Base for kouros with reliefs on three sides; side B with six nude athletes
| Collection: | Athens, National Archaeological Museum |
| Title: | Themistokles Base |
| Context: | Excavated at Athens, Kerameikos |
| Findspot: | Excavated at Athens, Kerameikos (built into the Themistoklean Wall of 478 B.C.). Found in 1922 together with a similar base ( |
| Summary: | Statue base (for a kouros?) with reliefs showing athletes on three sides |
| Object Function: | Unknown |
| Material: | Marble |
| Sculpture Type: | Statue base, relief-decorated |
| Category: | Single monument |
| Style: | Late Archaic |
| Technique: | Low relief |
| Original or Copy: | Original |
| Date: | ca. 510 BC |
| Dimensions: | H 0.29 m; W 0.79 m; Th. 0.79 |
| Scale: | Miniature (pictorial field) |
| Region: | Attica |
| Period: | Late Archaic |
Subject Description:
Side A (center): In the center two youths (ephebes) wrestle. To their left is another ephebe, preparing to jump, and to their right is an ephebe with a javelin, drawing a dividing line in the ground.
Side B (left): Six nude athletes exercise presumably in the gymnasium. The first and last figures show their backs, and the latter holds a ball that he is about to throw. Karouzou identifies the central two as runners (the first a stade runner, and the next a long-distance runner), facing each other.
Side C (right): Four athletes (?) relax, perhaps after their exercises. All wear himatia: the two in the middle are seated, facing each other, and seem to incite a dog and cat to fight. Two others, watching the contest, stand behind the seated figures.
Form & Style:
On account of the red paint--which is well preserved on side B, and to a lesser extent on side C--that fills the space between the figures, the athletic figures stand out in the same way that red figure athletes stand out against black backgrounds on contemporary painted vases by the Pioneers, such as Euphronios.
Condition: Intact
Condition Description:
The base is largely intact, but slightly chipped on edges and corners, particularly the lower left corner of side C, on which scene the left-most figure is only preserved above the waist. Background paint (red) is well preserved on sides B and C.
Other Notes:
Karouzou 31 notes that the fact that a comparable scene to that on side B is found on a base in the Kerameikos indicates that the two may have copied a similar prototype.
Sources Used: