Phrasikleia Kore
Phrasikleia Kore | |
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National Archaeological Museum of Athens |
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
History
The Phrasikleia and the Attic korai are the most well-preserved statues in existence from the 6th century BCE. They represent a type of Archaic female statue intended specifically for funerary use.[2] The Phrasikleia Kore is a Parian marble statue that features prominent polychromy[2] as seen in the hair and the dress. It is thought that the skin of the Phrasikleia Kore was covered with a type of gum arabic to give it a realistic appearance. This practice is also seen during the same period, used on the sarcophagi of Egyptian mummies.[3]
The preservation of the Phrasikleia Kore was so successful because it was buried in a "custom-designed pit."
Etymology
The name Phrasikleia is derived from the archaic Greek word kléos meaning 'fame'.[4] The word was important to archaic Greek culture, and had significant meaning to the Alcmaeonid family. Evidently, part of an Alcmaeonid family tradition was to bestow given names derived from kléos. This is repeated from generation to generation, including the names Megaklês meaning 'great fame', Kleisthénēs meaning 'fame-strong', and Periklês meaning 'wide fame'.[5]
Inscriptions
Michel Fourmont, who visited Greece in the years 1729–1730, described a block of marble with an inscription that was found in the church of Panagia (All Saints) of Merenta. The inscription had been rendered illegible before being used in the church, but it was able to be reconstructed.[7]
Front inscription
Greek | English | |
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ΣΕΜΑΦΡΑΣΙΚΛΕΙΑΣ |
Σῆμα Φρασικλείας. |
Tomb of Phrasikleia. |
Left side inscription
Greek | English | |
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ΑΡΙΣΤΙΟΝΠΑΡΙ[ΟΣΜΕΠ]Ο[ΙΕ]ΣΕ | Ἀριστίων Πάρι[ος μ' ἐπ]ο[ίη]σε | Aristion of Paros made me |
In 1968, the block was removed and placed in the Epigraphical Museum of Athens. By 1972, the archaeologist Efthymios Mastrokostas discovered two marble statues in the tombs at Myrrhinous, a kouros and the Phrasikleia Kore. The two sculptures matched the inscription found on the blocks, discovered at the church of Panagia, located just 200 meters (660 ft) from where the statues were excavated.[8]
In the lower part of the statues an irregular ring of lead was discovered; based on this mass of lead a comparison was made between the statues and the block of marble. The comparison found that the lead ring fit perfectly onto the marble base securing the
The statue is now in the
Description
The statue is made of Parian marble, and stands 179 centimeters (6.92 ft) high; it rises on a pedestal that gives a total height of 211 centimeters (7 ft) high. As the inscription suggests, it depicts a young woman who died unmarried and therefore must be known forever as a maiden.
She is standing erect and wearing a long chiton, decorated with flowers and meanders.[12] Around her waist she wears a girdle. The foreparts of her feet and sandals are visible. Her right arm hangs down and firmly holds onto her peplos. Her left arm is bent in front of her body and holds a still-unopened lotus flower. On her head she wears a garland of flowers, round about her neck a necklace, and on each arm a bracelet.
Symbolism
According to Svenbro, the Phrasikleia Kore may be modeled after the Goddess Hestia. As defined in the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, Hestia is explicitly referred to as koúrē, who swears to remain a virgin forever. The hymn claims that Hestia was called upon by Zeus to be honored as a god, rather than to remain on earth to be married.[13] Evidence may be seen when compared to the epigram on the Phrasikleia Kore; "Kore (maiden) I must be called evermore; instead of marriage, by the Gods this name became my fate."[13]
The lotus, which is repeated on the crown of the Phrasikleia Kore and held in her left hand, is an Egyptian funerary symbol used by the Greeks.[14] It would have been customary to adorn the dead with a floral crown, like the one seen on the Phrasikleia Kore.[15] The crown of lotuses worn by the statue may carry a double meaning: the round shape, with the spear-like lotus buds that make up the crown, may reference the gates of the underworld.[15] The lotus is not only used on the crown, but also held in the hand of the kore; it is thought to represent Phrasikleia: "plucked before it could bloom,"[16] representing her status as a virgin and unmarried woman at the time of her death.[16]
Function
The primary function of the Phrasikleia Kore was as a funerary statue or votive offering. In this case, Phrasikleia marked the grave of a girl who died unmarried. This is confirmed by the inscription on her pedestal, in addition to the symbolism of the jewelry, peplos, and the lotus flower used on the statue.[17]
Polychromy
One reconstruction of the
A possible recreation of the statue has been made via the Brinkmann reconstruction reflecting the existing visible pigment remaining on the statue and with the assistance of technology such as ultraviolet-visual absorption spectrometry and X-ray fluorescence analysis[18] to detect traces of color, engravings and painted patterns,[17] to recreate what the Phrasikleia Kore might have looked like before her burial in the 6th century BCE, according to one recreation. This recreation of the statue may be seen at the Gods in Color exhibit, which travels to major museums around the world.
