These feet are from Delphi, where they were found (along with other chryselephantine elements) in a pit beneath the sanctuary’s Sacred Way. Evidently they had been damaged by fire and, like the material from the Athenian Acropolis ritually collected and deposited after the Persian destruction, were intentionally (respectfully) taken out of commission.
The jumble of ivory body parts found buried together include 6th century B.C. heads originally with inlaid eyes and eyebrows, his twin Artemis and mother Leto all with beatific smiles. To whom these fore-feet belonged is a matter of some debate – potentially one of the women as a more manly specimen was also found in the mix.
I love the romance (probably not the right word!) of rendering the flesh of the divine in pristine, luminous ivory. And I particularly enjoy the way the artist has economised here, showing just the toes and ornate thongs that would have peeped out beneath the drapery of one member of the Apollonian triad…
