Goodbye Lowtides

Willem van Leusden (German, 1886 – 1974)

Conscience, Judas, 1891, Nikolai Ge

Sphinx of the Naxians

Delphi, Greece

560 BCE

12.5 M high total, Sphinx alone 2.2 M

Ionic order

This beauty is one of my favorites. Its early Ionic capital and towering presence are mesmerizing

The Sphinx of the Naxians, also called Sphinx of Naxos, is a colossal marble statue of a sphinx, a mythical creature with the head of a woman, the chest and wings composed of the impressive feathers of a prey bird turned upward, and the body of a lioness. It was originally set up on a stele around 560 BCE   next to the Temple of Apollo in Delphi by Naxos, one of the richest Cycladic islands at the time. The Sphinx stood on a 10 meters column that culminated in one of the first Ionic capitals.

The statue of this mythical creature stood on a towering Ionic column, which may have been the oldest Ionic construction project in the site of the Oracle of Delphi. Her statue had been set up close to the Halos, the most sacred spot of Delphi, where Apollo had presumably killed the python. According to tradition and its mythological representation, the Sphinx had the face of a woman bearing an enigmatic smile, prey bird wings, and the body of a lioness. It was carved from a large piece of Naxian marble. The solid construction combined elements that gave the statue a character of motion and vitality, such are the details that depict the hair, chest, and wings. It is also notable because it is an early example of carving in-the-round, as opposed to relief carving that was common during that time. The monument was made entirely of marble and created awe to the visitors and constituted a typical example of Naxian sculpture in its peak period, i.e. in the sixth century BCE

On the base there is an inscription dated to 328-327 BCE, renewing the promanteia (The privilege, bestowed upon cities or individuals by the Oracle of Delphi, to ask the Pythia in priority) for the Naxians:

Disks Bearing Spirals, 1923, Marcel Duchamp

Marble statue of Aphrodite, the Venus Genetrix, copy of Greek bronze statue attributed to Kallimachos (late 5th century B.C.)

Planisphere of the Seasons, from a ceiling in Villa San Marco, Stabiae