The Votive Statues of the Athenian Acropolis

Sheds light upon the origins and significance of Greek portraiture.

Catherine M. Keesling (Author)

9780521071260, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 4 September 2008

292 pages, 64 b/w illus.
23.5 x 15.8 x 1.6 cm, 0.47 kg

Review of the hardback: 'Catherine Keesling's study of Athenian votive statues is a welcome contribution to the interdisciplinary field … presents an incisive analysis of difficult and fragmentary material … Together, the essays in this volume shed light on the various intellectual currents and scholarly preoccupations which have shaped the discipline of classical art history … a readable and provocative reflection on the subject, of interest to any art historian.' Burlington Magazine

During the period between Solon's reforms and the end of the Peloponnesian War, worshippers dedicated hundreds of statues to Athena on the Acropolis, Athens's primary sanctuary. Some of these statues were Archaic marble korai, works of the greatest significance for the study of Greek art; all are documents of Athenian history. This book brings together all of the evidence for statue dedications on the Acropolis in the sixth and fifth centuries BC, including inscribed statue bases that preserve information about the dedicators and the evidence for lost bronze sculptures. Placing the korai and other statues from the Acropolis within the original votive contexts, Katherine Keesling questions the standard interpretation of the korai as generic, anonymous votaries, while shedding light upon the origins and significance of Greek portraiture.

Part I. Anathemata: 1. Statues as gifts for the gods
2. Votive statue inscriptions
3. Nothing to do with democracy?: Votive statues and Athenian history
4. Votive statues and Athenian society
Part II. Divine Identities: 5. The identities of the Acropolis korai
6. The iconography of the Acropolis korai
Part III: 7. Fifth century portrait statues on the Acropolis
Conclusion
Appendices.

Subject Areas: History of art: ancient & classical art,BCE to c 500 CE [ACG]