Korai statues on a base of a double dedication
Inventory number
Ακρ. 683
Artist
Peloponnesian workshop (?)
Category
Sculpture
Period
Archaic Period
Date
Around 510 BC
Dimensions
Height: 0.848 m and 0.175 m
Length: 0.19 m and 0.085 m
Width: 0.18 m and 0.06 m
Material
Marble from Paros
Location
Archaic Acropolis Gallery
Two Korai statues of different size erected on the same base. The biggest is reassembled from five fragments. Most were found in 1882 east of the Parthenon, while part of her gluteus was discovered in 1939 at the north slope of the Acropolis. The statue's base was located in two pieces in 1882 northeast of the Parthenon.
The biggest Kore’s small stature and its peculiar proportions, the folds of her garments as well as her unique shoes, have led to the hypothesis that it is the work of an artist from the Peloponnese. She has disproportionately large head, short legs and long arms. She wears a red chiton with long sleeves, decorated with palmettes, spirals, meander, and lotus flowers. From all these ornaments today only their engraved outline can be seen. Her attire is completed by her closed shoes, which are red with blue laces.
The Kore stands slightly projecting her right foot. In her left hand she holds out a dove as an offering to the goddess; with the other, she pulls aside her garment to facilitate her step. The Kore's features are further emphasised with paint. Her hair is thick, framing her face and falling well down her back and remind us of a wig. Deep brown in colour, over a red substrate, the hair is completed by a simple stephane.
From the second, smaller Kore only part of her legs from the knees down survives. She is clad in a chiton and himation held in place by a small weight. She wears closed shoes that retain traces of red colour. Her posture is mirroring that of the bigger Kore: she pulls aside her garment with her left hand and she would have held an offering with the right.
The base of this double dedication preserves a stoichedon carved inscription, highlighted in red paint. It states that: ΛΥΣΙΑΣ ΑΝΕΘΕΚΕΝ ΑΘΕΝΑΙΑΙ ΑΠΑΡΧΕΝ. ΕΥΑΡΧΙΣ ΑΝΕΘΕΚΕΝ ΔΕΚΑΤΕΝ ΑΘΕΝΑΙΑΙ, meaning “Lysias dedicated (the statue) to Athena from his aparche. Euarchis dedicated (the statue) to Athena as a tithe”.
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