Statue of a Kore with its base. The "Antenor Kore"
Inventory number
Ακρ. 681
Artist
Antenor
Category
Sculpture
Period
Archaic Period
Date
525-500 BC
Dimensions
Height: 2.05 m
Material
Marble from Paros and marble from Penteli
Location
Archaic Acropolis Gallery
She is the largest Kore of the Acropolis. Her calves and her left hand were discovered in 1882-1883 east of the Parthenon, while the rest of the statue with its base were found in 1886 in the so-called "Korai Pit" northwest of the Erechtheion.
She is wearing an elegant, long-sleeved chiton and on top of that a himation, which is secured over her right arm with relief buttons. According to spectrographical analysis her garments were richly decorated with painted rosettes and elaborate meanders in blue and red hues that have oxidized through time.
In her right hand the Kore would have held an offering to the goddess while with her left she was likely pulling aside her chiton to facilitate her step. Her wavy hair fall on her back while four curled locks frame each side of her face and spill to the front. On her head she wears a stephane decorated with paint, once further embellished with bronze jewellery – perhaps flowers. Also bronze would have been the earrings that adorned her ears while the bracelet on her left wrist was carved in relief. Her eyes were made out of glass, her eyelashes bronze and the eyelids accentuated with black colour. The bronze stem projecting from the top of her head could be a meniskos, although many scholars believe that it supported the metal crest of a helmet. This last theory is further supported by the fact that the top of the Kore's head was not sculpted in detail. In that case the figure depicted here could be the goddess Athena who would be holding a spear in her right hand and not an offering.
The base where the statue stands has a carved inscription that informs us that "Nearchos the potter dedicated the statue to Athena from his first earnings. It was sculpted by Antenor, son of Eumaros".
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