Hellenistic

Limestone statue of an enthroned youth

This seated figure holding a roll of manuscript across his knees and a stylus in his right hand could represent a priest of high rank who transcribed oracles or other declarations of the god he served. The remains of a bird perched on his left hand and the elaborate throne with animals at the side suggest, however, that this statuette represents a deity—probably Apollo, the god of poetry and art, famous for his oracles. The bird may well have been a raven, the bird that often accompanies Apollo. WebPub GR 2012 Cesnola: 15 1/8 × 7 3/4 × 4 3/4 in., 12 lb. (38.4 × 19.7 × 12.1 cm, 5.4 kg)

Date

299 - 200 BC

Accession No.

74.51.2708

Collection

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Provenance

“From the ruins of the city of Golgoi”

References

Cesnola, Luigi Palma di. 1885. A Descriptive Atlas of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Vol. 1. pl. CXVI.838, Boston: James R. Osgood and Company.Myres, John L. 1914. Handbook of the Cesnola Collection of Antiquities from Cyprus. no. 1233, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Connelly, Joan. 1988. Votive Sculpture of Hellenistic Cyprus. p. 79, fig. 114, Nicosia, Cyprus: Department of Antiquities, Cyprus.Karageorghis, Vassos, Joan Mertens, and Marice E. Rose. 2000. Ancient Art from Cyprus: The Cesnola Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. no. 413, p. 255, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Hermary, Antoine and Joan R. Mertens. 2013. The Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art : Stone Sculpture. no. 184, pp. 158-59, Online Publication, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.