Object from Athens NAM

Unfinished statue of Sphinx
Hellenic National Archaeological Museum
Sculpture Collection, inv. no.
Γ 1661
Provenance:
Delos island
Dimensions:
Height 0.92 m Width 0.65 m Thickness 0.43 m
Date:
Mid-2nd century BC
Exhibition space:
Room
30
A fantastical female figure, with bird wings and lion paws and legs, sits on a rock holding a hydria on a circular base in her right hand, while turning her head with its luxuriant hair in the opposite direction. The theme of the sculpture—a Sphinx guarding an urn—is reminiscent of a funerary monument.
The unfinished sculptures provide us with valuable evidence of the
tools
and techniques used in ancient sculpture that have survived to this day. The statue of the Sphinx is carved in white marble with gray veins, most likely Parian. It was left unfinished, probably due to flaws in the marble that became apparent during carving. Successive stages of the sculptor’s work and traces of various tools coexist side by side on the surface of the statue. The first stage of rough work with the
punch
[1]
can be seen on the rock on which the Sphinx sits.
Point
[2]
work is observed on the abdomen, left leg, and entire back of the Sphinx. Work with the
claw chisel
[3]
has begun on the chest, left wing and arm, right forearm and right leg. Work with the
rasp
[4]
is recognized on the right foot. The carving work is almost complete on the face and hair of the Sphinx, where traces of the
flat chisel
[5]
remain. The strands of hair and the muscles of the left forearm have been shaped with a
bull-nosed chisel
[6]
. Use of a
running drill
[7]
is recognized in the hair, the contour of the chin, the neck, and the right shin.
Small protrusions with a shallow hole in the center are kept in the right hand, on the nipples of the breast, and on the left thigh of the Sphinx. These characteristic protrusions bear witness to the technique of indirect carving. The sculptor followed a series of measurements that he initially took on a clay or plaster model and then