenistischer Zeitstellung aus Rhodos – Ausdruck privaten Luxus in der Wohn- und Grabarchitektur

Some scattered fragments in the Archaeological Museum of Rhodes can be reconstructed as a group of modillions. The earliest of them could still be dated to the end of the 3rd century B.C., the last probably to the 1^st century B.C. In comparison with the cornices, which have long been known for burial monuments, they present similar forms and may have served as models for them. Their affiliation to the houses of the city is suggested by the material, but above all by the fact that for no public building is a corresponding solution attested. Within the houses, the modillions divided door lintels, and most probably multi-storey, ›Rhodian‹ peristyles or high facades from above. In their extravagant design, they are an expression of the luxury furnishing of houses in Hellenistic Rhodes.