2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Studies on ancient Greek cult statues: divine power of "old" and "new" statues
| Project/Area Number |
23652018
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Research Field |
Aesthetics/Art history
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| Research Institution | Tohoku University |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Project Period (FY) |
2011-04-28 – 2015-03-31
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| Keywords | 美術史 / 西洋古典 / 考古学 / 宗教学 / ギリシア / 神像 / アテナイ |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
Following Aeschylus’ simple dichotomy, in this study, Greek cult statues are categorized into “old” and “new”. The former boasted mythical origins and were venerated by ancient Greeks as the holiest; the latter, on the other hand, were created by more contemporary sculptors with new marble-carving and bronze-casting techniques, introduced in Greece during the Archaic period.
For both types of statues, characteristics of their divine power are considered, based on detailed examinations of ancient literary sources and of surviving ancient cult statues. It is concluded that, while the divine power of “old” statues are essentially linked to physical contact and independent from the intention of the gods, the “new” statues were created as the double-images of the gods themselves. Thus, their power was visual and far-reaching. Among the sculptors of “new” statues it was Pheidias and his disciples who consciously endowed the new type of divine power to their cult statues.
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| Free Research Field |
美術史
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