Ancient Artefact of the Day: The Piraeus Athena, a hollow-cast Greek Bronze, ca. 360-340 BC. Found in 1959, along with the Piraeus Apollo and two bronzes of Artemis. #AAOTD #Athena

Images: Piraeus Athena, Piraeus Archaeological Museum

At 2.35 metres high, this larger than life-size bronze is particularly impressive, with every attention paid to the details of the piece, such as the owls on the helmet's visor and the gruesome Gorgon on the aegis.

The outstretched right arm suggests that she may have once held something, perhaps a miniature Nike, as in the Athena Parthenos statue.

One copy of the statue exists in the form of the Mattei Athena in the Louvre, though the position of the right arm has been altered as a result of the different strengths of marble as compared with bronze.

Image: Mattei Athena, Louvre

The find context of the Piraeus Athena, in a room with several other statues, has suggested that it may have been about to be shipped , possibly back to Rome as part of the spoils of the Sullan expedition of 86 BC.

For more on this statue, and its relationship with the Mattei Athena and other Athenas, see:

Waywell, G. B. “Athena Mattei.” The Annual of the British School at Athens, vol. 66, 1971, pp. 373–382

#AAOTD #Athena