The equestrian figurine of Babunja
"The equestrian figurine of Babunja"
Natural History Museum Vienna (ed.),
Kalorësi i Babunjës: The equestrian figurine of Babunja
Wien 2025
ISBN 978-3-903096-87-5
38 S./pp., zahlr. Farbabb./num. colour figs., 27 x 19 cm; broschiert/softcover
bilingual albanian - english
This object is an outstanding bronze statuette of a once armed
horseman on a horse. The separately crafted helmet, the lance raised
for throwing and the shield are missing. The artwork was discovered
in an ancient settlement near Babunja near the ancient city of
Apollonia in Illyria, in present-day Albania, during the
Albanian-German research excavations in 2018. It was made in a Greek
workshop in the late Archaic period around 510-490 BC and is a unique
artistic masterpiece of Greek bronze work.
It is possible
that the bronze statuette was sacrificed in a sanctuary as a votive
offering by a member of the local Illyrian elite. In any case, the
work of art shows that the Illyrian elite appreciated precious Greek
imports and was interested in Greek art, lifestyle and intellectual
life.
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