The Jockey of Artemision is a large

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 ...

bronze statue Bronze is the most popular metal for cast metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply "a bronze". It can be used for statues, singly or in groups, reliefs, and small statuettes and figurines, as well as bronze elements t ...

of a young boy riding a horse, dated to around 150–140 BC. It is a rare surviving original bronze statue from

Ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...

and a rare example in Greek sculpture of a racehorse. Most ancient bronzes were melted down for their raw materials some time after creation, but this one was saved from destruction when it was lost in a shipwreck in antiquity, before being discovered in the twentieth century. It may have been dedicated to the gods by a wealthy person to honour victories in horse races, probably in the single-horse race (Greek: κέλης - kēles). The artist is unknown.

Discovery and display

The statue was found in a shipwreck off Cape Artemision, in north Euboea, which was discovered in 1926. Also found in the wreck were parts of the

Artemision Bronze The Artemision Bronze (often called the God from the Sea) is an ancient Greek sculpture that was recovered from the sea off Cape Artemision, in northern Euboea, Greece. According to most scholars, the bronze represents Zeus, the thunder-god and k ...

."Archaelogical Work In Near East" in

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

, 5 April 1929, p.13. The first parts of the equestrian statue were recovered in 1928, with more pieces found in 1936 and/or 1937.Seán Hemingway, The Horse and Jockey from Artemision: A Bronze Equestrian Monument of the Hellenistic Period.
Review by Janet Burnett Grossman in

Bryn Mawr Classical Review ''Bryn Mawr Classical Review'' (''BMCR'') is an open access journal founded in 1990. It publishes reviews of current scholarly work in the field of classical studies including classical archaeology.Archived here
The statue was reassembled, after restoration of the horse's tail and body, and it went on display at the

National Archaeological Museum, Athens The National Archaeological Museum ( el, Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο) in Athens houses some of the most important artifacts from a variety of archaeological locations around Greece from prehistory to late antiquity. It is ...

in 1972.

Origins

The original artist and the circumstances under which the work was created are unknown. However, Seán Hemingway has suggested that it may have been plundered from

Corinth Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part o ...

in 146 BC by the Roman general Mummius in the

Achaean War The Achaean War of 146 BC was fought between the Roman Republic and the Greek Achaean League, an alliance of Achaean and other Peloponnesian states in ancient Greece. It was the final stage of Rome's conquest of mainland Greece, taking place jus ...

and given to Attalus but lost while in transit to

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 ...

Design and construction

The

equestrian statue An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin ''eques'', meaning 'knight', deriving from ''equus'', meaning 'horse'. A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is a d ...

is approximately life-size, with a length of and high.X 15177.
National Archaeological Museum, Athens, 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2013
Archived here
It was cast in pieces using an indirect

lost wax Lost-wax casting (also called "investment casting", "precision casting", or ''cire perdue'' which has been adopted into English from the French, ) is the process by which a duplicate metal sculpture (often silver, gold, brass, or bronze) is ...

process and then assembled with

flow welding Flow may refer to: Science and technology * Fluid flow, the motion of a gas or liquid * Flow (geomorphology), a type of mass wasting or slope movement in geomorphology * Flow (mathematics), a group action of the real numbers on a set * Flow (psyc ...

. Some parts are missing, such as the rider's whip and reins, and the horse's bridle. The horse and its rider are rendered realistically, as if captured as the horse springs away in mid-gallop, with its rear feet on the ground and its front legs raised. The bronze of the rear legs is thicker, indicating that they were the statue's primary means of support. The image of the goddess

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

is engraved on the horse's right thigh, holding a wreath in raised hands -- a brand for racehorses in Ancient Greece. The horse dwarfs its jockey, a boy only tall and perhaps 10 years old, possibly from Africa based on his physiognomy and original black patinated surface colouring. His hairstyle, however, is Greek, suggesting a mixed heritage. He rides

bareback Bareback riding is a form of equestrianism, horseback riding without a saddle. It requires skill, balance, and coordination, as the rider does not have any equipment to compensate for errors of balance or skill. Proponents of bareback riding argu ...

without a saddle. He wears sandals and a short

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 ...

, and looks back over his left shoulder.

Discovery and display

Origins

Design and construction

See also

Notes and references

Further reading