THE BRONZE SCULPTOR OF PORTRAITS, THEUDOROS OF PARION

Authors : Antonio Corso

Pages : 1-6

View : 200 | Download : 298

Publication Date : 2023-03-29

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :This note collects all the available evidence concerning the bronze sculptor Theudoros of Parion and suggests a possible explanation of the close links of Parion to Rhodes during the middle Hellenistic times. It suggests, in particular, that he became the pupil of Timocharis of Eleutherna because these two sculptors signed three bronze statues together at Knidos, and Timocharis was older than Theudoros. Under the guidance of Timacharis, Theudoros must have specialized in portrait statues made in bronze. Then he must have settled on Rhodes because we have three other signatures of portrait bronze statues by him from the Acropolis of Rhodes as well as from the sanctuary of Athena at Lindos. These inscriptions allow fixing the period of activity of Theudoros between 250 and 220 BC. The long presence of this sculptor from Parion on Rhodes may have acted as a sort of bridge between the two poleis. That would explain why the Rhodian Alcetas from Camirus went to Parion and physically loved Praxiteles’ statue of Eros set up at Parion in the early 2nd c. BC. Equally, the early appearance of a variation of Praxiteles’ Eros of Parion in the necropolis of Rhodes may be indebted to the close links established between Parion and Rhodes. The four inscriptions with signatures of this bronze sculptor are duly reported in this article, translations are provided as well as a bibliography. It is hoped that this article will increase the interest of scholars on a forgotten sculptor who according to those inscriptions contributed a lot to the flourishing of bronze sculpture of portraits in the Knidian / Rhodian region.
Keywords : Theudoros, Parion, Knidos, Rhodes, Lindos