Cesnola Sphinx Funerary Stele | |
---|---|
Material | Limestone |
Size | Overall: 34 3/4 x 26 15/16in. (88.2 x 68.5cm) |
Created | last quarter of the 5th century B.C. |
Period/culture | Classical Greece |
Discovered | 1860s-1870s Golgoi Necropolis, Cyprus |
Discovered by | Luigi Palma di Cesnola |
Place | Metropolitan Museum of Art |
Present location | New York City |
Identification | 74.51.2499 |
Culture | Cypriot Greek |
The Cesnola Sphinx Funerary Stele is a Classic Greek funerary stela dating to the last quarter of the 5th century B.C. [1]
It is part of the Cesnola Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a sub-section of the Department of Greek and Roman Art, named after the first director of the MET, Luigi Palma di Cesnola, whose collection is considered the museum's earliest and inaugural acquisition upon opening in Central Park in 1880. [2]
Consisting of well over 6000 pieces, shipped on 275 crates, the stele, along with the collection served as a cornerstone for the study of Cypriot art, a crossroads of Assyrian, Phoenician, Egyptian, Greek, and Roman influences. [3]
Luigi Palma di Cesnola was a Medal of Honor recipient in the American Civil War, with extensive military history in Europe as well. [2] [4]
His post-military career posted him as American Consul to Cyprus in 1865, where he conducted extensive excavations throughout the island. [2]
The funerary stele was catalogued in 1874 and was officially acquired by the museum in 1874–1876. A report from 1907 about its restoration indicated that a restorationist who partnered with Cesnola, Charles Balliard, attempted to restore the missing head of the sphinx on the left with a head found right close by in situ of the cemetery, but it was subsequently deemed not a match to the stele. [1] [3] [5]
The stele is catalogued as Cesnola No. 470, Myres 1413, and subsequently by its MET acquisition number 74.51.2499. [3]
The sculpture consist of two sphinxes, with the left missing its head. Found in fragments initially, the stele was broken from side to side, along with the forelegs, which were subsequently repaired. The lower portion is decorated with a frieze of palmettes, egg, and dart, characteristic of 5th century BC style, with portions of the stele maintaining its original polychromy with red-brown pigment. [1] [3]
Both sphinxes are faced back to back, gazing out in three-quarters perspective. The intact sphinx has its hair intact and long, pulled back on the sides, but covering her ears, and wears a crown consisting of circles and merlons, the back of the stele is roughed out with its bottom half broken off. [1] [3]
The sphinx motif on the stele indicates its prominence in cult objects, as prior to the stele's approximate creation, in the mid 5th century BC, the depiction was also seen in the Amathus sarcophagus, considered the most significant object in the Cesnola collection alongside the stele, famous for its preserved polychromy. [6] [7]
Amathus or Amathous was an ancient city and one of the ancient royal cities of Cyprus until about 300 BC. Some of its remains can be seen today on the southern coast in front of Agios Tychonas, about 24 miles (39 km) west of Larnaca and 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Limassol. Its ancient cult sanctuary of Aphrodite was the second most important in Cyprus, her homeland, after Paphos.
A sphinx is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle.
Ancient art refers to the many types of art produced by the advanced cultures of ancient societies with different forms of writing, such as those of ancient China, India, Mesopotamia, Persia, Palestine, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. The art of pre-literate societies is normally referred to as prehistoric art and is not covered here. Although some pre-Columbian cultures developed writing during the centuries before the arrival of Europeans, on grounds of dating these are covered at pre-Columbian art and articles such as Maya art, Aztec art, and Olmec art.
A stele, or occasionally stela when derived from Latin, is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected in the ancient world as a monument. The surface of the stele often has text, ornamentation, or both. These may be inscribed, carved in relief, or painted.
The ancient history of Cyprus shows a precocious sophistication in the Neolithic era visible in settlements such as at Choirokoitia dating from the 9th millennium BC, and at Kalavassos from about 7500 BC.
