Sphinx, front view.
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Title |
Sphinx, front view. |
|
Date |
560 BCE? |
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Cultural Context |
Aegean
Ancient Greek
Greek
European
Western European |
|
Style/Period |
Greek (ancient)
Archaic (Greek) |
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Subject |
Sculpture
Sphinxes
Supernatural beings
Fictitious characters
Myths
Legends
Hairstyles
Architectural elements
Structural elements
Columns
Capitals (Columns)
Ionic order
Architectural orders |
|
Description |
From the Sacred Gate, Kerameikos, [Athens, Greece]. "The latest work in the group is the Sphinx, which is dated to about 560 BC. All that we found [in spring 2002] was the upper part of the body, partly preserved wings, and the head. We remembered, however, that in 1907 and 1983, two fragments of the back of the body of a Sphinx had been found in the area of the Sacred Gate, and these indeed proved to be the back of the newly found Sphinx. All the finds in the Kerameikos down to 1938, when the Kerameikos Museum opened, had been taken to the National Archaeological Museum, and this was where the 1907 fragment was kept. Thanks to the attention of the Director of the Museum, N. Kaltsas, it was handed over to the Kerameikos Museum, to make it possible to restore the Sphinx. Sockets for wooden tenons of equal sizes are to be found in the top surface of the abacus of the Ionic capital, and also in the lower surface of the plinth of the Sphinx. This indicates that the Ionic capital was used as a base for the Sphinx, as now shown in the restored monument on display in the Kerameikos Museum." (Excerpt by Wolf-Dietrich Niemeier, pp. 76-77) |
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Material |
Marble (rock)
Rock
Stone (rock) |
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Technique |
Sculpting
Carving (processes) |
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Work Type |
Sculpture
Statues
Sphinxes
Columns
Capitals (Columns) |
|
Repository |
Kerameikos Museum (Athens, Greece) |
|
Source |
Valavanis, Panos. Great Moments in Greek Archaeology. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2007. (p.77, fig.14). |
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Rights |
© 2007 Kapon Editions, Athens, Greece. Source of illustration in Valavanis: Kapon ed. / G. Maravelias. |
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Digital Publisher |
University of Louisville Department of Fine Arts/Allen R. Hite Art Institute Visual Resources Center |
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Format |
image/jpeg |
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Digital File Name |
VRC 758-08.jpg |
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Rating |
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