The Panhellenic character of the Cretan sanctuaries ➔ "Apollonian Triad"
Χ2445, Χ2446, Χ2447
Brass
Mended and restored
Height: X2445: 80cm. Χ2446: 41.5 cm. Χ2447: 44.8 cm.
Dreros
Inside the temple of the agora of Dreros
Geometric-Early Archaic period:
Late 8th - early 7th c. BC:
Gallery:
XVCase:
159Exhibition thematic unit:
Geometric - Archaic - Classical period (10th-4th c. BC). Cities and SanctuariesSanctuaries
Description
Group of three statuettes, one male and two female, known as the “Apollonian Triad”. They were discovered by chance by farmers and handed in to the Heraklion Archaeological Museum. The subsequent excavation in the area where they were found revealed a temple in the centre of the agora of ancient Dreros. They are interpreted as Apollo, Artemis and Leto, cult statuettes of the temple of the Delphic or Pythian Apollo. They are a unique find due to their material, their size and the hammered technique used to make them, in which the metal sheets are worked over a wooden core. The male statuette identified as Apollo is a standing, naked figure with one foot slightly advanced, right arm bent at breast height and the left arm held slightly behind the body. The hair is long, a typical feature of Minoan art, and the eyes were originally inlaid with precious stones. The two female figures, identified as Leto and Artemis, both depict a standing, clothed woman with arms at the sides, parallel to the body, short hair and a low polos headdress. The eyes were inlaid. The chiton is decorated with two vertical bands and a horizontal band at the hem. The two female figures of the triad are identical, only differing in height.Bibliography:
Marinatos S., Le temple géométrique de Dréros, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 60, 1936, pp. 214-256. Marinatos S., Le temple géométrique de Dréros (II), Bulletin de correspondance hellénique60, 1936, pp. 257-285. Beyer I., Die Tempel von Dreros und Prinias und die Chronologie der kretischen Kunst des 8. und 7. Jhs. V. Chr., Freiburg 1978 D’Acunto M., Il tempio di Apollo a Dreros: il culto e la “cucina del sacrificio", in Annali di Archeologia e Storia Antica 9-10, 2002-2003, pp. 9-62.Author:
M. K.Photographs' metadata