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Athlete from Ephesus

Athlete from Ephesus, also known as the Apoxyomenos of Ephesus, is an Ancient Greek bronze sculpture representing an athlete cleaning his body with a curved scraper called a strigil after physical exertion. The work belongs to the antiquities collection of the Museum of Art History in Vienna and is preserved in the Ephesus Museum in the Imperial Palace of Hofburg. The statue was gifted to Emperor Franz Joseph I by Sultan Abdul Hamid II and later reconstructed in Vienna from 234 elements attached with brass links and 1,800 screws on an iron frame. Mortar was used to stabilize it, but after later display in Vienna’s Volksgarten, deterioration and corrosion affected the sculpture.

Athlete from Ephesus bronze statue displayed on a pedestal in a grand museum hall.
Athlete from Ephesus bronze statue on display in the Ephesos Museum, Vienna.
February 2013 © · CC BY-SA 3.0
Bronze statue of the Athlete from Ephesus standing indoors in a museum gallery.
The Athlete from Ephesus displayed in the Ephesos Museum in Vienna.
February 2013 © · CC BY-SA 3.0
Bronze statue of the Athlete from Ephesus standing on a pedestal in a museum gallery.
The Athlete from Ephesus shown as a bronze statue in a museum gallery.
October 2007 © · CC BY-SA 3.0
Bronze statue of the Athlete from Ephesus on a pedestal in a museum gallery.
The Athlete from Ephesus displayed in a museum gallery on a black pedestal.
October 2007 © · CC BY-SA 3.0
The Athlete from Ephesus standing on a pedestal in a columned museum hall, seen from behind.
The Athlete from Ephesus displayed in the museum hall, viewed from the back.
October 2010 © Photo: Andreas Praefcke · Public domain

Identification

TitleAthlete from Ephesus
Alternative titleApoxyomenos of Ephesus
TypeBronze statue
Cultural originAncient Greece

Historical context

Historical note about EphesusEphesus was destroyed by the Goths in 263 and by an earthquake in 614
Original statue dateAround 330 BC
DateNot specified in the fragment

Creator

Possible original artistDaidalos of Sicyon, but this attribution is hypothetical
Original artistNot attributable to any ancient Greek artist

Discovery and provenance

ExpeditionAn Austrian expedition
Condition when giftedIn fragments
Gifted bySultan Abdul Hamid II
Gifted toEmperor Franz Joseph I
Excavation leaderRudolf Heberdey (1864–1936)
Discovery conditionFound as several hundred fragments
Excavation areaThe palaestra area of Ephesus
Discovery date1896
FindspotEphesus, near modern-day Selçuk, on the western coast of Anatolia, Turkey

Physical characteristics

Height192 cm

Materials

Primary materialBronze

Appearance

SubjectA young nude athlete cleaning himself with a strigil

Iconography and meaning

Action depictedThe athlete is cleaning himself with a recently used strigil held between the thumb and index finger of his left hand
Cultural practice depictedAthletes and wrestlers traditionally cleaned their bodies in this way to remove oil and dust
Strigil statusThe strigil itself has not survived

Location and ownership

Inventory numberVI 3168
Later display locationTemple of Theseus in Volksgarten park, Vienna
Preserved atEphesus Museum in the Imperial Palace of Hofburg
CollectionAntiquities collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna

History and restoration

Reconstruction placeVienna
Cause of damageClimate conditions and acidic vapors from an old wine cellar below
Reconstruction basis234 elements
Condition at reconstructionIn many fragments
Examination periodTwo years before the 2015 exhibition
Transport assessmentConsidered able to travel
Damage after displayThe mortar began to dissolve, and efflorescence appeared on the bronze
Inventoried after reconstruction1911
Stabilization methodFilled with mortar
Assembly methodFixed on brass links or brackets with screws and mounted on an iron frame
Scientific analysesChemical analyses, endoscopic examinations of the filling mortar, and X-ray examinations of the structure

Significance

Original statusLost statue
Known copiesNumerous Roman copies survive in marble, plain stone, and clay
Historical significanceThe many Roman copies indicate that the original was very popular
Related sculptureAnother athlete statue found in the sea near the Croatian islands of Lošinj and Vele Orjule, recovered from almost 50 m depth
ExhibitionShown together with the related statue in a traveling exhibition organized with the J. Paul Getty Museum in 2015
Exhibition venuesVienna, Florence, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C.

Other

CategoriesSculpture of Greece of the 1st century BC; Collections of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna; Bronze sculptures of Ancient Greece