Riace Warriors
The two Riace bronzes are full-size Greek bronzes of young nude bearded warriors, cast about 460 – 450 BCE and found, perhaps in the site of a shipwreck, off the coast of Riace, Calabria, Italy, in August 1972. The Riace bronzes as they are sometimes called, are major additions to the surviving examples of Greek sculpture. They have eyes inlaid with bone and glass, silver teeth and copper lips and nipples. Formerly they held spears and shields. They represent the transition from Archaic Greek sculpture to the early Classic style.
It is conjectured that the bronze sculptures were Athenian gifts at Delphi and that they were being transported to Rome as booty when a storm overtook their ship. (No shipwreck identified with the sculptures has been located however.)
The Bronzi de Riace are kept in the museum at Reggio Calabria.
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Categories: Sculptures