Gold Diadem
ΣΜ442
Metal (Gold)
Many minor distortions, cracks in places and minor missing pieces at the left end
Length: 45 cm. Height: 4.5 cm.
Ini
Hellenistic period:
late 4th c. BC:
Gallery:
XXIIICase:
232Exhibition thematic unit:
Private CollectionsN. & Th. Metaxas Collection
Description
Diadem of thin gold sheet with shallow repoussé decoration of extremely densely packed ornaments. The main zone in the centre has a symmetrical kneeling, winged female figure with raised arms (Nike?) at either end, and contains opposed pairs of mythical creatures and real animals: on the left is a Pegasus and a panther, a sphinx and a bull, a griffin and a lion, while on the right is a lion and a griffin, a wild boar with a sphinx, and a panther with a Pegasus. The frame consists of a double Ionic cymation with an additional rosette band at the bottom. At the ends are pairs of anthemia back to back. A quality work by an artisan whose evident “horror vacui” or “fear of empty space” has led him to fill the narrow surface of the diadem with excessive zeal.Bibliography:
S. Alexiou, Αρχαιολογικό Δελτίο 18 (1963), Β2, p. 310, pl. 359αAuthor:
K. S.Photographs' metadata