Bronze statues of Riace

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Presentation of the statues of Riace in the Museum of Reggio Calabria
Head of warrior A from Riace in Reggio Calabria

The bronze statues of Riace are two Greek bronze figures from the middle of the 5th century BC. Chr. You are since 1981 in the basement of the Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia in Reggio Calabria (Inv Nos. 12801 and 12802).

Find

The two statues represent men who were originally armed and with headgear. The statues were found by a hobby diver on August 16, 1972 about 300 meters off the coast near Riace , Province of Reggio Calabria (Italy); they were only a few meters apart at a depth of 7 to 8 meters. A few days later they were lifted and brought ashore. During a subsequent investigation of the site in September 1973, the bronze handle of the shield of statue B and 28 small lead rings, which probably belonged to a sail, were discovered. Since there were no other traces of an ancient ship on the seabed near the place of discovery, it is assumed that the heavy figures were deliberately thrown overboard during a storm or an attack by pirates . When exactly the ship was transported, whether it was during the Roman Republic or during the Roman Empire , is unclear.

restoration

Although bronze - compared to iron - corrodes only slightly , there were still adherences of shells etc. on the more roughened areas of the figure's surface (face, beard, hair, pubic hair), which were carefully scalpels in the Centro di restauro della Soprintendenza Archeologica in Florence , Ultrasonic drills etc. have been removed. For example, the eyebrows, the eyelashes and the ivory inlays of the eyes came to light. The inside of the figures was muddy and encrusted - for cleaning, the figures were opened at the feet and a rough cleaning was carried out with the help of spoons, rods, etc.; For fine cleaning, distilled water and hydrogen peroxide were used . Then the bronze figures were placed in a preservation solution for several years.

description

Both statues are about two meters high (statue A: 2.05 m; statue B: 1.97 m) and each weigh about 400 kilograms. From the posture of the two left arms you can see that the figures originally carried wooden shields, but nothing has survived. In their right hand they may have had a cutting weapon, slingshot, or something similar. Statue A wears a headband, Statue B a helmet. Both figures are naked, bear a full beard and stand in a slight contrapostal . The nipples and lips are colored slightly red by copper layers; the teeth have a silver coating. Remnants of the eyelashes have been preserved on statue A. The facial expressions of both characters are attentive, but still full of calm and serenity. There are no traces of previous fights (scars, etc.).

Dating

The posture of the statues, material and casting technique suggest that they were created at the same time. Due to the equally realistic and ideal type of representation, a dating to the high classical period of Greek art , i.e. around 460-430 BC, is possible. BC, probably. Its creator was the Pythagoras of Rhegion , mentioned by Pliny , a sculptor of the 5th century BC. BC, brought into play. Although his work is extensively attested in the written tradition, no ancient work can be associated with his name and his individual style remains completely unknown.

interpretation

The two figures, soldered together from several separately cast parts, were interpreted as warriors, athletes or gladiators or even gods - possibly they were originally consecration gifts to a temple. Lead cones were discovered under the feet of statue B, which indicates an earlier installation on a pedestal. Salvatore Settis and Vinzenz Brinkmann interpret the statues as depictions of the Athenian king Erechtheus and Eumolpos .

Experimental reconstruction

Head of warrior A from Riace as a replica

On the occasion of the exhibition Back to Classic 2013 in the Liebieghaus in Frankfurt, it was possible to scan the head of the original of the warrior A from Riace in the museum in Reggio Calabria and thus to produce a reconstruction from bronze and additional materials. In addition to the head of the same shape, a copy of a helmet that was also found near the site was made.

With additional materials such as silver, glass and stone, an attempt was made to revive the impression made by the figures at that time and to show the viewer how colorful the bronze sculptures were in classical Greece. In 2015 and 2016, both Riace warrior statues were fully reconstructed. The castings were made by the Strassacker art foundry in Süßen . The reconstructions are the result of a joint research project with the Antiquities Authority of Calabria and belong to the Museo Archeologico Nazionale Di Reggio Calabria , which has given them to the Liebieghaus as a permanent loan. From June 2019 to February 2020 they were on view in the Altes Museum in Berlin.

See also

The two bronze statues by Riace are among the seven surviving Greek and Great Greek bronze statues. The others are the pugilist from the Quirinal , the charioteer from Delphi , the Poseidon from Cape Artemision , the horseman from Cape Artemision and the ruler of the thermal baths . The fragment of the so-called Chatsworth-Apollo should also be mentioned in this context .

literature

  • Giuseppe Forti, Claudio Sabbione: The bronze statues of Riace in Reggio. Pawlak, Herrsching 1989, ISBN 3-88199-550-1 .
  • Paolo Moreno: Les Bronzes de Riace (Le maitre d'Olympie et les Sept à Thebes). Gallimard, Paris 1999, ISBN 978-2-07-011631-7 .
  • Vinzenz Brinkmann , Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann: The riddle of the Riace warriors. Erechtheus and Eumolpos . In: Vinzenz Brinkmann (Ed.): Athens. Triumph of images. Exhibition catalog Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung, Frankfurt am Main, May 4 to September 4, 2016. Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 2016, ISBN 978-3-7319-0300-0 , pp. 114–127.
  • Vinzenz Brinkmann, Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann, The Riace Bronzes Experiment, Aesthetics and Narrative, in: Ahoros. Commemorative letter for Hugo Meyer (2018) pp. 15-34.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Pliny, Historia naturalis 34, 59.
  2. ↑ Michael Siebler : Tell us your name, warrior. The two bronzes by Riace are considered masterpieces of antiquity - and a great mystery: who did they depict? In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, May 2, 2015, p. 11.
  3. ↑ Liebieghaus .
  4. ↑ List of objects from the exhibition "Strong Types" in the Berlin Collection of Antiquities ; PDF (678 kB), accessed on June 24, 2019.

Web links

Commons : Bronze Statues by Riace  - Collection of images, videos and audio files