AN UNNOTICED COPY OF PRAXITELES’ EROS AT PARION FROM SALAMIS ON CYPRUS

Abstract

The marble statue of Eros at Parion, a work by Praxiteles, is known thanks to Pliny 36.22. This Latin writer reports that a Rhodian man, Alketas, physically loved the statue. This image is reproduced on coins of this town from the reign of Antonine Pius until that of Aemilian, that is from around AD 140 to 253. This article provides a new catalogue of these coin types and a description of the Eros figure represented on coins. Statues derived from this masterpiece have been recognized, but they are variations rather than copies because they do not coincide entirely with the image of Eros represented on coins. This study provides also an updated catalogue of these variations, disposed in a chronological order, from the late classical times to the Antonine period, that is from around 340 BC to around AD 160. However, a marble statue entirely in keeping with the figure on coins does exist at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. It originates from the gymnasium of Salamis in Cyprus. The statue dates to Hadrianic times, a period when Praxitelean statues were often copied. This copy allows us to appreciate Praxiteles’ treatment of the surfaces of this important creation for the first time.The torso reveals a good balance between the body’s structure and sense of skin, suggesting that the original statue was pertinent to the Praxitelean production of the early maturity of the sculptor (around 350 BC) because the prevalence of a velvety epidermis upon bones and muscles characterizes the late production of this Athenian sculptor.