Who knows how many of you have gone to admire them. Because in their grandeur and uniqueness they arouse amazement and wonder in the viewer, as unique masterpieces of art that have come down to us. Now, however, new research could reveal other secrets. We are talking about the Riace Bronzes, the two big ones statues kept in Reggio Calabria and found at sea 48 years ago, on August 16, 1972. According to new research, however, the statues would not have been two, but five and would have had blond hair. Let's find out some details about this curious new investigation.
The Riace Bronzes, the study of a Numismatics teacher
To rewrite the history, therefore, on the Riace Bronzes is a scholar, Daniele Castrizio, full professor of Greek and Roman Numismatics at the University of Messina. He is also a member of the scientific committee of the MArRC, the Museum Archaeological of Reggio Calabria where the two statues are located. According to the teacher, the two warriors were made in Argos. The clay used for the models proves it. According to Castrizio, they were part of a statuary group which would have depicted the moment before the fratricidal duel between Eteocles and Polinice, brothers of Antigone. Hypotheses that would find confirmation on literary and iconographic sources. The teacher collaborates with the Carabinieri of the Heritage Protection Unit in investigating the possible disappearance of helmets, shields, spears.
"The Riace Bronzes were blond and golden and were made in Argos, in the Greek Peloponnese - the professor explained to the Agi -. Both in the mid-fifth century, a short time distance from each other, in the same shop but by different workers. It was understood that B corrects the errors of A, which still remains the perfect statue in the bronze casting technique among those that have come down to us from antiquity".
The mysteries around the Riace Bronzes
Over the years there have been many studies on the Riace Bronzes. As well as the mysteries around these large statues. A mystery: how the Bronzes were shown in ancient times, where, when and by whom they were made. It's still one wonders what they represented and how many there were. Finally, how and why they ended up in the waters of Riace. Technology is trying to help the studies and therefore to try to give answers to these great art puzzles. The new survey equipment is trying to plumb the seabed for find out the wreck. "We are already at this very advanced stage - Castrizio explained again -. Until a few years ago, we knew almost nothing and we were groping in the dark of hypotheses, now we are even circumscribing the precise point where the earth was taken".
On the use of clay and therefore the origin, the teacher reveals other interesting details. "The two bronzes, for which different dates were proposed on a stylistic level and with variations of up to 50 years - explains -, they are practically the same age. We are in the mid-fifth century, the clay is the same for both and comes from two quarries in two very close places. The workshop could only be in Argos where Pythagoras of Reggio was active, the bronze artist considered by Pliny among the excelled, with Phidias, Mirone and Polycletus, in whose shop his nephew Sostrato worked, who continued the work".
More curiosities about bronzes revealed by the new research
It is undoubtedly a novelty relating to color. In fact in the Greek age the statues appeared blond and golden, in the Roman age they were shiny black. "Glossy black - adds Castrizio - is the color they assume after the restoration they underwent when they were transferred to Rome. The Bronzes were originally probably exhibited in Argos, but after the conquest of Greece and the looting of Lucius Mummius in 146 BC, they were brought to the capital and exhibited here at least until the XNUMXth century AD.".
And again from the studies it emerged that the two statues they had the lacrimal caruncle, made with a pink stone placed between the eyes and nose. "It is not uncommon in ancient statues. Even the Reggio Kouros or the Head of Basel have blond hair and beard - says the scholar -. In chryselephantine statues, that is, made of gold and ivory, it was normal. In the Naples Museum we have a marble Aphrodite with remains of color in her hair: she is blonde".
The secrets of their origin
From the studies and historical reconstruction, provided by the team of researchers, the two statues represent Polynice and Eteocles, brothers of Antigone, who compete to a duel for the throne of Thebes. And to confirm this hypothesis would be the literary sources cited by the scholar. Furthermore, according to Castrizio, the Bronzes together with other works of art were on their way to Constantinople in the XNUMXth century AD. Who knows then why they were in the waters of Riace. Perhaps the sailors forced to discard much of the cargo or the ship would sink. So perhaps the new investigations on the seabed will allow this other mystery to be revealed.
