The Merenda Kouros (NAMA 4890) is a Late Archaic Greek Kouros, created approximately 540-530 B.C., measuring 1.89 meters tall and made of Parian marble. [1] [2] [3] As of the present day, it is exhibited in the Sculpture Collection of the National Archaeological Museum, Athens. [4]
Extremely well preserved, and maintaining some traces of pigment. It was discovered alongside the Phrasikleia Kore in present-day Merenda, Greece in 1972, 25 miles Southeast of Athens. [1] [2] The area was once a part of the necropolis of the Attic Deme of Myrrhinus. [1] [2] The kore and Phrasikleia laid in situ in a customized shallow pit facing each other, 11 inches from the surface, with a ring of poured lead between the feet of the statues. [2] [3]
Speculation of how these two statues were buried is still under speculation. One theory is that the statues were buried before the Greco-Persian Wars in order to prevent desecration, though they were found in much better shape than the Perserschutt. [2] [3]
Scholars also speculate that the statues are that of brother and sister, carved by Aristion of Paros, whose name was found on the base of Phrasikleia discovered two centuries earlier in 1729-1730. [5] They were likely members of the Alcmaeonid family, who experienced exile and desecration by caused by the tyrant Pisistratus. [3] [6]
The hair of the kouros is arranged with shell-like curls at the forehead and hangs down the back, with a diadem. [1] The eyes are done in an "early" style. [7] His right hand maintaining a natural fist with staggered fingers but his left hand and both of his feet remain missing. [7] Also noted is that the red pigment remains preserved, specifically around the hair, eyebrows, and nipples. [1] [2]
Kouros is the modern term given to free-standing Ancient Greek sculptures that depict nude male youths. They first appear in the Archaic period in Greece and are prominent in Attica and Boeotia, with a less frequent presence in many other Ancient Greek territories such as Sicily. Such statues are found across the Greek-speaking world; the preponderance of these were found in sanctuaries of Apollo with more than one hundred from the sanctuary of Apollo Ptoion, Boeotia, alone. These free-standing sculptures were typically marble, but the form is also rendered in limestone, wood, bronze, ivory and terracotta. They are typically life-sized, though early colossal examples are up to 3 meters tall.
The sculpture of ancient Greece is the main surviving type of fine ancient Greek art as, with the exception of painted ancient Greek pottery, almost no ancient Greek painting survives. Modern scholarship identifies three major stages in monumental sculpture in bronze and stone: the Archaic, Classical (480–323) and Hellenistic. At all periods there were great numbers of Greek terracotta figurines and small sculptures in metal and other materials.
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Gods in Color or Gods in Colour (original title in German: Bunte Götter – Die Farbigkeit antiker Skulptur is a travelling exhibition of varying format and extent that has been shown in multiple cities worldwide. Its subject is ancient polychromy, i.e. the original, brightly painted, appearance of ancient sculpture and architecture.
The Phrasikleia Kore is an Archaic Greek funerary statue by the artist Aristion of Paros, created between 550 and 540 BCE. It was found carefully buried in the ancient city of Myrrhinous in Attica and excavated in 1972. The exceptional preservation of the statue and the intact nature of the polychromy elements makes the Phrasikleia Kore one of the most important works of Archaic art.
The Peplos Kore is an ancient sculpture from the Acropolis of Athens. It is considered one of the most well-known examples of Archaic Greek art. Kore is a type of archaic Greek statue that portray a young woman with a stiff posture looking straight forward. Although this statue is one of the most famous examples of a kore, it is actually not considered a typical one. The statue is not completely straight, her face is leaned slightly to the side, and she is standing with her weight shifted to one leg. The other part of the statues name, peplos, is based on the popular archaic Greek gown for women. When the statue was found it was initially thought that she was wearing a peplos, although it is now known that she is not.
The Antenor Kore is a Late Archaic statue of a girl (Kore) made of Parian marble, which was created around 530/20 BC.
The Korai of the Acropolis of Athens are a group of female statues (Korai), discovered in the Perserschutt of the Acropolis of Athens in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, all of the same typology and clear votive function. Through them it is possible to trace the stylistic evolution of Archaic Attic sculpture for almost a century, from 570 to 480 BC. This demonstrates in particular the beginning and development of Ionian influence on Athenian art of the second half of the 6th century BC. This was the period when Ionian elements first appear in the architectural works of the Peisistratids and close connections between Ionia and Athens developed. Towards the end of the 6th century BC this influence is seen to be overcome, or rather absorbed, and a new style is born, the so-called Severe style, with increasing Peloponnesian influence.
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The Sabouroff head is a Late Archaic Greek marble sculpture. It is dated to c. 550–525 BC. This head of a Kouros was named after Peter Alexandrovich Saburov, a collector of ancient Greek sculpture and antiquities. It is 23 centimeters in height. The sculpture is currently located in the Antikensammlung Berlin and allegedly from Attica or Aegina. There are conjectures that it may also have been from Caria in Asia Minor.
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Media related to Kouros (NAMA 4890) at Wikimedia CommonsMajor exhibits at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens | ||
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