24/03/2024
🐴 The Charioteer
🔝Located at the Delphi Archaeological Museum, the life-size bronze statue of the “Charioteer” is uniquely rare. It was unearthed during the Grand Excavation of the Delphi Archaeological site in 1896 and at that time it was the first large-scale bronze statue of the Antiquity discovered. The Ancient Greeks were experts and great masters of bronze casting. However the problem with bronze statues is that they did not survive through the years mostly because of looting. Bronze is a useful, semi-precious and practical metal and the statues were either melted for their worth or looted and stolen from places of worship. Especially military needs dictated the melting of such statues unlike their marble counterparts.
⚡️The “Charioteer” managed to survive due to a natural catastrophe, as it was burried during the earthquake of 373BC. Its excavation caused great enthusiasm in the archaeological world since it was the first large-scale bronze statue discovered. Many years later, we would retrieve from the bottom of the sea the Riace warriors and the Poseidon/Zeus of Artemision. These also life-size bronze sculptures are of equal artistic value and craftsmanship and give us a broader idea of the genre.
🐎Regarding the theme and the overall composition, the Charioteer was not produced to be by himself. Although scholars have not reached a unanimous opinion on the matter, the Charioteer was most probably part of a larger bronze composition representing a Quadriga (tethrippon). This was an Olympic sport that took place on the second day of the Olympic Games. During this equestrian race, the tethrippon (four-horse chariot) would race in the Hippodrome completing 12 laps. The origin of the sport is found in military customs of the Achaeans. Unfortunately the 4 horses and the chariot that the young Charioteer would stand on, have not survived.
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📸 except for the last from theoi.com