Artemision Bronze, Ancient bronze sculpture in National Archaeological Museum, Greece
The Artemision Bronze is a Greek bronze statue in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens standing 209 centimeters tall. The figure shows a bearded man with outstretched arms representing either Zeus or Poseidon, though the original attribute held in the right hand is missing.
The statue was found in 1926 and recovered in 1928 from a shipwreck off Cape Artemision; the wreck dates no earlier than the mid-2nd century BC. The diver's death in 1928 ended the excavation, leaving the wreck's origin unclear. The Jockey of Artemision came from the same wreck, and Seán Hemingway suggested it may have been looted from Corinth in 146 BC by Mummius.
The raised right arm and forward gaze follow a pose used for Zeus on Chalcidian vases, while the left hand once aimed the missing weapon. The name Cronide, used in Italian, refers to Zeus and Poseidon as sons of Cronus. The head appeared on a Greek 500 drachma stamp (1954–1977) and on the 1,000 drachma note first issued in 1970.
The museum displays the statue in a hall together with around 1,000 selected pieces from a collection of 17,000 sculptures. The setup allows visitors to view the bronze work from different angles.
Most ancient bronzes were melted down over the centuries to reuse the metal. This work only survived because it lay on the seabed and thus escaped destruction.
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