Torso of a Youth

Torso of a youth. Greek master, mid-6th century B.C. Although tradition says this torso was found in Heraclea Pontica, on the southern shore of the Black Sea, or perhaps in Perinthos, on the northern shore of the Sea of Marmara, there is no doubt that it was produced in one of the large Greek centres in Asia Minor: in Miletos or on the island of Samos. The standing figure of a naked youth (kouros), a type whose development was based on Egyption prototypes, was one of the main themes of Archaic Greek sculpture. The statue probably stood either on a grave, depicting the deceased in heroic youth, without regard to his actual age, or in a shrine as a representative votive offering, with an inscription on its base.

János György Szilágyi