The beautiful naked warrior originally held a spear in his raised hand, and probably a shield with his other arm. He is characterized by a small head, a massive neck, and a flat chest. His long legs and the shape of his broad chest are reminiscent of Minoan art conventions. The sculpture was most likely made by a Cretan artist.
The warrior stands on a base fastened with dowels to a thinner sheet of bronze. This evidence indicates that the figure belonged to a tripod cauldron, a three-legged deep bowl, and probably stood next to one of the large ring handles.
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Title:Bronze warrior
Period:Late Geometric
Date:ca. 750–700 BCE
Culture:Greek
Medium:Bronze
Dimensions:H. 6 7/8 in. (17.5 cm)
Classification:Bronzes
Credit Line:Fletcher Fund, 1936
Object Number:36.11.8
Said to be from Olympia or Crete
[Until 1936, with Jean Mikas, Athens and Paris]; acquired in 1936, purchased from J. Mikas.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1937. "An Early Greek Statuette." Bulletin of the Metropolian Museum of Art, 32(2): pp. 37–38, figs. 1–3.
Alexander, Christine. 1939. Early Greek Art: A Picture Book. p. 227, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Alexander, Christine. 1945. "Early Statuettes from Greece." Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 3(10): p. 243.
Richter, Gisela M. A. 1953. Handbook of the Greek Collection. pp. 22, 173, pl. 13a, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Yalouris, Nikolaos. 1974. "Three Geometric Figurines." Antike Kunst, 17(1): p. 22, pl. 3.5.
Mertens, Joan R. 1985. "Greek Bronzes in the Metropolitan Museum of Art." Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 43(2): no. 1, pp. 8, 15, 21, 23.
Lempesē, Angelikē. 2002. To hiero tou Hermē kai tēs Aphroditēs stē Symē Viannou. III Ta Chalkina Anthropomorpha Eidolia, Vol. 3. p. 312, Athens: Hē en Athēnais Archaiologikē Hetaireia.
Himmelmann, Nikolaus. 2002. "Fruhe Weihgeschenke in Olympia." Olympia 1875-2000 : 125 Jahre deutsche Ausgrabungen : Internationales Symposion, Berlin 9.-11. November 2000, Prof. Helmut Kyrieleis, ed. p. 96, figs. 14–25, Mainz am Rhein: Verlag Philipp von Zabern.
Papalexandrou, Athanasios Christou. 2005. The Visual Poetics of Power: Warriors, Youths, and Tripods in Early Greece. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Picón, Carlos A. 2007. Art of the Classical World in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Greece, Cyprus, Etruria, Rome no. 30, pp. 49, 413, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Hemingway, Seán. 2021. How to Read Greek Sculpture. pp. 16–17, fig. 2, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than 30,000 works ranging in date from the Neolithic period to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312.
