"Reconstruction of bronze Riace Warrior B", Metropolitan Museum of Art, Manhattan, New York, New York, United States
"Date: 2015–2016. Artist: Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann. Medium: Bronze.
These reconstructions represent two exquisite Classical Greek bronze statues found near Riace, Italy, in 1972. Research conducted during the reconstruction has led to important discoveries about the original appearance of the nude warriors. Sulphur residue in the corrosion layers shows that an artificial bronze patina was used to indicate skin color. As here, the eyes featured inlaid stone, lips and nipples were copper, and the teeth of these figures were silver sheet. Surviving fitting elements indicate that Riace B wore a fox-skin cap (alopekis) and Riace A wore a Corinthian helmet that was likely gilded, according to ancient custom. This representation of the lost cap of Riace B was modeled by Christoph Bergmann based on depictions in a relief from the Athenian Parthenon.
"Two Greek bronze statues of nude warriors were found in 1972 off the south coast of Calabria. Most likely they stood originally on the Athenian Acropolis in Greece. The reconstructions were carried out in various stages. In 2012, the head of Warrior A was scanned and a bronze cast was outfitted with a Corinthian helmet. This was followed, in 2013-2015, by a complete reconstruction of Riace A. In 2015-2016, Riace B was scanned, cast in bronze, and reconstructed.
Sulphur residue was observed in the layers of corrosion of the originals and interpreted as the remains of an artificial patina that was applied to the freshly cast bronze.
According to ancient sources, bitumen (asphalt) and patination were used for coloring and would have made possible a distinction between the skin and the hair colors of the two warriors, though for now any determination is largely hypothetical. The bronze cast of Riace A was therefore given a reddish patina by means of a sulphur reagent and asphalt lacquer in an oil-based solution, to represent deeply tanned skin and brown hair, while Riace B was given a blueish patina by means of asphalt lacquer mixed with indigo.
The hair of the Thracian warrior (Riace B) was given a reddish hue by means of a mixture of madder and asphalt lacquer. The eyes were fashioned from colored stones, just as in the original statues. The lips and the nipples were worked in bronze and inlaid separately, also matching what can be observed on the originals. The teeth of the original Riace A were formed from a sheet of silver, so a similar silver sheet was used for inlaying the teeth for the reconstruction. It can be shown that Riace A originally wore a Corinthian helmet. The bronze helmet from the tomb of Denda (Staatliche Glyptothek und Antikensammlungen, Munich) was recreated for the reconstruction. The gilding of the reconstructed helmet was added on the basis of literary references and representations in Roman painting. Warriors A is clutching the long staff of a lance in his right hand, and he once carried a heavy Greek round shield, which has been restored
No other type of ancient helmet besides the alopekis, a fox-skin cap, would have fit the head of the sculpture with the surviving elements of the raw and undefined surface of Warrior B’s skullcap, which include three copper plates with a dotted structure and a rectangular plate located above the forehead. The Munich artist Christoph Bergmann fashioned the missing fox skin cap (alopekis) of Riace B using examples on the Parthenon Frieze in Athens as a model.
An analysis of both the arms and hands of Warrior B indicates that he also carried a light shield and two different weapons. He is holding in his right hand the short staff of a weapon that is pointed forward and downward like swinging a double-bladed axe.
The index finger of Riace B's left hand is extended outward and obviously held an arrow that had been lost in the meantime. Consequently, the figure also held a bow in his closed left hand. This equipment, consisting of a light shield (pelta), arrow, bow and fox-skin cap, was added to the reconstruction in 2022 and suggests that Riace B represents the Thracian king Eumolpos as he encounters and is murdered by Erechtheus, the mythical king of Athens, in the so-called Eleusinian War. Finally, it is likely that the two bronze warriors from the sea off the coast of Riace, Calabria in southern Italy formed a statue group that was originally set up on the Athenian Acropolis."" - info from the Met.
