Moschoforos, or The Calf Bearer. Marble, 1.64 m tall, c. 560 BCE.
Atributed to the sculptor Phaidimos.
The statue was dedicated by Romvos (Rombos), and carries a sucrificial calf for Athena.
The statue is unique in that it does not depict a single figure, nor a group of figures, but a man and a calf closely bound in an exquisite composition. The arrangement guided the sculptor to depict the arms crossed across the chest of the man as he holds the calf’s legs in a large “X”.
The calf is naturally settled by its weight on the man’s shoulder as it turns its head to face the viewer. While the statue is defined with the typical geometric planes of the Archaic era, certain areas of the figure are rendered in a much more smooth manner as the muscles of the forearms are described in stone.
An inscription on its base reads [Ρ]όνβος ανέθεκεν ηο Πάλο (“Ο Ρόμβος αφιέρωσε (το άγαλμα), ο γιος του Πάλου”. “Rhombos, son of Palos dedicated [this statue]”).
Exhibited at the Acropolis Museum, Athens, Greece.
