Bronze hoof

Unknown

early 7th century BCE · Bronze · Greek and Roman Art

Painstaking scholarship over twenty years has discovered that these pieces and others now in Berlin originally belonged to one bronze and iron rod tripod. Luigi Palma di Cesnola and his brother Alessandro divided their finds made in Kourion in 1873–74 and sold them to New York and Berlin, respectively. Bronze tripods represent one of the most prestigious and costly creations of the Archaic period. While they originated in the Near East, by the eighth century B.C. they were exported westward to the Greeks and Etruscans as well as copied locally. Thanks to its copper mines, Cyprus was probably an important production center; numerous examples have come to light on the island. The tripod originally had six bulls' heads at the top and three bovine hooves forming the feet. The missing heads and feet are in Berlin.

Artist

Unknown

Date

early 7th century BCE

Medium

Bronze

Culture

Possibly Cypriot

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Credit line

The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by subscription, 1874–76