Gallery
Notes
- ^ a b Stieber, Mary C. The Poetics of Appearance in the Attic Korai. 1st ed. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2004. p. 1.
- ^ a b Stieber, Mary C. The Poetics of Appearance in the Attic Korai. 1st ed. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2004. p. 141.
- ^ a b Claridge, Amanda. “Looking for Colour on Greek and Roman Sculpture.” Journal of Art Historiography Number 5 (2011): p. 3.
- ^ a b c Svenbro, Jesper. Phrasikleia: An Anthropology of Reading in Ancient Greece. Myth and Poetics. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1993. p. 12.
- ^ Svenbro, Jesper. Phrasikleia: An Anthropology of Reading in Ancient Greece. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1993, p. 12, 13.
- ^ a b c d e Photo courtesy of Brigid Powers 2017, from Gods in Color, San Francisco.
- ^ "Inscriptiones Graecae I³ 1261". Searchable Greek Inscriptions. Retrieved January 27, 2014. From the Inscriptiones Graecae (IG)
- ISBN 0-8014-9752-3(Extract on Google Books). p. 10.
- ^ ISBN 0292701802. p. 146.
- ISBN 0292701802. p. 147.
- ISBN 041524370X.
- ^ Osborne, Robin (1998). Archaic and Classical Greek Art. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, p. 84.
- ^ ISBN 0-8014-9752-3. p. 19.
- ISBN 0292701802. p. 172.
- ^ ISBN 0292701802. p. 171.
- ^ ISBN 0292701802. p. 173.
- ^ a b Gods in Color, "Reconstruction of the Grave Statue of Phrasikleia, 2010." San Francisco: The Legion of Honor.
- ^ Claridge, Amanda. "Looking for Colour on Greek and Roman Sculpture." Journal of Art Historiography number 5 (2011), p. 2.
Bibliography
Claridge, Amanda. "Looking for Colour on Greek and Roman Sculpture." Journal of Art Historiography number 5 (2011), 1-6.
Fuchs, Werner; Floren, Josef (1987). Die griechische Plastik: Die geometrische und archaische Plastik. Munich: C.H. Beck, p. 164.
Gods in Color, "Reconstruction of the Grave Statue of Phrasikleia, 2010." The Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA.
Goette, Hans Rupprecht (2001). Athens, Attica, and the Megarid: An Archaeological Guide. London and New York: Routledge. p. 114.
"Inscriptiones Graecae I³ 1261". Searchable Greek Inscriptions. Retrieved January 27, 2014. From the Inscriptiones Graecae (IG)
Osborne, Robin (1998). Archaic and Classical Greek Art. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. p. 84.
Svenbro, Jesper. Phrasikleia: an anthropology of reading in ancient Greece. Cornell University Press, Ithaca 1993,
Spivey, Nigel. "Art and Archaeology." Greece and Rome 52, no. 1 (2005): 118-20.
Stieber, Mary C. The Poetics of Appearance in the Attic Korai. 1st ed. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2004. pp. 146–147.
Vinzenz Brinkmann, Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann, Heinrich Piening. The Funerary Monument to Phrasikleia, in: Circumlitio. The Polychromy of Antique and Mediaeval Sculpture, Akten des Kolloquium Liebieghaus Frankfurt 2008, (Vinzenz Brinkmann, Oliver Primavesi, Max Hollein, eds.), 2010, p. 188-217. (Stiftung Archäologie Electronic Resource).