Seated priest of Apollo from Didyma (Branchide)
- Title:
- Seated priest of Apollo from Didyma (Branchide)
- Collection:
- Cornell Cast Collection
- Creator:
- Unknown
- Photographer:
- Alexandridis, Annetta
- Date:
- ca. 1890-1900
ca. 600-550 BCE
2009 (image)
- Site:
- Didyma, Turkey (original)
- Location:
- Goldwin Smith Hall (Room 128), Cornell University
previously, Warehouse
Didyma, Turkey (original) - ID Number:
- CCC_0291
- Accession Number:
- Sage no. 75
291 - File Name:
- CCC_0291.tif
- Original Measurements:
- 155 (H) cm
- Culture:
- Greek
- Style/Period:
- Archaic
- Work Type:
- casts (sculpture)
- Materials/Techniques:
- plaster cast (sculpture)
marble sculpture in the round (original) - Subject:
- Didyma (Extinct city)
Apollo (Greek deity) - Image View Type:
- overall
- Image View Description:
- from front
- Measurement:
- 155 x 83 x 82 (centimeters, height x width x diameter)
- Description:
- This is a cast of an over life-sized Archaic statue of a seated priest from the Sacred Way leading to the sanctuary of Apollo at Didyma. The original is housed at the British Museum. The statue, blocky and broad, depicts a young priest sitting with parted legs on a simple throne, resting his arms on the seat's armrests. His shoulders and chest are rounded. He wears a heavy Ionic chiton that extends to his feet (missing in the original) showing no details of his legs and with a few very flat folds rendered. The figure's round head is extensively weathered in the original with the result that many facial details are obscured. His hair is woven into bead-like braids that are arranged in rows on his head and fall in locks behind his ears to his shoulders. Cornell's cast of this object is in good condition with only very minor and minimal surface damage. This statue is one of several similar statues that lined the Sacred Way leading from the nearby port of Panormos to the sanctuary of Apollo at Didyma. The statues represent members of the Branchidai family, the priestly clan who administered the sanctuary and whose oversight of it predates the arrival of Ionian Greeks to western Asia Minor at the end of the Bronze Age.
- Notes:
- Items in the Cornell Cast Collection are meant for inventory and reference purposes. Metadata may not be complete in all cases.
no. 1859,1226.10, Sculpture B271 - Bibliography:
- Klaus Tuchelt, Branchidai-Didyma. Geschichte und Ausgrabung eines antiken Heiligtums (Mainz am Rhein: Philipp von Zabern, 1992)
Klaus Tuchelt, Archaischen Skulpturen von Didyma (Berlin, Gebr. Mann Verlag, 1970)
Peter Kranz, "Frühe griechische Sitzfiguren," AM 87 (1972), 1-55 - Repository:
- Cornell University (current)
London, British Museum (original) - Collecting Program:
- Cornell Collections of Antiquities
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- The images in the Cornell Collection of Antiquities: Casts are protected by copyright, and the copyright holders are their creators, generally Cornell University Library, Annetta Alexandridis, and Verity Platt. This collection of plaster casts owned by Cornell University was photographed by Cornell University Library, Alexandridis, Platt, and Andreya L. Mihaloew from 2010-2015, with funding from a Digital Collections in Arts and Sciences Grant to Annetta Alexandridis. Cornell is providing access to the materials for research and personal use. The written permission of any copyright and other rights holders is required for distribution, reproduction, or other use that extends beyond what is authorized by fair use and other statutory exemptions. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item. Please contact Annetta Alexandridis and Verity Platt for more information about this collection, or to request permission to use these images.