Pliny the Elder on the fifth-century BC sculptors’ contest for the wounded Amazon

The Wounded Amazon, Franz von Stuck, 1905.

A description of the image of the wounded Amazon is found in Pliny the Elder, who tells of a competition for the finest sculpture on the subject, in which the celebrated sculptors of the 5th century BC Polykleitos, Phidias, Kresilas and Phradmon took part. The sculptures they produced were placed in the temple of Artemis of Ephesus, and the artists themselves settled the order of precedence among them. Sculptures made after these types, which have become classical, may be seen today in the Vatican and Capitoline Museums, the Hermitage and the Louvre. Unlike this painting, the ancient Amazons are full-length, clad in a peplos slipping from the shoulders and baring the breast. The wound of the marble Amazons described by Pliny is in the side, a spear pierces them, and they themselves are barefoot and only half-naked

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

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Frederic Leighton

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Pliny the Elder on the fifth-century BC sculptors’ contest for the wounded Amazon

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

Frederic Leighton

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