Ancient Egyptian art refers to art produced in ancient Egypt between the 6th millennium BC and the 4th century AD, spanning from Prehistoric Egypt until the Christianization of Roman Egypt. It includes paintings, sculptures, drawings on papyrus, faience, jewelry, ivories, architecture, and other art media. It was a conservative tradition whose style changed very little over time. Much of the surviving examples comes from tombs and monuments, giving insight into the ancient Egyptian afterlife beliefs.
Luigi Palma di Cesnola, an Italian-American soldier, diplomat and amateur archaeologist, was born in Rivarolo Canavese, near Turin. He received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the American Civil War. He was United States consul at Larnaca in Cyprus (1865–1877) and first Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (1879–1904).
Alessandro Palma di Cesnola (1839–1914) was an American diplomat who conducted excavations in Cyprus. He worked at Paphos, where he was U.S. vice-consul, and Salamis on behalf of the British government. The results of these are described in Salaminia (1882). In 1878, Cesnola was arrested for conducting an illegal investigation in Cyprus. Alessandro was the brother of the better known excavator Luigi Palma Di Cesnola.
Idalion or Idalium was an ancient city in Cyprus, in modern Dali, Nicosia District. The city was founded on the copper trade in the 3rd millennium BC. Its name does not appear, however, on the renowned "Kition Stele", i.e., the Sargon Stele of 707 BC, but a little later on the Prism of Esarhaddon known as Niniveh A wherein the name is prefixed by the modifier URU (city) as URU.e-di-ʾi-il and in similar spellings in Ashurbanipal's annal while modified by KUR (land/kingdom).
Sir John Linton Myres was a British archaeologist and academic, who conducted excavations in Cyprus during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The National Archaeological Museum is a museum in Madrid, Spain. It is located on Calle de Serrano beside the Plaza de Colón, sharing its building with the National Library of Spain.
Etruscan art was produced by the Etruscan civilization in central Italy between the 10th and 1st centuries BC. From around 750 BC it was heavily influenced by Greek art, which was imported by the Etruscans, but always retained distinct characteristics. Particularly strong in this tradition were figurative sculpture in terracotta, wall-painting and metalworking especially in bronze. Jewellery and engraved gems of high quality were produced.
The National Archaeological Museum of Florence is an archaeological museum in Florence, Italy. It is located at 1 piazza Santissima Annunziata, in the Palazzo della Crocetta.
Carthage National Museum is a national museum in Byrsa, Tunisia. Along with the Bardo National Museum, it is one of the two main local archaeological museums in the region. The edifice sits atop Byrsa Hill, in the heart of the city of Carthage. Founded in 1875, it houses many archaeological items from the Punic era and other periods.
Iberian sculpture, a subset of Iberian art, describes the various sculptural styles developed by the Iberians from the Bronze Age up to the Roman conquest. For this reason it is sometimes described as Pre-Roman Iberian sculpture.
The Department of Egyptian Antiquities of the Louvre is a department of the Louvre that is responsible for artifacts from the Nile civilizations which date from 4,000 BC to the 4th century. The collection, comprising over 50,000 pieces, is among the world's largest, overviews Egyptian life spanning Ancient Egypt, the Middle Kingdom, the New Kingdom, Coptic art, and the Roman, Ptolemaic, and Byzantine periods.
The Amathus sarcophagus is a Cypriot sarcophagus that likely held a king of Amathus. Its sides show procession scenes and typify Cypriot, Greek and Phoenician-Near Eastern styles of the mid-fifth century BCE. The sarcophagus was excavated by Luigi Palma di Cesnola and is currently located at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Ancient Cypriot art refers to all works of visual art originating from Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean from c. 10,000 BC to c. 330 AD. During this period, various types of objects were produced such as domestic tools, weaponry, jewellery, and decorative figurines. This range of art attests to the blend of both native and foreign influences of ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome as they successively occupied the country. Artworks produced in ancient Cyprus incorporate almost all of the mediums of visual art worked on in ancient history including terracotta, stone, metals, glass, and gemstones.
Phoenician metal bowls are approximately 90 decorative bowls made in the 7th–8th centuries BCE from bronze, silver and gold, found since the mid-19th century in the Eastern Mediterranean and Iraq. They were historically attributed to the Phoenicians, but are today considered to have been made by a broader group of Levantine peoples.