Lot 106
106
A GREEK BRONZE FIGURE OF SKYLLA
A GREEK BRONZE FIGURE OF SKYLLA

Details
A GREEK BRONZE FIGURE OF SKYLLA
CIRCA LATE 4TH CENTURY B.C.

The monster depicted in the form of the upper part of a woman merged with a fish-like body, several large overlapping scales preserved, grasping the serpentine necks of two dogs which project from her body, her human face beautifully modelled with full lips and lidded convex eyes, the pupils indicated, her hair center-parted and knotted in back with two long tendrils falling on to each shoulder, a rectangular shaft with an iron rod emerging from her head
8 13/16in. (22.4cm.) high

Lot Essay

Depictions of Skylla in this form became popular in Greek art during the Classical period. In the 5th century she usually wears a chiton, but after circa 420 B.C. she is shown nude. Her image appears, for example, on gems and Melian clay plaques, as well as on coins, either as a separate device (Acragas) or on the helmet of Athena (Thurii). She was also the subject of one of the monumental groups discovered in a grotto at Sperlonga, evidently a Roman version of a Hellenistic original. See also lot 13 of this sale and pp. 136-153 in Buitron, et al, The Odyssey and Ancient Art, An Epic in Word and Image