Chryselephantine statues at Delphi

The chryselephantine statues of Apollo, Artemis and Leto occupy a hall in the Delphi Archaeological Museum. They constitute excellent specimens of mid-6th century B.C. art, coming from workshops in Ionia, or, to a certain extent, Corinth.

History

In 1939 during the excavations at a dump under the Sacred Way, opposite to the Halos, in the course of restoration work, ex-votos and other objects were discovered. They were buried because they were considered sacred, having been ex votos at the sanctuary, making it forbidden to sell them or melt them down. These objects remained hidden due to World War II. At the end it was clear that they probably constituted a gold-and-ivory group depicting the Apollinian triad, namely Apollo, Artemis and Leto. The scholars related these finds to the sumptuous ex votos of King Croesus, although this is uncertain.

Apollo

Apollo bears the distinctive archaic smile. His hair is made of gilded silver, with two broad curls flanking the head and falling on the shoulders made of a single golden leaf. The front part of the feet is discernible, while the rest are covered by the long garment. He probably held in his hand a precious vessel, possibly a shallow bowl (phiale).

Artemis

The head attributed to Artemis bears a mild, sweet expression. She wears a golden tiara and rosette-decorated earrings. Her garment was decorated with two large rectangular lamellae of gold, positioned vertically and bearing depictions of existing or mythological animals: a gazelle, a lion, a bull, a deer, a pegasus, a griffin, a sphinx. As in the case of Apollo, her eyes and eyebrows were made with an inlay technique. The artist probably originated from Ionia, possibly from Samos.

Leto and other figures

Apart from the third large head (attributed to Leto, the mother of the two gods) parts of other statues and five smaller ivory heads. Additional decorative elements are preserved, made of gold or ivory, among which stand out tiles with depictions of Gorgo, Pegasus and a griffin, as well as rosettes, anthemia and floral items. Several decorative elements were probably attached to a wooden substratum, possibly to furniture.

Sources

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, May 06, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.