Dancer of Pergamon is the modern name for a

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

statue of a woman from

Pergamon Pergamon or Pergamum ( or ; grc-gre, Πέργαμον), also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos (), was a rich and powerful ancient Greece, ancient Greek city in Mysia. It is located from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a ...

, which is now kept at the

Antikensammlung Berlin The Antikensammlung Berlin (Berlin antiquities collection) is one of the most important collections of classical art in the world, now held in the Altes Museum and Pergamon Museum in Berlin, Germany. It contains thousands of ancient archaeological ...

. The Dancer was found in March 1886 during the German excavations of

in one of the two dining rooms of Palace V (the notes on the find location in the excavation diary speak for the dining room with the

Hephaestion Hephaestion ( grc, Ἡφαιστίων ''Hephaistíon''; c. 356 BC – October 324 BC), son of Amyntor, was an ancient Macedonian nobleman and a general in the army of Alexander the Great. He was "by far the dearest of all the ...

mosaic). From there it was accessioned to the Berlin Antikensammlung (inventory number AvP VII 43), where it formed part of the

Pergamonmuseum The Pergamon Museum (; ) is a listed building on the Museum Island in the historic centre of Berlin. It was built from 1910 to 1930 by order of German Emperor Wilhelm II according to plans by Alfred Messel and Ludwig Hoffmann in Stripped Clas ...

until 2010. In 2011/12 it formed part of the special exhibition "Pergamon: Panorama of the Ancient Metropole."

Description

The statue of white translucent marble is 120 cm high (114 cm excluding the base), and the head is 14.5 m high. It depicts a young woman, with her left leg forward, giving the impression that she is moving forward. Her right hand is raised. It was made from a separate piece of stone and has not survived. Her left hand reaches downwards, lightly gripping her dress. The hand and part of the lower arm are not preserved; nor are the statue base and the feet, which have been replaced by a modern creation made of imitation marble. The clothes and face are partially damaged; her nose and many pieces of her dress are missing. The maiden wears several thin layers of fabric which hug her body closely in some parts and forming deep folds of drapery in others. The lowest layer is a sleeved

chiton Chitons () are marine molluscs of varying size in the class Polyplacophora (), formerly known as Amphineura. About 940 extant and 430 fossil species are recognized. They are also sometimes known as gumboots or sea cradles or coat-of-mail s ...

with very fine folds, over which she wears another, armless garment. The fine, rippling fabric is framed at the neck and shoulders by a broad border. The outermost layer is a voluminous cloak, which falls in broad, deep folds. It hangs from her right shoulder, leaving her left shoulder and left breast free and recalls in its shape the cloaks worn by archaic

Kore Kore may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Kore (comics), a comic-book series by Josh Blaylock and Tim Seeley *Kore (producer), French-Algerian music producer, also part of duo Kore & Skalp *Kore (sculpture), a type of ancient Greek sculpture dep ...

statues of the 6th century BC. The clothing enhances the dynamism of the statue rather than concealing it. The creator of the statue played with various oppositions, as with the broad-spread posture on the one hand and the torsion of the upper body on the other. Similarly, the measured forms of archaic sculpture, with its stitched folds and closely aligned pieces of fabric on the legs, contrast with the lavish cloak flowing out behind her - an entirely different form of materiality. This use of oppositions is also seen in the head and face. Thus, the face is shown with blooming cheeks, deep-set eyes, a small, full mouth, as well as long wavy hair, held back by a band on the forehead and temples. These features are answered by rigid spiral locks of hair on the neck and in front of the ears, which are carved in an archaic style.

Context

On stylistic grounds, the statue is dated to the period between 150 and 125 BC. The statue is an example of the luxurious furnishings of the Pergamene palace. The archaic stylistic features are intentional and recall the grace, "

charis In Greek mythology, the Charites ( ), singular ''Charis'', or Graces, were three or more goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity, goodwill, and fertility. Hesiod names three – Aglaea ("Shining"), Euphrosyne ("Joy"), and Thalia ...

" of those depictions. In addition it was common at this time to use archaising forms in the Dionysiac realm (and the statue's presence in a dining room suggests a dionysiac context). As a result of the statue's lack of attributes, however, the statue's purpose can only be guessed at.

Heinrich Bulle Heinrich Bulle (11 December 1867 – 6 April 1945) was a German archaeologist born in Bremen. He studied classical archaeology in Freiburg im Breisgau and Munich, where he was a student of Heinrich Brunn (1822–1894). From 1898 to 1902, he ...

believed that it was a torchbearer and originally held a torch in the raised right arm, based on similarities with the torchbearer from the

Mahdia shipwreck The shipwreck of Mahdia was found by Greek sponge fishermen off the coast of Tunisia in June 1907. The shipwreck near the modern town of Mahdia is dated about the 80s BC, or even later. In a series of underwater campaigns numerous items were rec ...

and torchbearer from the

Villa Boscoreale Villa Boscoreale is a name given to any of several Roman villas discovered in the district of Boscoreale, Italy. They were all buried and preserved by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, along with Pompeii and Herculaneum. The only one vi ...

. This view has been regularly affirmed, although there are no parallels among the other surviving archaising statues. The statue was probably damaged in Antiquity, either by war damage or an earthquake. As a result, there are some odd aspects of its current shape. Thus, the hair on the neck is short on the left, visible side, but on the right side it has the long, typologically correct spiral locks. It is assumed that the left side reached its current form as a result of reworking in ancient times.

Bibliography

* Christiane Vorster: "Die „Tänzerin“ aus Palast V in Pergamon." in Ralf Grüßinger, Volker Kästner,

Andreas Scholl Andreas Scholl (born 10 November 1967) is a German countertenor, a male classical singer in the alto vocal range, specialising in Baroque music. Born into a family of singers, Scholl was enrolled at the age of seven into the Kiedricher Chorbuben ...

(ed.): ''Pergamon. Panorama der antiken Metropole. Begleitbuch zur Ausstellung.''

Michael Imhof Verlag Michael Imhof Verlag is a German publishing company in Petersberg, Hesse. They are known especially for publishing books with a local interest, on art, on history, politics, religion, nature, and culture Culture () is an umbrella term which ...

, Petersberg 2011, , pp. 148–151 and pp. 508–509 (Catalogue).

External links

* {{Arachne, ob, 104177, Online catalogue of the Berlin sculptures Archaeological discoveries in Turkey Pergamon Marble sculptures in Germany 2nd-century BC Greek sculptures 1886 archaeological discoveries Classical sculptures in the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin