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The Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art: Stone Sculpture

Hermary, Antoine and Joan R. Mertens (2014)

This title is in print.

1st revised edition, 2015

Read an interview with Antoine Hermary and Joan R. Mertens on Now at the Met.

Description

The Cesnola Collection of antiquities from Cyprus was one of the earliest acquisitions by The Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 1872—two years after its founding—275 crates of objects were purchased and brought to the Museum by Luigi Palma di Cesnola, who soon became its first director. This collection, with over 6,000 works, documents the art of Cyprus from ca. 3000 B.C. through ca. A.D. 300 in all major media—terracottas, bronzes, gems, glass, silver and gold plate, and jewelry. The distinction of the collection, however, lies in the stone sculptures that are unequalled in any other institution and that are beautifully illustrated and cataloged in this unique publication. The 635 large-scale stone sarcophagi, funerary monuments, and votive sculptures, primarily of the sixth through fourth centuries B.C., testify to the wealth and power of the individuals that commissioned them. The exceptional variety of types reflects the succession of rulers that dominated the island and exploited its resources, and shows influences of the cultural exchanges with other great early civilizations across the Mediterranean.

The Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art: Stone Sculpture is the first comprehensive publication of these works of art, and is available to read, download, and search online at no cost. A paperbound volume, complete and printed in full color as a print-on-demand (POD) book, is also available for purchase and can be ordered at the Yale University Press URL address above, or through most online booksellers. Additional information about the publication—including links to related resources, such as current records for every Cypriot stone sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum's collection database—can also be found on the Museum's MetPublications website.

Table of contents

Director’s Foreword
Foreword
Acknowledgments

Introduction
Building the Collection of Sculpture

Sculptures Discovered before 1870
The Sculptures and the Sanctuary/Sanctuaries of Golgoi–Ayios Photios
The Nature of the Offerings and the Cult of the Sanctuary of Golgoi–Ayios Photios
Other Findspots
The Cesnola Sculptures in The Metropolitan Museum of Art
From Their Arrival at the Museum to the Handbook of the Cesnola Collection of Antiquities from Cyprus
by John L. Myres (1914)
The Place of the Cesnola Collection in the Study of Cypriot Sculpture
Chronology of Cypriot Sculptures

Catalogue

Chapter 1. Male Votaries (Cat. 1–186)
Male Votaries with Conical Helmets (Cat. 1–18)
Male Heads with Other Types of Helmets (Cat. 19–24)
Male Votaries with “Cypriot Shorts,” Heads with a Rosette Diadem (Cat. 25–39)
Male Votaries in Egyptianizing Dress or Heads with a Plain Headdress (Cat. 40–61)
Young Votaries in the Ionian Tradition (Draped Kouroi) (Cat. 62–75)
Bearded Male Votaries with a Wreath of Leaves or a Diadem (Cat. 76–92)
Beardless Male Votaries with a Wreath of Leaves, Diadem, or Fillet (Cat. 93–137)
Male Votaries with Bare Heads (Cat. 138–143)
Statues and Statuettes of Boys (Cat. 144–168)
Various Votive Male Figures, or Fragments (Cat. 169–186)

Chapter 2. Female Votaries (Cat. 187–212)

Chapter 3. Special Series of Votive Figures (Cat. 213–246)
Statuettes of Women Nursing (Kourotrophoi) (Cat. 213–221)
Musicians, Male and Female (Cat. 222–234)
Aulos (Double Flute)
Players (Cat. 222–230)
Tamborine Player (Cat. 231)
Lyre Players (Cat. 232–234)
Horses, Horsemen, Chariots (Cat. 235–241)
Banqueters (Cat. 242–246)

Chapter 4. Masked Votaries (Cat. 247–251)

Chapter 5. “Temple Boys” and “Temple Girls” (Cat. 252–274)
Temple Boys (Cat. 252–272)
Temple Girls (Cat. 273–274)

Chapter 6. Varia (Cat. 275–299)
Other Types of Votive Human Figures (Cat. 275–279)
Fragmentary Offerings or Other Objects from Votive Statues or Statuettes (Cat. 280–299)

Chapter 7. Gods and Mythological Figures (Cat. 300–364)
Herakles (Cat. 300–320)
“Zeus Ammon” (Cat. 321–325)
Apollo (Cat. 326–331)
Pan (Cat. 332–337)
Zeus (Cat. 338–339)
Various Male Mythological Figures (Cat. 340–356)
The Great Goddess (Aphrodite) (Cat. 357–358)
Artemis (Cat. 359–363)
Other Goddesses (Cat. 364)

Chapter 8. Votive Animals, Anatomical Reliefs, and Various Offerings (Cat. 356–378)

Chapter 9. Various Offerings (Cat. 379–431)
Incense Burners (Cat. 379–386)
Lamps (Cat. 387–392)
Anatomical Ex-votos (Cat. 393–408)
Other Offerings (Cat. 409–431)

Chapter 10. Architectural Sculpture (Cat. 432–436)

Chapter 11. Sculptured Reliefs on Votive Monuments (Cat. 437–456)

Chapter 12. Funerary Monuments (Cat. 457–508)
Funerary Stelai without Human Figures except Hathor Heads (Cat. 457–476)
Funerary Stelai with Human Figures (Cat. 477–489)
Limestone Sarcophagi (Cat. 490–494)
Marble Sarcophagi (Cat. 495–496)
Roman Funerary Busts (Cat. 497–501)
Decorated Cippi and Other Funerary Monuments (Cat. 502–508)

Chapter 13. Other Stone Artifacts (Cat. 509–635)
Vases in “Alabaster”: Gypsum or Calcite (Cat. 509–562)
Vases in Other Materials (Cat. 563–577)
Limestone (or Chalk) (Cat. 563–570)
Other Stones (Cat. 571–577)
Beads, Pendants, Amulets (Cat. 578–582)
Mace Heads (Cat. 583–590)
Spindle Whorls (Cat. 591–598)
Mortars and Pestles (Cat. 599–625)
Whetstones or Polishers (Cat. 626–631)
Other Objects (Cat. 632–635)

Maps of Cyprus
Concordance
Bibliography

About the authors

Antoine Hermary is Professor at the Aix-Marseille University, Aix-en-Provence.

Joan R. Mertens is Curator in the Department of Greek and Roman Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.