I do love it when an artwork speaks in the first person! An inscription in Greek running up and down this statuette’s magnificent thighs, proclaims:
“Mantiklos donated me as a tithe to the far shooter, the bearer of the Silver Bow. You, Phoibos (Apollo) give something pleasing in return.”
Stylistically, the bronze is on the cusp of the Archaic period, with wig-like hair, huge eyes, impressively muscled haunches, impossibly slim, and belted waist of the earlier Geometric period with the rounded bodily volumes that would be a precursor to the increasingly naturalistic forms of later Archaic works.
If only the inscriber had been a bit more clear, because some ambiguities remain: is this Mantiklos himself, or rather Apollo? Little hints remain: the pierced left fist and holes the crown of the head. If mortal, perhaps he might have originally worn the equipment of a Greek warrior: helmet, shield, and spear. If Apollo, a bow, arrows, and crown or helmet.
My bets are on Apollo…either way, worth a closer look!
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts 03.997
H. 20.3 cm
