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Lot Essay
This lively sculptural group derives from a funerary naiskos. During the 4th century B.C., naiskoi were first produced in Taras, a Greek colony in South Italy, as seen in figural models as well as on numerous red-figured vases dating to this period. Constructed from the local limestone primarily, they were placed high on the tombs of the wealthy. The reliefs were created using the cut-out technique, where the design was first drawn on the surface of the stone and then material was carefully cut away, as with this example.
Depicting two youths on a hunt, the symmetry in the contrasting movements of this present group is accentuated by their overlapping legs and the tree trunk supports, creating a series of intersecting diagonals. Jucker (op. cit., p. 21) notes that the group tilts forward, indicating that it must have been attached to the upper part of the naiskos. As there are no visible traces on the back to suggest that the figures were fixed to a background, the group would have most likely been free standing.
For a closely related parallel, see J.C. Carter, “The Sculpture of Taras” in Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 65, no. 330, p. 88, pl. 54a.
Depicting two youths on a hunt, the symmetry in the contrasting movements of this present group is accentuated by their overlapping legs and the tree trunk supports, creating a series of intersecting diagonals. Jucker (op. cit., p. 21) notes that the group tilts forward, indicating that it must have been attached to the upper part of the naiskos. As there are no visible traces on the back to suggest that the figures were fixed to a background, the group would have most likely been free standing.
For a closely related parallel, see J.C. Carter, “The Sculpture of Taras” in Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 65, no. 330, p. 88, pl. 54a.