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[German version] (Μυρμηκίδης; Myrmēkídēs). Sculptor in marble and toreutics . His creative period is not known, it probably lay in the 6th cent. BC. Mostly named in conjunction with Callicrates [2], he had a legendary reputation for producing microscopically small works in marble, iron and ivory. There are descriptions of a quadriga small enough to fit under the wings of a fly, a ship the size of a bee and a sesame seed enscripted with Homeric verses. Neudecker, Richard (Rome) Bibliography Overbeck, No. 293, 2168, 2192-2201  P. Mingazzini, s.v. M., EAA 5, 1963, 313-314.

[German version] Sculptor from Atrax in Thessaly, active in the 4th cent. BC. Together with Hippocrates he signed a victory votive of the Pharsalians in Delphi, where it was set up in the mid 4th cent. BC. Because of the measures at the base, it may have been the bronze group of Achilles on horseback and Patroclus, which Pausanias (10,13,5) describes. However, because the base bears a rededication to Claudius there can be no certainty. Pausanias may not have seen the original work. Neudecker, Richard (Rome) Bibliography G. Daux, Pausanias à Delphes, 1936, 141-143 J. Marcadé, Recueil de…

[German version] Bronze sculptor of Cydonia. According to the evidence of inscriptions on existing socles, C. worked c. 450-420 BC in Delphi, Hermione and Athens. He created the most famous portrait of  Pericles in antiquity, ‘worthy of the epithet Olympian’ (Plin. HN 34,74). It was regarded as identical with the portrait statue of Pericles seen by Pausanias on the acropolis and which is clearly identified in copies. A statue by C. depicting a mortally wounded figure ( volneratum deficientem) was described by Pliny and is usually equated with the bronze statue depicting D…

[German version] Etruscan terracotta sculptor from Veii. According to Plin. HN 35,157, V. made the clay cult image of Iuppiter Capitolinus in Rome commissioned by Tarquinius [11] Priscus (first half of the 6th cent. BC) for a temple which was not, however, dedicated until 509 BC. Ascribing to V. the rest of the building sculpture of this temple and that of the temple of Veii is hypothetical. A Hercules fictilis by V. in Rome (Plin. HN loc.cit.) is not more closely defined and is not identical with a statuette mentioned in Mart. 14,178. Neudecker, Richard (Rome) Bibliography M. Pallottino …

[German version] [1] Bust on a round shield ( clipeata imago). The bust on a round shield, in antiquity usually designated as clipeus et imago or εἰκὼν ἐν ὅπλῳ, is to be distinguished from relief medallions in the art of miniatures. Clipei painted on terracotta come from tombs (Centuripe); the earliest marble clipei attached to buildings come from Delos (Mithridates monument, c. 100 BC). The clipeus became widespread from the 1st cent. BC in Rome. Written sources on their invention suggest an origin in ancestor worship and military honours, though reports on Punic clipei of Hasdrubal ar…

[German version] Cicero called the  Herms of Athena and Hercules, which Atticus had obtained in 67-65 BC for Cicero's Tusculanum (Cic. Att. 1,1; 4; 8; 9; 10), Hermathena and Hermeracles. The bronze heads were set on marble pillars and were considered an appropriate ornamentum for his peristyle, which was compared to the Academia and a gymnasium. These terms are Cicero's creation. Setting up Herms of this type in the gardens of Roman villas became a common practice. Neudecker, Richard (Rome) Bibliography R. Neudecker, Die Skulpturenausstattung röm. Villen in Italien, 1988, 11-18 H. Wr…

[German version] (Ναυκύδης; Naukýdes). Bronze sculptor from Argos, son of Patrocles, teacher of Polyclitus and Alypus. The position of  N. in Polyclitus's family tree is a matter of dispute; two sculptors of the same name are also postulated. Daedalus [2] and Periclytus are recorded as the brothers of N., the latter also as ‘Polyclitus’. Pliny gives N.'s prime as  400-397 BC. N. created several  victor statues (after  448 BC). The most famous was a discobolus (discus thrower), which is commonly identified with the ‘discobolus at rest’ (Rom, VM), dating from c. 400 BC, which survives …

[German version] Archeological technical term for marble plates with illustrations of the Homeric epics (Homerus [1]). The small plates with a height of up to 25 cm are covered on both sides with low reliefs in miniature with accompanying texts. Most of the 22 extant plates refer to the Iliad, one to the Odyssey. The most complete plate, the so-called Tabula Capitolina (Rome, KM), contains parts of the Aethiopís as well. The plates are dated to the early Imperial Period and were all found in Rome. Some are attested to have been produced by T…

[German version] Corinthium aes, according to Plin. HN 34,6-8 an alloy of  copper,  gold and  silver, with an artificial patination that made it gleam like gold. Attempts to identify Corinthian alloy (CA) with so-called ‘black gold’ and ‘niello’ are not convincing, as only a lesser sort of CA was dark in colour. The term CA was always associated with legendary invention, names of old masters, and dubious authenticity. Juridical sources (Dig. 32,100,3), however, distinguish CA from plain bronze, ref…

