Olympia - Bronze winged figure - II
Bronze hammered sculpture with inlaid bone eyes. It is not known whether it was only a bust or part of a statue. The female figure can be interpreted as a divine or daemonic being: Artemis, Nike or as a Sphinx.
This “hammer-elongated” archaic Greek bronze statue – or “Sphyrelaton” - is one of the rarest and most valuable example of hammered free-standing works indicative of the early technique of bronze statues. The “Sphyrelata” were made of hammering sheet nailed to a wooden core. This technique seems to be of oriental origin, probably imported from north-Syrian workers arrived in Greece around the seventh century BC.
Hammered bronze statue
Archaic Period
590 – 580 BC
From Ionian workshop
Olympia, Archaeological Museum
Olympia - Bronze winged figure - II
Bronze hammered sculpture with inlaid bone eyes. It is not known whether it was only a bust or part of a statue. The female figure can be interpreted as a divine or daemonic being: Artemis, Nike or as a Sphinx.
This “hammer-elongated” archaic Greek bronze statue – or “Sphyrelaton” - is one of the rarest and most valuable example of hammered free-standing works indicative of the early technique of bronze statues. The “Sphyrelata” were made of hammering sheet nailed to a wooden core. This technique seems to be of oriental origin, probably imported from north-Syrian workers arrived in Greece around the seventh century BC.
Hammered bronze statue
Archaic Period
590 – 580 BC
From Ionian workshop
Olympia, Archaeological Museum