Apollo of Piombino
Encyclopedia
The Apollo of Piombino or the Piombino Boy is a famous Greek bronze statuette in late Archaic style that depicts the god as a kouros
or youth, or it may be a worshipper bringing an offering. The bronze is inlaid with copper for the boy's lips, eyebrows and nipples. The eyes, which are missing, were of another material, perhaps bone or ivory.
It was found in 1832 at Piombino
(Roman Populonia
), in Etruria
, in the harbor off the southwest point and was purchased for the Musée du Louvre in 1834. Its archaic
style led scholars like Reinhard Lullies and Max Hirmer to date it in the 5th century BCE and place its facture in Magna Graecia
, the Hellenic culture area of southern Italy; Kenneth Clark illustrated it in The Nude (1956), Karl Schefold included it in Meisterwerke Griechischer Kunst 1960 and casts of it were to be found in university and museum study collections; one made by the Louvre has been returned to Piombino. Instead, B.S. Ridgeway
(Ridgeway 1967) proved it to be— not simply an archaising sculpture of the 1st century BCE, of the kind designed to appeal to a Roman with refined tastes— but a consciously fabricated Roman forgery
, with a false inlaid inscription of silver in archaic lettering on the left leg. The inscription dedicates this Apollo to Athena
, an anomaly. The two sculptors responsible could not resist secreting inside the sculpture a lead tag inscribed with their names , which was found when the sculpture was conserved in 1842. One was a Tyrian émigré to Rhodes
. The Louvre's website adds that a comparable work uncovered in 1977 in Pompeii
, in the villa of C. Julius Polybius, corroborates the hypothesis of an archaising pastiche, made for a Roman client in the 1st century BCE.
The study of ancient Greek sculpture in the last decades has moved away from the traditional practice of identifying sculptures based on brief literary descriptions and attempting to recognize the characteristic manner of some famous names as reflected in reproductions of their work and variants based on their style, to concentrate instead on the socio-political world in which sculpture was created and other less subjective criteria.
Kouros
A kouros is the modern term given to those representations of male youths which first appear in the Archaic period in Greece. The term kouros, meaning youth, was first proposed for what were previously thought to be depictions of Apollo by V. I...
or youth, or it may be a worshipper bringing an offering. The bronze is inlaid with copper for the boy's lips, eyebrows and nipples. The eyes, which are missing, were of another material, perhaps bone or ivory.
It was found in 1832 at Piombino
Piombino
Piombino is an Italian town and comune of circa 35,000 inhabitants in the province of Livorno . It lies on the border between the Ligurian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea, in front of Elba Island and at the northern side of Maremma.-Overview:...
(Roman Populonia
Populonia
Populonia or Populonia Alta today is a frazione of the comune of Piombino . As of 2009 its population was 17...
), in Etruria
Etruria
Etruria—usually referred to in Greek and Latin source texts as Tyrrhenia—was a region of Central Italy, an area that covered part of what now are Tuscany, Latium, Emilia-Romagna, and Umbria. A particularly noteworthy work dealing with Etruscan locations is D. H...
, in the harbor off the southwest point and was purchased for the Musée du Louvre in 1834. Its archaic
Archaic period in Greece
The Archaic period in Greece was a period of ancient Greek history that followed the Greek Dark Ages. This period saw the rise of the polis and the founding of colonies, as well as the first inklings of classical philosophy, theatre in the form of tragedies performed during Dionysia, and written...
style led scholars like Reinhard Lullies and Max Hirmer to date it in the 5th century BCE and place its facture in Magna Graecia
Magna Graecia
Magna Græcia is the name of the coastal areas of Southern Italy on the Tarentine Gulf that were extensively colonized by Greek settlers; particularly the Achaean colonies of Tarentum, Crotone, and Sybaris, but also, more loosely, the cities of Cumae and Neapolis to the north...
, the Hellenic culture area of southern Italy; Kenneth Clark illustrated it in The Nude (1956), Karl Schefold included it in Meisterwerke Griechischer Kunst 1960 and casts of it were to be found in university and museum study collections; one made by the Louvre has been returned to Piombino. Instead, B.S. Ridgeway
Brunilde Sismondo Ridgway
Brunilde Sismondo Ridgway, born in 1929 in Chieti , is an art historian and specialist in ancient Greek sculpture.-Life:The daughter of an Italian officer, she spent her childhood in Ethiopia, where her father is stationed. After World War II, she studied classics at the University of Messina,...
(Ridgeway 1967) proved it to be— not simply an archaising sculpture of the 1st century BCE, of the kind designed to appeal to a Roman with refined tastes— but a consciously fabricated Roman forgery
Forgery
Forgery is the process of making, adapting, or imitating objects, statistics, or documents with the intent to deceive. Copies, studio replicas, and reproductions are not considered forgeries, though they may later become forgeries through knowing and willful misrepresentations. Forging money or...
, with a false inlaid inscription of silver in archaic lettering on the left leg. The inscription dedicates this Apollo to Athena
Athena
In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...
, an anomaly. The two sculptors responsible could not resist secreting inside the sculpture a lead tag inscribed with their names , which was found when the sculpture was conserved in 1842. One was a Tyrian émigré to Rhodes
Rhodes
Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...
. The Louvre's website adds that a comparable work uncovered in 1977 in Pompeii
Pompeii
The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning...
, in the villa of C. Julius Polybius, corroborates the hypothesis of an archaising pastiche, made for a Roman client in the 1st century BCE.
The study of ancient Greek sculpture in the last decades has moved away from the traditional practice of identifying sculptures based on brief literary descriptions and attempting to recognize the characteristic manner of some famous names as reflected in reproductions of their work and variants based on their style, to concentrate instead on the socio-political world in which sculpture was created and other less subjective criteria.
Further reading
- Brunilde Sismondo Ridgway, "The bronze Apollo from Piombino" Antike Plastik 7 pp 43–75. (1967).
- R. Lullies and M. Hirmer, Greek Sculpture (New York) 1960.