[German version] A group of marble statues, found in 1506 in the area of the Baths of Trajan in Rome, highly regarded, widely received and academically controversial since its discovery (Rom, VM). It shows Laocoon and his two sons, entangled in sea snakes and nearing death. Its identity with a marble group praised by Pliny (HN 36,37: omnibus et picturae et statuariae artis praeferendum) of the artists Agesander, Athanodorus and Polydorus from Rhodes in the house of Titus, was recognized immediately. The first phase of reception stands under the influence o…

[German version] (Φυρόμαχος/ Phyrómachos). Sculptor of Athens, teacher of the painters Heraclides [30] (active 168 BC) and Milon. The written and archaeological traditions, which are controversial, reveal at least the existence of a famed artist who was active under the Attalid kings (Attalus) of Pergamum. The Laterculi Alexandrini (late 2nd cent. BC) place him in a list of artists, and Pliny (HN 34,84) has the same in mind when documenting the sculptors who worked for Attalus and Eumenes. As Pliny only makes a generalized reference to the monumenta Attalidum, it cannot be demonstr…

[German version] (Στρογγυλίων/ Strongylíōn). Bronze sculptor (last third of the 5th cent. to the first third of the 4th cent. BC). None of his works attested in literature survives. Parts of the base of a detailed depiction of the Trojan horse, named δούριος ( doúrios, ‘The wooden one’, Paus. 1,23,8), have been identified on the Acropolis in Athens; it can be dated to before 414 BC. As well as some devotional images, S. and Cephisodotus [4] created some statues of the Muses on Mt Helicon. Small bronzes by S. were famous among Roman collectors, such as the so-called Puer Bruti and an Amazon, o…

[German version] Container ( kypsélē, kibōtós, lárnax) made from cedar wood decorated with ivory and gold plaques and carvings, described by Pausanias (5,17,5-19,10) as a votive gift from  Cypselus [2] or the  Cypselides in the temple of Hera in Olympia. Legend declared the chest to be the vessel in which Cypselus [2] was saved from the Bacchiadae as a child, or rather as its replica. It was probably manufactured in the mid 6th cent. BC. Because of the description provided by Pausanias, the Cypselus chest is an important source for the exploration of archaic imagery. A…

[German version] Archaeological term for statues where the exposed body parts are made of marble and the robes of metal, both attached to a wooden core. The term first occurs in temple inventories in the 2nd cent. BC, later in Vitruvius for colossal statues. The technique can be traced back to the earliest cult idols with clothing and, since the classical period, is often used for cult statues. Numerous descriptions of akrolitha are contrasted by just a small number of preserved fragments, such as…

[German version] Sculptor from Crete. Like his brother Scyllis, assumed to be a pupil or son of the legendary  Daedalus and one of the original exponents of the art of marble sculpture. Tales of his flight from Cyrus and his first commissions in Sicyon reflect the fact that the ‘Daedalic’ marble-sculpture of the Greek islands preceded that of the mainland and date its arrival on the mainland to the earlier half of the 6th cent. BC. Even in ancient literature, some archaic works were attributed to …

[German version] (Φράδμων; Phrádmōn). Bronze sculptor from Argos. Plinius (HN 34,49) gives 420-417 BC as his prime. P. is known primarily for his participation in the competition over the statues of Amazons in Ephesus, among the copies of which the 'Doria Panfili' type (Rome, Galleria Doria Panfili) are attributed without adequate reason to him. Victors' statues by P. were to be seen in Olympia (according to Pausanias 6,8,1), and in Delphi (according to a restored inscription). An inscription in Os…

[German version] Sculptor from Sparta, active as an alleged student of  Dipoenus and Scyllis about the middle of the 6th cent. BC. The treasury of the Megarians at Olympia contained a wooden relief set in gold by him depicting Hercules and figures of the gods. According to Pausanias it was clearly older than the late 6th cent. building. The treasury's sculpture therefore cannot be attributed to D. Neudecker, Richard (Rome) Bibliography Fuchs/Floren, 215 Overbeck, no. 330-331 (sources).

[German version] Sculptor from Chios, son of  Archermus. He worked in the late 6th cent. BC on Delos, in Iasos, Chios and in Athens with his brother  Bupalus. Neudecker, Richard (Rome) Bibliography Fuchs/Floren, 335-337 Overbeck, no. 314, 315, 318 (sources).

[German version] Modern technical term for the most opulent of all Greek relief sarcophagi ( Relief;  Sarcophagi). Found in 1887 in the royal necropolis of Sidon, it is attributed to the local regent  Abdalonymus (333-312 BC). It belongs to the group of house sarcophagi with architectural decor and is famous for the relief images on which residues of painting have been preserved. It is usually believed that Alexander is the warrior with the lion's trophy in the battle against the Persians, and tha…

[German version] (Ἀγελάδας; Ageládas). (Hageladas), bronze sculptor from Argus, was considered to be the teacher of  Phidias,  Myron,  Polycleitus. Victors' statues by A. are recorded since 520 BC. His votive offering by the Tarantines in Delphi has been dated to before 474 BC. His Heracles Alexikakos was erected in Athens after a pestilence (not necessarily 430 BC). From this, Pliny deducted the date for his zenith to be 432 BC. However, since this makes the postulated active period too long, ther…