The Statue of Athena Velletri
 

Title

   Pallade di Velletri (Pallas of Velletri).

Subject

   The Goddess held spear and phiale (the hands are restored), wears a brief aegis (most of it hangs behind her), snaky belt, himation (mantle) over the peplus (dress) with long overfall, and a Corinthian helmet.

Function

   The original is often now taken as the cult statue which stood beside Hephaestus in his Temple at Athens.

Date

   This copy is from the 1st cent. CE and the original from about 420-410 BCE.

Artist

   The original is associated with Alcamenes (pupil of Phidias), otherwise with Cresilas for the facial resemblance to his statue of Pericles.

Context

   Velletri (anc. Velitrae), the birthplace of Augustus, 40 km south of Rome, Italy.

Findspot

   When sculptor Berthel Thorvaldsen, accompanied by painter Rhoden and the critic of art Carl Ludwig Fernow, in November of 1797, entered the hall of De Santis family home, in Troncavia district at Velletri, remained in ecstasy. The 59 fragments of the statue of Pallas Athena who had been found again hardly two months before in the land of De Santis, were in good state of conservation much "to be recognizable with easy".

Original/Copy

   This statue is a roman copy after a greek bronze original. There is red color in the hair, around the eyes and mouth. Part of the helmet, the right forearm, the hands, the feet and part of the mantle are restored.

Other Copies

   Several other copies of this size, and reduced copies, are known.

• A second large-scale copy, the so-called "Atena della Centrale", can be found in the Montemartini Museum, Rome.
• The Statue of Athena (Velletri type) in the Martres Tolosane Museum, France.
• The Bust of Athena in the Glyptothek, Munich.
• The Bust of Athena in the National Archaeological Museum, Athens.
• The Bust of Athena in the British Museum, London.
• The Bust of Athena in the Antikenmuseum, Basel.

Material and Dimensions

   Marble with H. 3.05 m

   Paris, Musée du Louvre, Ma 464.

Velletri front 389 X 592 32 KB	Velletri right 389 X 592 26 KB	Velletri left 389 X 592 23 KB
Bust front 389 X 592 30 KB	Bust front eyes 389 X 592 30 KB	Bust right 389 X 592 21 KB
Face front 592 X 389 18 KB	Face front eyes 592 X 389 18 KB	Face right 584 X 392 19 KB
Face right eyes 584 X 392 19 KB	Legs front 389 X 592 26 KB	Feet right 592 X 389 24 KB
Velletri front study 389 X 592 37 KB	Velletri front stick 389 X 592 37 KB	Right study 389 X 592 27 KB
Velletri left study 389 X 592 28 KB	Bust front study 389 X 592 33 KB	Bust right study 389 X 592 25 KB
Face proportions 584 X 461 132 KB	Legs front study 389 X 592 31 KB	Feet right study 592 X 389 28 KB

  Tourist Information:

   This statue is exposed in room 15, collection of Greek Antiquities, department of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities, Groung Floor, Denon access, Louvre Museum, Paris, France.

   Due to lack of staff, the Louvre museum cannot maintain all of its rooms permanently open. A week-by-week schedule specifies which collections are open or closed on each day of the week. This information can be consulted at the Pyramid entrance, at the information desk or on the Internet (www.louvre.fr). Follow the links 'Louvre pratique' -> 'Calendrier hebdomadaire d'ouverture des salles' -> 'en tableau complet'. See also the renovation works page with the rooms to be closed (and all the works therein inaccessible): follow the links 'Louvre pratique' -> 'Fermetures pour travaux'.

  Other Views:

Velletri Athena - Roman copy after an original, perhaps by Kresilas, ca. 430 BCE

  Links:
 

Perseus Project: Velletri Athena, Pallas of Velletri. (Munich.), VELITRAE (Velletri) Italy.

Montemartini Museum: "Atena della Centrale".

Martres Tolosane Museum: Statue of Athena (Velletri type).

Antikenmuseum Basel: Bust of Athena.

Martres Tolosane Museum: Statue of Athena (Velletri type).