DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.52591#0316
3oo GREEK PORTRAITS FROM DELPHI
remove all that had not been erected by decree of the
people?
The third group of human representations is that of votive
portraits in sanctuaries, and those found at Delphi suggest the
question: Could anyone order a likeness of himself from a
painter or sculptor with due respect to all legal formalities
required on such an occasion/ and after friendly negotiations
with the priesthood, give it a striking position in a sanctuary s'
Ancient sources do not throw much light on the point,
but this much is clear, that circumstances differed at different
sanctuaries. Pausanias expresses himself most plainly 3 :
" On the Acropolis of Athens statues and everything else
are anathemata, while at Olympia in the Altis some of the
statues are dedicated in honour of the gods, while the
statues of victors are given them as rewards for their con-
tests.” From other passages in Pausanias it appears that
not all the victors who fulfilled the prescribed conditions
had their portraits set up at Olympia, and that the cost was
not defrayed by the temple treasury, but either by the victor
himself or his children,4 or their native town. As a natural
consequence, many a poor victor had to miss his statue of
honour,5 or it was erected only after his death,6 while
more wealthy prize-winners, or grateful and rich cities,
permitted themselves the luxury of uniting both victor
and trainer in a votive group? Thus the statues of victors
at Olympia were half-way between votive statues and
statues of honour, for while they were not paid for by the
authorities of the place, they were, on the other hand, sub-
jected to their severe censorship? Even if Pliny’s state-
ment, that one had to have won three Olympic victories
to get the right to set up one’s portrait there, is disproved
by several certain instances,9 yet the careful examination
and close sifting of claims is tolerably well attested.
1 Pliny, Nat. Hist., xxxiv. 30; Amm. Marc., xiv. 6, 7.
2 Of contracts between artists and their patrons see Demosthenes, xviii. 122, and
Andocides, De Alcibiade, 17.
3 Pausanias, v. 21, 1 ; cp. 25, 1. 4 Idem, vi. 1, 1 and 10, 1.
5 Idem, vi. 8, 3 ; 14, 6 ; 17, 4. 6 Idem, vi. 4, 6.
7 Idem, vi. 3, 6. The importance of the trainer is seen in Pindar, Nemea, vi. 66 ;
Isthmia, iv. 71.
8 Kuhnert, Jahrbiicher fur klassische Philologie, xiv, 1885, 257 and 271 f.
9 Pliny, Nat. Hist., xxxiv. 16 ; cp. Xenombrotos' Base, Inschriften von Olympia,
170; Paus., vi. 3, 11 ; 14, 13 ; vii. 27, 5.
remove all that had not been erected by decree of the
people?
The third group of human representations is that of votive
portraits in sanctuaries, and those found at Delphi suggest the
question: Could anyone order a likeness of himself from a
painter or sculptor with due respect to all legal formalities
required on such an occasion/ and after friendly negotiations
with the priesthood, give it a striking position in a sanctuary s'
Ancient sources do not throw much light on the point,
but this much is clear, that circumstances differed at different
sanctuaries. Pausanias expresses himself most plainly 3 :
" On the Acropolis of Athens statues and everything else
are anathemata, while at Olympia in the Altis some of the
statues are dedicated in honour of the gods, while the
statues of victors are given them as rewards for their con-
tests.” From other passages in Pausanias it appears that
not all the victors who fulfilled the prescribed conditions
had their portraits set up at Olympia, and that the cost was
not defrayed by the temple treasury, but either by the victor
himself or his children,4 or their native town. As a natural
consequence, many a poor victor had to miss his statue of
honour,5 or it was erected only after his death,6 while
more wealthy prize-winners, or grateful and rich cities,
permitted themselves the luxury of uniting both victor
and trainer in a votive group? Thus the statues of victors
at Olympia were half-way between votive statues and
statues of honour, for while they were not paid for by the
authorities of the place, they were, on the other hand, sub-
jected to their severe censorship? Even if Pliny’s state-
ment, that one had to have won three Olympic victories
to get the right to set up one’s portrait there, is disproved
by several certain instances,9 yet the careful examination
and close sifting of claims is tolerably well attested.
1 Pliny, Nat. Hist., xxxiv. 30; Amm. Marc., xiv. 6, 7.
2 Of contracts between artists and their patrons see Demosthenes, xviii. 122, and
Andocides, De Alcibiade, 17.
3 Pausanias, v. 21, 1 ; cp. 25, 1. 4 Idem, vi. 1, 1 and 10, 1.
5 Idem, vi. 8, 3 ; 14, 6 ; 17, 4. 6 Idem, vi. 4, 6.
7 Idem, vi. 3, 6. The importance of the trainer is seen in Pindar, Nemea, vi. 66 ;
Isthmia, iv. 71.
8 Kuhnert, Jahrbiicher fur klassische Philologie, xiv, 1885, 257 and 271 f.
9 Pliny, Nat. Hist., xxxiv. 16 ; cp. Xenombrotos' Base, Inschriften von Olympia,
170; Paus., vi. 3, 11 ; 14, 13 ; vii. 27, 5.