Through the Outer Gardens of the Saray - Strolling Through Istanbul: The Classic Guide to the City - page 97

The next room has sculptures from Tralles and Magnesia on the
Maeander. Here we see the famous Ephebos of Tralles, from the late
first century B.C. or early first century A.D. This statue represents a
youth resting after exercise; he is standing in a relaxed attitude with a
cape draped round him to protect him from the cold, a wistful half-
smile on his downcast face.
We now enter the first room of the south wing, devoted to
Hellenistic and Roman sculpture. The most noteworthy is a statue
of Hermes, a copy of the original by Alcamenes, which stood just
outside the Propylaion on the Acropolis of Athens. In the centre of
the room there is a large head of the poetess Sappho from Smyrna
(Izmir), a Roman copy of the Hellenistic original. The left side of the
room is devoted to Roman portrait busts of the first to fourth century
A.D., including those of ten emperors ranging from Augustus to
Constantine the Great.
The next room has sculptures from Ephesus, Miletus and
Aphrodisias. The principal work from Ephesus is a large reclining
statue of a river god from the second century A.D. The most
outstanding exhibit from Miletus is a statue of Apollo Kitharados,
also from the second century A.D. The most notable work from
Aphrodisias is a statue of the emperor Valentinian II from the late
fourth century A.D.
The last room in this wing is devoted to sculptures of the Roman
imperial period. The most striking work here is just to the left inside
the doorway. This is a colossal statue of Tyche, the Goddess of Fortune,
who is shown holding the child Plutos, God of Wealth, while above
them there is a cornucopia filled with fruit and flowers; this was found
at Prusias-ad-Hypium and is from the second century A.D.
We now make our way to the new annexe. The ground floor is
devoted to Byzantium and its Neighbours, as well as to an exhibition
of antiquities found during excavations for the Marmararay Project, a
new commuter railway line that will go under the southern end of the
Bosphorus from Istanbul to Üsküdar. The exhibit on the first floor
is called Istanbul Through the Age; on the second floor is Anatolia
and Troy Through the Ages; and on the third floor the theme is the
Cultures of Anatolia's Neighbours.