An original bronze by Praxiteles?

Who would not like to claim to be the owner of an original bronze statue made by Praxiteles?

Praxiteles of Athens, who lived in the 4^th century BC, made a name for himself during his lifetime as he was the very first sculptor ever to create a nude woman, and he made her life-size! To avoid a scandal, he labeled his lady Aphrodite, which was received gracefully by the people of Cnidos, who had ordered a statue of this goddess although they had not expected her to be in the nude! (see: Was Alexander the Great aware of Cnidos?). Sadly, none of his original works have survived, and all we have to go by are copies – yet what copies!

The most striking full-sized statue in marble is that of Hermes holding the infant Dionysus from the Temple of Hera and now exhibited at the Archaeological Museum of Olympia. Among the other masterpieces, we know the Diadoumenus and the Apollo-Antonius at the Archaeological Museum of Tripoli (Libya), the Venus (2^nd century AD) and the Apollo Sauroktonos (1^st century AD) at the Louvre, the Venus(2^nd century AD) at the Museo Capitolino in Rome, the Roman Satyr at the Altes Museum in Berlin, the head of Venus at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, the torso of Venus at the Cinquantenaire Museum in Brussels, the Bacchus or Satyr (2cd century AD) and the Tyche (early 2^nd century AD) also at the Cinquantenaire Museum in Brussels, the Apollo Lykeios from Epidaurus at the Archaeological Museum of Athens. There must be many more in other museums around the world.

Yet all these statues are made of marble, although the originals probably were created in precious bronze. Bronze, as we know, has been melted down time and again over the centuries, primarily for military purposes meaning that any bronze statue from antiquity is a scarce item.

Recently, the Cleveland Museum of Art has exhibited a statue of Apollo, claiming that it is an original Greek bronze made by the famous sculptor Praxiteles. You would expect this distinguished museum to base such a statement on solid grounds, but it raised many questions instead.

The Apollo in question is also known as the Apollo the Python-Slayer or Apollo Sauroktonos (Lizard Slayer), dated to about 350 BC. It is made of bronze with copper and stone inlay and stands 1.50 meters high. The statue is incomplete as it misses part of his right arm, the tree, and his left arm and shoulder resting on it.

But luckily, Apollo's left hand has been recovered, as well as a small reptile that looks like a lizard but is, in fact, a Python in reduced size. It seems that it was made for the sanctuary of the Pythian Apollo in Delphi, who, according to the myth, had to vanquish Python, the son of Mother Earth. It is thought that Apollo's victory of the Python translated Praxiteles' idea of the triumph of order (kosmos) over disorder (chaos). Emperor Nero is probably responsible for taking the statue to Rome, where Pliny the Elder described it as a bronze of the youthful Apollo about to stab a lizard with an arrow.

There are indeed several contradictory and conflicting stories that are circulating. One tells us how the mysterious Apollo was purchased in 2004 from Phoenix Ancient Art, an antiquity dealer, for 5 million dollars. Initially, it was recovered from an estate in Eastern Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The legal heir to this estate remembered having seen the statue on several occasions at his great-uncle's house. This heir believed it was an 18^th or 19th-century work not worth much money, and he sold the broken pieces. It was soon identified as ancient and appeared in 2003 at said art gallery, where the museum acquired it a year later.

France-Presse, in turn, reported in 2007 that Greek officials had discovered the bronze in the sea somewhere between Greece and Italy, but no clear evidence sustains this statement. Although the Greek government accepts that the statue comes from "somewhere in Greece," they refused to cooperate with the Louvre in their exhibition of the works of Praxiteles if they were to show this bronze Apollo. The Louvre complied.

Although there are international laws to prevent the trading of illegal and looted antiquities, there is no law to put the exhibition of objects from uncertain and undocumented provenance on hold till comprehensive research can confirm their authenticity and origin.

It may be wishful thinking to have an authentic bronze created by Praxiteles; it may be a commercial tool to attract visitors to the museum. After all, we may be very fortunate to have an original Praxiteles saved by the art market.

[Pictures from The Cleveland Museum of Art]