Figure, male
Date600-540 BC
PeriodProto-Cypriote
Object GeographyCyprus
CultureCypriote
MediumLimestone
ClassificationSculpture
Provenancecollected by Luigi Palma di Cesnola (American Consul to Cyprus, 1865-1876) from Cyprus; purchased by the Metropolitan Museum of Art; sale, The Anderson Galleries, New York, March 30-31, 1928; purchased by John Ringling; bequest to The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, 1936
Credit LineBequest of John Ringling, 1936
Object numberSN28.1914
This figure was excavated from one of the two temples in the ancient walled city of Golgoi. The carefully incised, almond-shaped eyes are typical of Archaic art, which predates the canonical forms of Classical, Periclean Greek statuary. Also characteristic of this period is the thin, upturned mouth, a feature known as the archaic smile. This figure's frontal pose and clenched fists - typical Egyptian motifs - illustrate the influence of Egyptian sculpture in the Mediterranean. Yet the asymmetry of the lower body is a Greek innovation and suggests the possibility of movement. The left leg is slightly in front of the right in a pose that foreshadows the classical contrapposto.
On View
On viewLocation
- Center for Asian Art, 2nd floor, Galleria
Collections
early to mid-6th century BCE
late 7th–early 6th century BCE
second quarter of the 6th century BCE
late 6th–early 5th century BCE
540-450 BC
325-50 BC
late 7th–early 6th century BCE
second half of the 4th century BCE
