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Date : Ist century
Sizes : 2.92 m high
Material : Marble
| Item 3 on 20
Greek Antiquities
Sculpture
Area related
Ephesus (Turkey)
Site related :
Prytaneion
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| Description |  |
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This statue of medium-grained white marble, known as the "Great Artemis," was unearthed during excavations at the Prytaneion in Ephesus. It is Roman-period version of the cult statue of the Temple of Artemis. The statue shows characteristics that reflect the mother goddess so prevalent in various guises throughout Anatolia in prehistoric times. The statue, whose face and posture express divinity, is frontally presented, with its legs close together, a typically archaic pose. The arms, which are missing at the elbow, would hav been outstretched as though dispensing the gift of fertility. The goddess wears a three-tiered headdress (polos), the top tier of which represents various temples of Ephesus, indicating Artemis's sovereignty over the city. Animal figures inhabit the lower two tiers. The neck and decolletage display a necklace of precious stones, and another of alternating pearls and grape clusters.
In a corona on either side of the face, and on the panels of the tight garment that covers the lower body, are animal figures such as lions, bulls, goats, griffins, deer, and sphinxes. Bees, the emblem of Ephesus, also appear both in these panels, and alternating with rosettes on the belt. The broken protrusions on either side of the skirt are probably fragments of supports. The most prominent part of the statue is of course the chest, which bears numerous egg-like objects formerly thought to be the goddess's breasts , symbolizing fertility and motherhood, leading people to call the Artemis Ephesia "the goddess of many breasts." It now seems likely that these objects represent another symbol of fertility, the testicles of sacrificial bulls. The shape is actually more similar to testicles, and since bulls were often offered to Artemis, this view seems likely.
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