Warriors Of Riace, Pair Of Statuettes After The Antique

Pair of Riace Warriors in Patinated Copper or Bronze on Marble Bases – Italy, 20th Century.
A fine pair of decorative sculptures in patinated copper or bronze depicting the famous Riace Warriors, masterpieces of Greek statuary from the 5th century BC. These beautifully crafted reproductions faithfully reproduce (down to the missing eye) the heroic attitude and anatomical modeling of the originals preserved in the Reggio di Calabria Museum.
The detail of the hair, beards and faces – with simulated inlays at the eyes and lips – demonstrates great care in the making. The nuanced green patina evokes the natural corrosion of ancient bronze. The statues rest on Portor marble bases.
Italian decorative work from the seventies/ eighties.
Height with base: 54 cm
Very good condition, beautiful even patina, slight wear from use.

The Riace Bronzes are two life-size ancient bronze statues, discovered by chance in 1972 in the shallow waters of the Ionian Sea, near the beach of Riace Marina, in Calabria.On August 16 of that year, an amateur diver, Stefano Mariottini, spotted an arm emerging from the underwater sand. Initially thinking it was a corpse, he alerted the authorities… What he had just discovered would turn the world of archaeology upside down: two Greek bronze sculptures, dated to the 5th century BC, miraculously preserved.
Transferred to Florence for restoration, the warriors reveal exceptional technical virtuosity: lost-wax casting, ivory and stone eye inlays, copper lips and teeth, silver eyelashes. Their discovery shocked the scientific world: very few Greek bronzes have survived, most having been melted down over the centuries.
The originals are now on display at the Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia in Reggio di Calabria, under rigorous conservation conditions.
These two heroic figures remain among the major icons of classical Greek art.