Classical period marble art and sculpture
pictures collection from greek museums
Each thumbnail photo is a link to a larger version of the same
photograph.
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The nike of paeonios. The statue of Nike was a votive
offering to Zeus from the Messenians and the Naupactians for their victory
against the Spartans in the Archidameian war (most probably in 421 BC). It
was sculpted in Parian marble by Paeonios from Mende in Chalkidiki.
The statue 2.11 m. in height stood at the southeast corner of the temple
of Zeus on a triangular base, 8.81 m. high.The leaning forward of the
figure, the waving of her cloak behind her, the opening of the wings and
the goddess right foot, resting upon the eagle - a symbol of Zeus and of
air - all these give the impression of her flying descent from Olympus to
proclaim the victory.
The thin chiton which clings to the goddess' vigorous body, emphasizes the
sense of strength and charm evoked by her youthful figure.The inscription
on the base reads as following:
(The Messenians and the Naupactians dedicated to Olympian Zeus a tithe
[one tenth] of the booty taken from their enemies) and a little lower: (Paeonios
of Mende made this [statue] as well as the acroteria above the temple for
which he won a prise). Museum of Olympia. |
Statue of dionysos. Found at Eleusis. The god is
depicted partly nude , wearing a himation that is wound around the lower
part of his body and also covers his left shoulder. His hair is parted in
the middle and hangs in long wavy tresses. About the middle of 4th. c. BC.
National Archaeological Museum of Athens |
Hermes of Praxiteles. Parian marble height 2.13m .
Found during excavations at the temple of Hera in 1877. The messenger of
the gods, charged by Zeus to take the infant Dionysos to the Nymphs, who
were to nurse him, rests on the way having thrown his cloak over a tree
trunk. In his raised right arm he was probably holding a bunch of grapes,
a symbol associated with the future god of wine. Dionysos reaches out for
it. The sculptor brought out the beauty of the figure by expressing the
Olympian serenity of the god's face and the harmony of his body. The
highly polished surface adds to the graceful and soft characteristics of
the art of Praxiteles. 340 BC. Archaeological Museum of Olympia |
Funerary statue of a Siren. Pentelic marble. Found in
the ancient cemetery of the Kerameikos, Athens. The Siren, with its wings
raised, laments the dead man, playing a lyre made of a tortoise shell. The
right hand, in which she will have held the plectrum, is missing. The
holes in the instrument's sound box indicate that the strings were made
separately, probably of bronze. The plumage and other details of the body
were indicated with colour. 370 BC . National Archaeological Museum of
Athens |
Female statue. Marble. Found in Athens near the
Theseion. It probably represents an Aura or Hebe in animate d forward
motion, with her peplos blown by the wind. She is thought to have been the
central acroterion of one of the pediments of the temple of Ares in the
Athenian Agora. 440 BC . National Archaeological Museum of Athens |
Statuette of a kore. Parian marble. Found in Eleusis.
She wears sleeved chiton and mantle. The right hand pulled the chiton.
About 490 BC . National Archaeological Museum of Athens |
Head of helmeted warrior. Island marble. Found in a pit
NE of the Temple of Aphaia at Aegina island. It was originally believed
that they come from the temple's pediments; it seems, however, that they
belong to compositions with heroes' heads that were offerings to the
Temple of Aphaia. About 490 BC . National Archaeological Museum of Athens |
Funerary kouros statue. Parian marble. Found in the
area of the Mesogeia, Attica. He stood atop the grave of a young Athenian
aristocrat, Aristodikos, whose name is carved on the base. The plasticity
of muscles, the movement of the arms and the vigor of the statue as a
whole place it at the end of the series of kouroi. A landmark in the
development of sculpture, it demonstrates the transition from late Archaic
to early Classical. About 510-500 B.C. National Archaeological Museum of
Athens |
Fragments of a statue of Dionysos. Marble. Found in the
Attic deme of Ikaria (present Dionysos). The statue is colossal in scale
and must have been a cult statue of the god. The head was recently
associated with the body. About 520-510 B.C. National Archaeological
Museum of Athens |
Statue of a kouros. Island marble. Found in the
sanctuary of Ptoan Apollo in Boeotia. The statue demonstrates clearly the
development in the rendering of volume and motion, with the arms separated
from the thighs. An important work of the late Archaic period. About 520
B.C. National Archaeological Museum of Athens |
Statue of a kouros. Parian marble. Found in Anavyssos,
Attica. It had been stolen and taken to France, from where it was returned
in 1937. The body is powerful and articulate, with emphasized musculature.
The statue was funerary and stood on the grave of Kroisos, as is indicated
by the epigram on the base: "Stop and mourn at the grave of dead Kroisos,
whom the raging Ares destroyed when he fought among the defenders". About
530 B.C. National Archaeological Museum of Athens |
Statue of a kouros. Naxian marble. Found in Sounion.
The statue was a votive offering to Poseidon and stood before his temple.
Its over-lifesize scale is striking and testifies to the tendency of early
Archaic sculptors to create impressive colossal statues. About 600 B.C.
National Archaeological Museum of Athens |
Head of a youth. Marble. Found in Eleusis. It probably
belongs to the statue of a rider. About 560 B.C. National Archaeological
Museum of Athens |
Statuette of Athena. Pentelic marble. Found in Athens,
near the Varvakeion school. Known as the "Varvakeion Athena", this
statuette is the truest and best preserved copy of the cult statue of the
Athena Parthenos by Pheidias, which was erected in the Parthenon in 438
BC. In the original, which was approximately twelve times larger than the
Varvakeion copy, the naked parts of the body were made of ivory, whereas
the rest of the statue was faced with leaves of gold. First half of the
3rd century AD. National Archaeological Museum of Athens |
Statue of Aphrodite. Parian marble. Found at Baiai in
southern Italy. It formerly belonged to the collection of Lord Hope and
was donated to the National Museum by M. Embeirikos in 1924. The neck,
head and right arm were restored by the famous Italian sculptor A. Canova
(1757-1822). Aphrodite is depicted standing, nude save for a richly draped
himation which she retains with her left hand in front of her pudenda.
Version made in the 2nd c. AD of the type of the Syracuse Aphrodite, the
original of wich goes back to the 4th c. BC. National Archaeological
Museum of Athens |
An original Caryatid Kore from Erechteion. Sculptor Alkamenes - a
student of Phidias, is probably the creator of the Caryatids Kores of
Erectheion. From the museum of Akropolis. |