statue
- Museum number
- 1917,0701.233
- Description
-
Upper part of a colossal limestone statue of a bearded man, a worshipper or possibly a priest. The complete statue, at least 2m tall, depicted a standing figure in a frontal pose; he wears pleated tunic (chiton) and over the left shoulder a cloak (himation) with a zig-zag fold on the border. The stump of the right arm is preserved at an angle indicating it extended outwards; the preserved top of a laurel where the left arm emerges from the cloak suggests it was orignially held by the side. The man wears a laurel wreath and a band decorated flowers on his head. The beard consists of five rows of snail-curls - broken on each side by moustache rendered with incised lines - below which are zig-zag curls. Pronounced cheek-bones and nose; the eyes are defined by ridges; the face is shown with a slight smile.
- Production date
- 450 BC-425 BC
- Dimensions
-
Height: 1.04 metres
- Curator's comments
- See Hermary 2005 for a definitive discussion of the dating and stylistic connections of this sculpture (with key bibliography). Senff 1993 provides a comprehensive account of the sculpture from the sanctuary of Apollo-Reshef, and a discussion of the temenos (Poole and Lang 1878) but see Tatton-Brown 2002 for a complete list of all the material (including the unpublished terracottas).
Bibliography:
Hermary A. 2005, 'Les derniers temps du royaume d'Idalion et son annexion par Kition. Le témoignage des sculptures', CCEC 35 (2005), 99-126.
Poole S. and Lang R.H. 1878, 'Narrative of excavations in a temple at Dali (Idalium) in Cyprus', Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature 11 (2nd series), 30-54.
Senff R. 1993, Das Apolloheiligtum von Idalion. Architektur und Statuenausstattung eines zyprischen Heiligtums. SIMA XCIV (Jonsered).
Tatton-Brown V. 2002, 'The kingdom of Idalion. Lang's excavations in the British Museum', CCEC 32 (2002), 243-256
- Bibliographic references
-
Sculpture / Catalogue of Greek Sculpture in the British Museum (C154)
-
Gaber Regional Styles / Regional styles in Cypriote sculpture. The sculpture from Idalion (cat. no. 27, p. 115 & pl. 27)
-
SCE IV/2 / The Swedish Cyprus Expedition. Vol. IV. Part 2. The Cypro-Geometric, Cypro-Archaic and Cypro-Classical periods. (pl. XVI)
-
Senff 1993 / Das Apolloheiligtum von Idalion. Architektur und Statuenausstattung eines zyprischen Heiligtums. (pp. 10, 11, 13, 36, 37, 38, 59, 72, 73, 74, 83; pl. 18,a-g)
- Location
- On display (G72)
- Acquisition date
- 1872-3 (Acquired from Lang in 1872-3 but re-registered in 1917)
- Department
- Greek and Roman
- Registration number
- 1917,0701.233
