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# The Riace Warriors, bronze Greek statues found in Calabria on 16 August 1972
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/pomnite-odnu-iz-samykh-trogatelnykh-stsen-v-drame-nazovi-menia-svoim-imenem-s-bronzovym-rukopozhatiem-elio-i-olivera/
- Published: 2020-08-16T17:35:25.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T18:52:37.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Archaeology, Art, Cinema, Observations

Do you remember one of the most touching scenes in the drama "Call Me by Your Name", with the bronze handshake of Elio and Oliver? André Aciman may well have drawn inspiration from the story of the discovery of the Riace Warriors on the shore of the Ionian Sea in Calabria on 16 August 1972\. That day will go down in history as the date on which the finest specimens of Classical-period bronze Greek sculpture were found. Despite their slightly distorted proportions, these statues of nude men of different ages, caught in relaxed poses, were attributed to the most illustrious sculptors of the time around the 5th century BC, Polykleitos among them. Originally the warriors held a spear and a sword; the head of one was crowned with laurel, while the other wore a helmet. The Riace Warriors have silver teeth, copper lips and nipples, and eyes of bone and glass. I saw these beauties, after many years of restoration, at the exhibition in the Quirinal when I was still a child, and I am under their spell to this day.

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_3137@16-08-2020_20-35-25.jpg)

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_3138@16-08-2020_20-35-25.jpg)

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_3139@16-08-2020_20-35-25.jpg)

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_3140@16-08-2020_20-35-25.jpg)