Pheidippides 490 B.C.
Poster
1936 (made)
1936 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Pheidippides was a mythological Athenian courier who ran 150 miles to Sparta and back, seeking aid when the Persians launched an attack on Marathon. This poster forms part of a series commissioned by the GPO (General Post Office) to capture in images the story of message delivery throughout history. Others in the series are a king's messenger in 1482, a mail coach from 1784, and a modern Royal Mail postman on a motorcycle in 1935.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Pheidippides 490 B.C. (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | colour lithograph |
| Brief description | GPO poster by JA (monogram for John Armstrong). UK. ca. 1935. |
| Physical description | Landscape-format image of a two-handled Greek urn rendered in grey, black and sepia (reddish-brown). Images of Pheidippides running away from Persian warriors wielding shields and spears, running towards three (Spartan) female figures standing before temple-like structures. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Gift of the American Friends of the V&A; Gift to the American Friends by Leslie, Judith and Gabri Schreyer and Alice Schreyer Batko |
| Subject depicted | |
| Places depicted | |
| Summary | Pheidippides was a mythological Athenian courier who ran 150 miles to Sparta and back, seeking aid when the Persians launched an attack on Marathon. This poster forms part of a series commissioned by the GPO (General Post Office) to capture in images the story of message delivery throughout history. Others in the series are a king's messenger in 1482, a mail coach from 1784, and a modern Royal Mail postman on a motorcycle in 1935. |
| Associated objects |
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| Bibliographic reference | Poster Progress. Tom Purvis (introduction). F.A. Mercer & W. Gaunt (editors). London: Blackmore Press/ The Studio, Ltd. 1939. |
| Other number | LS.1920 - Leslie Schreyer Loan Number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.751-2004 |
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| Record created | September 22, 2004 |
| Record URL |
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