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A stater of Kelenderis: my last coin of 2018.
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<p>[QUOTE="Theodosius, post: 3301696, member: 77077"]It occurred to me the other day that there may be another reason for the striking similarity of these two horseman designs. I realized they may both be copying a famous statue, probably made by a famous artist that would be known throughout the Greek world. Not many original Greek statues have survived from antiquity, more are known only from later, Roman copies (or from coins) than from the originals. The statues of the Parthenon are one large set of original Greek sculptures. As soon as I looked at the horsemen from the Parthenon Frieze, west side, I realized this could be the model used by both celators. (Below, I flipped the picture horizontally to make it easier to compare to the coins.) Why the original is facing left and the coins face right is a mystery. Was there a stigma with left facing people and animals in ancient Greece at there was in Rome?</p><p>[ATTACH=full]874821[/ATTACH] Here are the coins again for comparison:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]874824[/ATTACH]</p><p>The similarities are numerous and striking in both the horse and the rider. Even the faces of the riders look similar. I find it a little odd that the horseman from the Parthenon does not show a left leg. Look how casual the rider’s right leg and foot are, just like the coin from Tarentum.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Parthenon frieze was sculpted between c. 443 and 437 BC, well before both coins were minted. The frieze is thought to have been made under the direction of Pheidias, the most famous sculptor of the ancient world. The Parthenon and its statues were famous throughout the Greek world. It is possible that paintings or clay models of the frieze were made and carried to many cities. If you wanted inspiration on how to model a horse and rider, you could hardly go wrong copying the most famous sculptor known. I liked my first idea of one coin being the model for the other, but it is also cool thinking that people traveled from Kelenderis and Tarentum to Athens and brought back copies of the famous sculptures to use on their coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>John[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Theodosius, post: 3301696, member: 77077"]It occurred to me the other day that there may be another reason for the striking similarity of these two horseman designs. I realized they may both be copying a famous statue, probably made by a famous artist that would be known throughout the Greek world. Not many original Greek statues have survived from antiquity, more are known only from later, Roman copies (or from coins) than from the originals. The statues of the Parthenon are one large set of original Greek sculptures. As soon as I looked at the horsemen from the Parthenon Frieze, west side, I realized this could be the model used by both celators. (Below, I flipped the picture horizontally to make it easier to compare to the coins.) Why the original is facing left and the coins face right is a mystery. Was there a stigma with left facing people and animals in ancient Greece at there was in Rome? [ATTACH=full]874821[/ATTACH] Here are the coins again for comparison: [ATTACH=full]874824[/ATTACH] The similarities are numerous and striking in both the horse and the rider. Even the faces of the riders look similar. I find it a little odd that the horseman from the Parthenon does not show a left leg. Look how casual the rider’s right leg and foot are, just like the coin from Tarentum. The Parthenon frieze was sculpted between c. 443 and 437 BC, well before both coins were minted. The frieze is thought to have been made under the direction of Pheidias, the most famous sculptor of the ancient world. The Parthenon and its statues were famous throughout the Greek world. It is possible that paintings or clay models of the frieze were made and carried to many cities. If you wanted inspiration on how to model a horse and rider, you could hardly go wrong copying the most famous sculptor known. I liked my first idea of one coin being the model for the other, but it is also cool thinking that people traveled from Kelenderis and Tarentum to Athens and brought back copies of the famous sculptures to use on their coins. John[/QUOTE]
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