"The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 Fifth Avenue, along the Museum Mile on the eastern edge of Central Park on Manhattan's Upper East Side, is by area one of the world's largest art museums. A much smaller second location, The Cloisters at Fort Tryon Park in Upper Manhattan, contains an extensive collection of art, architecture, and artifacts from medieval Europe.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in 1870 with its mission to bring art and art education to the American people. The museum's permanent collection consists of works of art from classical antiquity and ancient Egypt, paintings, and sculptures from nearly all the European masters, and an extensive collection of American and modern art. The Met maintains extensive holdings of African, Asian, Oceanian, Byzantine, and Islamic art. The museum is home to encyclopedic collections of musical instruments, costumes, and accessories, as well as antique weapons and armor from around the world. Several notable interiors, ranging from 1st-century Rome through modern American design, are installed in its galleries.
The Fifth Avenue building opened on March 30, 1880. In 2021, despite the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City, the museum attracted 1,958,000 visitors, ranking fourth on the list of most-visited art museums in the world.
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over 300.46 square miles (778.2 km2), New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the United States. The city is within the southern tip of New York State, and constitutes the geographical and demographic center of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area – the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass. With over 20.1 million people in its metropolitan statistical area and 23.5 million in its combined statistical area as of 2020, New York is one of the world's most populous megacities, and over 58 million people live within 250 mi (400 km) of the city. New York City is a global cultural, financial, and media center with a significant influence on commerce, health care and life sciences, entertainment, research, technology, education, politics, tourism, dining, art, fashion, and sports. New York is the most photographed city in the world. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy, an established safe haven for global investors, and is sometimes described as the capital of the world." - info from Wikipedia.
The fall of 2022 I did my 3rd major cycling tour. I began my adventure in Montreal, Canada and finished in Savannah, GA. This tour took me through the oldest parts of Quebec and the 13 original US states. During this adventure I cycled 7,126 km over the course of 2.5 months and took more than 68,000 photos. As with my previous tours, a major focus was to photograph historic architecture.
Now on Instagram.
"Reconstruction of bronze Riace Warrior B", Metropolitan Museum of Art, Manhattan, New York, New York, United States
"Date: 2015–2016. Artist: Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann. Medium: Bronze.
These reconstructions represent two exquisite Classical Greek bronze statues found near Riace, Italy, in 1972. Research conducted during the reconstruction has led to important discoveries about the original appearance of the nude warriors. Sulphur residue in the corrosion layers shows that an artificial bronze patina was used to indicate skin color. As here, the eyes featured inlaid stone, lips and nipples were copper, and the teeth of these figures were silver sheet. Surviving fitting elements indicate that Riace B wore a fox-skin cap (alopekis) and Riace A wore a Corinthian helmet that was likely gilded, according to ancient custom. This representation of the lost cap of Riace B was modeled by Christoph Bergmann based on depictions in a relief from the Athenian Parthenon.
"Two Greek bronze statues of nude warriors were found in 1972 off the south coast of Calabria. Most likely they stood originally on the Athenian Acropolis in Greece. The reconstructions were carried out in various stages. In 2012, the head of Warrior A was scanned and a bronze cast was outfitted with a Corinthian helmet. This was followed, in 2013-2015, by a complete reconstruction of Riace A. In 2015-2016, Riace B was scanned, cast in bronze, and reconstructed.
Sulphur residue was observed in the layers of corrosion of the originals and interpreted as the remains of an artificial patina that was applied to the freshly cast bronze.
According to ancient sources, bitumen (asphalt) and patination were used for coloring and would have made possible a distinction between the skin and the hair colors of the two warriors, though for now any determination is largely hypothetical. The bronze cast of Riace A was therefore given a reddish patina by means of a sulphur reagent and asphalt lacquer in an oil-based solution, to represent deeply tanned skin and brown hair, while Riace B was given a blueish patina by means of asphalt lacquer mixed with indigo.
