Nike of Callimachus
The Nike of Callimachus , also known as the "Callimachus Monument", is a round plastic representation of the Nike made of Parian marble by an unknown sculptor. The statue was donated by the Athenian general and politician Callimachos around 490 BC. On the Athenian Acropolis .
Find history
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In 1886, during excavations in the walls of the Acropolis in Athens, fragments of statues were discovered, which consist of a female, formerly winged torso, a corresponding lower body, an Ionic capital and fragments of a column. The figure could be identified as Nike by its wings and its placement context. An inscription by Callimachus has been preserved on one of these fragments.
description
The Nike is preserved in two large fragments. Most of the head, left arm, and feet are missing. The right arm is missing from the forearm. The fragments obtained have a total height of 140 cm. The upper body fragment shows a female figure wearing a chiton and a sloping coat . The chiton has distinct zigzag folds that continue on the lower body fragment. The lower part is that of a strongly moved figure, which is shown stepping further to the left.
In contrast to this lower body, shown in side view, is the torso shown in the front. Overall, a sideways moving sculpture can be seen, which is shown in the so-called archaic knee-run diagram .
The knee-run scheme was used in ancient times for wing women hurrying freely through the air, with the robe taking on the purely technical function of anchoring the figure to the base. In addition, the rigid folds of the chiton do not show any external influences and in no way support the depiction of floating.
This intended representation of floating could only be implemented with the artistic means of the archaic with the help of the knee-run scheme. Also the effect of gravity on the garments in art could not be realistically thematized. So the motif of floating in the archaic has not yet succeeded. In the so-called Nike of Callimachus, the attempt to depict moving freely in the air is made primarily by dividing the figure so that the different views of the upper and lower body create a movement within the sculpture.
Overall, however, the Nike remains clearly connected to its stand area.
In the column there is a fragmentary dedication inscription . This names the Archon Polemarchus Callimachos as the founder and identifies Nike as the "messenger of the immortals" ( ἄνγελον ἀθανάτον ).
Dating
Due to the mention of Callimachos as the founder, the anathema is dated to the late Archaic epoch around the second decade of the 5th century BC. Dated. Callimachus commanded the battle of Marathon , in which he was killed.
reconstruction
The fragments have no connection points with one another, so that no satisfactory reconstruction of the same has been possible to date.
The left arm was probably stretched out to one side and must have been raised slightly. The right arm is reconstructed in different ways. Gulaki postulates that Nike's right hand grabs the robe, a motif that is known from numerous Kor representations. Others reconstruct the figure with a herald's staff as an attribute .
Deployment context
Callimachus promised the dedication of Nike, presumably before the battle of Marathon, in anticipation of his victory.
In contrast to Nikes in other genres of art, which can be understood almost exclusively on the basis of their attributes and the accompanying scenes, this is not necessary in the round sculpture. It is used solely as a symbol for a military victory that has been achieved. So also the Nike of Callimachus. The inscription identifies her as “messenger of the immortals”. She is the bearer of the news of the victory given by the gods.
It can therefore be assumed that Nike was not an independent cult deity in the late Archaic era. She is not directly responsible for the victory, nor does she actively intervene in what is happening. Nor does it in any way influence the outcome of a military conflict.
The Nike of Callimachus is now kept in the Acropolis Museum in Athens.
literature
- Guy Dickins: Catalog of the Acropolis Museum. Cambridge 1912, p. 250ff.
- Alexandra Gulaki: Classical and Classicist Nikedabbilder. Dissertation Bonn 1981.
- Jeffrey M. Hurwit: The Athenian Acropolis: History, Mythology, and Archeology from the Neolithic Era to the Present. Cambridge 1998, ISBN 978-0521428347 , p. 130.
- Cornelia Isler-Kerényi : Nike. The type of the running wing woman in archaic times. 1969. pp. 95ff.
- Cornelia Thöne: Iconographic studies on Nike in the 5th century BC Investigations into the mode of action and nature. Heidelberg 1999, ISBN 3-9804648-2-2 .