Artwork Details
- Title
- Charioteer of Delphi
- Artist
- Artist Unknown
- Year
- 5th Century BCE, cast 1977
- Location
- Kelly Drive near 24th Street
- Medium
- Bronze cast of ancient piece
- Dimensions
- Height 5'9"; width 2'1"; depth 2'6" (base height 2'3")
Artwork Description
Around 478 BCE, Polyzalos, the Tyrant of Gela in Sicily, commissioned a statue to express his gratitude to the god Apollo for his charioteer’s victory in the Pythian Games. Now in the museum at Delphi, this bronze is considered one of the finest surviving sculptures of classical Greece. The cast near Philadelphia’s Museum of Art was a gift from the Greek government.
Contemporary Greek artists Nikos Kerlis and Theodora Papayannis cast this faithful duplicate using the lost-wax process, one of the most accurate methods available. As in the original, the left arm is missing, as are the chariot and horses that once formed part of the sculpture.
Artwork Credits
Gift of the Greek government to the City of Philadelphia
Owned by the City of Philadelphia
Artwork Media
Museum Without Walls
Voices:
ANN KUTTNER is professor of Greek, Roman, and Etruscan art at the University of Pennsylvania.
PENELOPE LAGAKOS is the daughter of Judge Gregory Lagakos who facilitated the donation of the Charioteer.
SHANE STRATTON is a sculptor in Philadelphia who has taught at the Tyler School of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
Producer: Eric Molinsky