The hair of the Thracian warrior (Riace B) was given a reddish hue by means of a mixture of madder and asphalt lacquer. The eyes were fashioned from colored stones, just as in the original statues. The lips and the nipples were worked in bronze and inlaid separately, also matching what can be observed on the originals. The teeth of the original Riace A were formed from a sheet of silver, so a similar silver sheet was used for inlaying the teeth for the reconstruction. It can be shown that Riace A originally wore a Corinthian helmet. The bronze helmet from the tomb of Denda (Staatliche Glyptothek und Antikensammlungen, Munich) was recreated for the reconstruction. The gilding of the reconstructed helmet was added on the basis of literary references and representations in Roman painting. Warriors A is clutching the long staff of a lance in his right hand, and he once carried a heavy Greek round shield, which has been restored
No other type of ancient helmet besides the alopekis, a fox-skin cap, would have fit the head of the sculpture with the surviving elements of the raw and undefined surface of Warrior B’s skullcap, which include three copper plates with a dotted structure and a rectangular plate located above the forehead. The Munich artist Christoph Bergmann fashioned the missing fox skin cap (alopekis) of Riace B using examples on the Parthenon Frieze in Athens as a model.
An analysis of both the arms and hands of Warrior B indicates that he also carried a light shield and two different weapons. He is holding in his right hand the short staff of a weapon that is pointed forward and downward like swinging a double-bladed axe.
The index finger of Riace B's left hand is extended outward and obviously held an arrow that had been lost in the meantime. Consequently, the figure also held a bow in his closed left hand. This equipment, consisting of a light shield (pelta), arrow, bow and fox-skin cap, was added to the reconstruction in 2022 and suggests that Riace B represents the Thracian king Eumolpos as he encounters and is murdered by Erechtheus, the mythical king of Athens, in the so-called Eleusinian War. Finally, it is likely that the two bronze warriors from the sea off the coast of Riace, Calabria in southern Italy formed a statue group that was originally set up on the Athenian Acropolis."" - info from the Met.
"The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 Fifth Avenue, along the Museum Mile on the eastern edge of Central Park on Manhattan's Upper East Side, is by area one of the world's largest art museums. A much smaller second location, The Cloisters at Fort Tryon Park in Upper Manhattan, contains an extensive collection of art, architecture, and artifacts from medieval Europe.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in 1870 with its mission to bring art and art education to the American people. The museum's permanent collection consists of works of art from classical antiquity and ancient Egypt, paintings, and sculptures from nearly all the European masters, and an extensive collection of American and modern art. The Met maintains extensive holdings of African, Asian, Oceanian, Byzantine, and Islamic art. The museum is home to encyclopedic collections of musical instruments, costumes, and accessories, as well as antique weapons and armor from around the world. Several notable interiors, ranging from 1st-century Rome through modern American design, are installed in its galleries.
The Fifth Avenue building opened on March 30, 1880. In 2021, despite the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City, the museum attracted 1,958,000 visitors, ranking fourth on the list of most-visited art museums in the world.
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over 300.46 square miles (778.2 km2), New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the United States. The city is within the southern tip of New York State, and constitutes the geographical and demographic center of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area – the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass. With over 20.1 million people in its metropolitan statistical area and 23.5 million in its combined statistical area as of 2020, New York is one of the world's most populous megacities, and over 58 million people live within 250 mi (400 km) of the city. New York City is a global cultural, financial, and media center with a significant influence on commerce, health care and life sciences, entertainment, research, technology, education, politics, tourism, dining, art, fashion, and sports. New York is the most photographed city in the world. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy, an established safe haven for global investors, and is sometimes described as the capital of the world." - info from Wikipedia.
The fall of 2022 I did my 3rd major cycling tour. I began my adventure in Montreal, Canada and finished in Savannah, GA. This tour took me through the oldest parts of Quebec and the 13 original US states. During this adventure I cycled 7,126 km over the course of 2.5 months and took more than 68,000 photos. As with my previous tours, a major focus was to photograph historic architecture.
Now on Instagram.