Heraklion Archaeological Museum - CollectiveAccess System : Sculptures : Marble statue of Athena [Γ347]

Marble statue of Athena

Γ347

Stone (White Pentelic marble)

Headless, missing the forearms and hands with whatever they were holding. Part of the pedestal preserved with right foot. Scattered chipping on the folds and snakes of the aegis, accretions in places.

Height: 145.5 cm. Height of pedestal: 5 cm. Width: 52 cm.Thickness: 28 cm.

Near village of Agii Deka

"Stou Ali" site

Roman period:

mid-2nd c. AD:

Gallery:

XXVII

Case:

Not in case

Exhibition thematic unit:

Sculpture. Hellenistic period (3rd-2nd c. BC) Roman period (1st c. BC-3rd c. AD)

Statues of gods

Description

Standing frontal Athena, a copy of the famous Athena Parthenos of Phidias. In her extended right hand, which was probably made of a separate piece of marble attached with a metal peg, she probably held a small winged Nike, while her left hand, held down at her left side, rested on the rim of a shield set upright on the ground. The direction of the arm and the position of the shield, now lost, is indicated by the preserved ends of their supports on the left of the figure. The goddess is wearing a floor-length sleeveless chiton (tunic) with an apoptygma, a capelet-like overfold, over the hips. Her belt consists of two knotted snakes with the head and upper body forming a spiral. Over her shoulders and sternum is an aegis fringed with coiled snakes and with a relief gorgoneion (Medusa head) in the centre. Judging from other examples of the type, the goddess’s head would have been helmeted and richly decorated, with expressive features. However, only the divided locks of hair falling on her shoulders and back are preserved. Despite the losses and the somewhat staid execution of the drapery, this statue is considered a representative copy of the lost original by Phidias (447-443 BC), known from the more fully preserved Varvakeion Athena in the National Archaeological Museum.

Bibliography:

Levi, D. "Attività della scuola archeologica italiana di Atene dell' anno 1950". Bolletino d'Arte (iv, Ott.-Dic.) (1951), 355-6, fig. 49. Levi, D. "Atti della Scuola". Annuario della Scuola Archeologica di Atene 11-13 (1949-51): 470. Levi, D. "Attività della S.A.I.A. nell'anno 1950". Bolletino d'Arte 36 (1951): 356, fig. 49 and 358, n. 78. Stucchi, S. "Saggio di scavo a Gortina". Annuario della Scuola Archeologica di Atene 14-16 (1952-4): 479ff. Platon, N. A Guide to the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion. Athens, 1964, 164, pl. 16,2. Raftopoulou, E. "Une statue argienne d' Athena". Bulletin de Correspondence Hellenique 90 (1966): 71, pls 10,13,18. Leipen, N. Athena Parthenos. Toronto, 1971, 6 no. 15, fig. 10. Botta Morizio, V. "L'Athena Parthenos della Galleria Borgese". Annali della facoltà lettere e filosofia Università di Bari 15 (1972): 35. Karanastassis, P. "Untersuchungen zur kaiserzeitlichen Plastik in Griechenland, 2. Kopien, Varianten und Umbildungen nach Athena-Typen des 5. Jhs. v.Chr.". Athenische Mitteilungen 102 (1987): 401-402, Taf. 35,2. I. Romeo, I. and E.C. Portale. Gortina III. Le sculture. Padua, 1998, 201-205, n. 70, Tav. XXIV,a-c.

Author:

K. S.

Photographs' metadata