louvre museum

The so-called ‘Rampin Horseman’ is a marble male head from a fragmentary statuary group dating to the Archaic Period found in the Acropolis of Athens. The group is thought to have been formed by a pair of horsemen. The fragments were discovered in a ditch containing statues made into pieces during the Persian sack of Athens in 480 BC.

The identity of the ‘Rampin Horseman’ is uncertain: it could represent a hero, an Athenian aristocrat or, if he had won his crown of leaves during one of the Pan-Hellenic Games, a glorious athlete. Parts of the equestrian group are in the New Acropolis Museum of Athens, while the male head is the the Louvre Museum of Paris.

 

The Lady of Auxerre is an example of Cretan style, 'Daedalic' sculpture, which stands at the very origins of Greek art. She is a 'kore' or maiden, who holds her right hand over her breast in the attitude of a worshipper. She retains the wasp waist of the earlier Minoan goddesses, and has stiff hair or a wig, like Egyptian queens. The frontal positioning, rather flat nature of the sculpture, and angular face are typical of early Greek work, as is what has been termed the 'archaic smile'. She has been carved in limestone, and is covered with incised decoration which was originally brightly painted. Some traces of red paint can still be seen on her breast.