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Undergraduate
Classics Teaching Collections |
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| Name: |
Omphalos
Apollo (Choiseul-Gouffier Apollo) |
| Picture: |
 |
| Description: |
Roman
copy of bronze original. London, British Museum. H. 1.78m. The naked
Apollo rests his weight on his right foot (and a supporting tree),
left leg and foot turned slightly outwards. The torso twists slightly
in an almost Lysippic 'S' shape as the small head turns (almost unnaturally)
to the right. The face is serene and severe; the hair frames the face
with wavy locks. Around his head is a fillet. The musculature is not
as well-defined as later pieces (for example, the Doryphoros), and
the knees are still somewhat archaic. |
| Date: |
c. 460 B.C. |
| Discussion: |
This
Apollo gets its nickname from the omphalos (navel stone) found beside
the Athenian copy. There are several versions, all markedly different,
which must derive from a bronze original. The left hand probably held
a bow, and the right grasped a laurel branch or quiver. The god stands
tall with a distinct look of hauteur -- the statue made divine. See
Robertson 1981: 54-5, figs.77-8; Stewart 1990: 146, 253; 285-6 (ills.). |
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