Archaic II

Limestone male figure

This figure exemplifies a well-established type that appears in Cypriot sculpture at the end of the seventh century B.C. The men are always under lifesize, beardless, and dressed in a close-fitting tunic, brief loincloth often decorated with rosettes, and headband with rosettes. The example here also wears earrings and bracelets. The identity of these figures is difficult to define precisely, but they are probably young men of high rank in some form of service to a deity. In this piece, the head may not belong to the body, but it is typologically accurate. WebPub GR 2012 Cesnola: 28 3/4 in., 50 lb. (73 cm)

Classification

Object type: Stone sculpture
Material: StoneLimestone
Period: Iron AgeCypro-Archaic
Date: 599 - 550 BC
Place of production: Cyprus
Findspot: Golgoi

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Accession No.

74.51.2479

Collection

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Provenance

Sanctuary of Golgoi-Ayios Photios

References

Myres, John L. 1914. Handbook of the Cesnola Collection of Antiquities from Cyprus. no. 1045, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Hill, Dorothy Kent. 1982. "Early Italic Armor at Vassar College." American Journal of Archaeology, 86(4): pp. 589-90.Karageorghis, Vassos, Joan Mertens, and Marice E. Rose. 2000. Ancient Art from Cyprus: The Cesnola Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. no. 169, pp. 106-7, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Hermary, Antoine. 2000. Amathonte: Les figurines en terre cuite, archaïques et classiques, les sculptures en pierre, Vol. 5. p. 129, n. 34, Paris: Editions Recherché sur les Civilisations.Bonfante, Larissa. 2003. Etruscan Dress. pp. 166-7, fig. 34, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.Höckmann, Ursula. 2004. "Werke zyprischer Bildhauer im griechischen Naukratis. Eine Kourosstatuette in Oxford." Sepulkral- und Votivdenkmäler östlicher Mittelmeergebiete (7. Jahrhundert v.Chr. - 1. Jahrhundert n.Chr.) : Kulturbegegnungen im Spannungsfeld von Akzeptanz und Resistenz : Akten des Internationalen Symposiums Mainz, 01.-03.11.2001, Renate Bol and Detlev Kreikenbom, eds. p. 66, n. 44, Mönnesee: Bibliopolis.Karageorghis, Vassos. 2012. "Cyprus between the Orient and the Occident: an archaeological introduction." Cipro, Isola di Afrodite, Louis Godart, ed. pp. 47-48, fig. 21, Rome.Hermary, Antoine and Joan R. Mertens. 2013. The Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art : Stone Sculpture. no. 26, pp. 49-50, 58, Online Publication, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Satraki, Anna. 2013. "The Iconography of Basileis in Archaic and Classical Cyprus: Manifestations of Royal Power in the Visual Record." Bulletin of the American School of Oriental Research, 370: p. 131, fig. 6.Sørensen, Lone Wriedt. 2017. "True to type? Archaic Cypriot male statues made of limestone." Proceedings of the Danish Institute at Athens, VIII. p. 66, fig. 9, Denmark: Aarhus University Press.