Page 114 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 13(2) (2025)

ues do not feature holes in the head (Schmidt
1982, 95), and unlike the Tralles and Cherchell
figures their backs are left uncarved and with-
out elaboration – strongly indicating that they
were intended to be placed against a wall rather
than viewed in the round, and that they did not
play the supportive, but rather decorative role
(Schmidt 1982, 95, n. 548).
The best-preserved example of this group is
the Antonine (Lancha 1994, 995, no. 193) stat-
ue housed in the Hermitage Museum, which re-
tains both arms. Although both attributes, the
114 scroll in the raised and the codex in the low-
ered hand are modern additions (Waldhauer
1936, 26; Schmidt 1982, 95), the preservation of
studia universitatis hereditati, letnik 13 (2025), številka 2 / volume 13 (2025), number 2
the limbs allows for a more comprehensive un-
derstanding of the original pose. The hairstyle
suggests that the figure did not originally wear a
modius. Furthermore, a single hole in the calotte
of the skull likely served for attachment to an ar-
chitectural element – possibly the epistyle – in-
dicating that the statue was positioned in front
of a building and fulfilled a purely decorative
function (Waldhauer 1936, 26; Schmidt 1982,
95). This arrangement may well parallel the ar-
chitectural placement hypothesized for the cary-
atides from Tralles and Caesarea.
In the absence of attributes, the precise
identification of the statue from Osor remains
uncertain. Its archaizing hairstyle clearly evokes
the visual language of the caryatides, yet the in-
terpretation as a Muse-Caryatid remains also
possible in light of a comparable example of
the Muse of Tragedy in Venice. Nevertheless,
it must be noted that the addition of attributes
could potentially support an alternative identi-
Figure 5: Caryatid, St. Petersburg, The State Hermit- fication, as the combination of chiton and diplex
age Museum, inv. no. ГР-3097 (©The State Hermitage is far from being a standard costume for depic-
Museum) tions of the Muses, neither the hairstyle, resem-
17
bling the hairstyle of caryatides, and that only
appear to have held the brim of the garment but one statue from that sub-group (Museo Arche-
16
more likely supported an attribute. The stat-
16 Oskar Waldhauer concluded that the lowered arm in each figure once held an attribute associated with a specific Muse, and that
the statues were originally positioned in front of a building, thereby relinquishing their original architectural, supportive func-
tion (Waldhauer 1936, 27).
17 In Lexicon iconographicum mythologiae classicae, only the above discussed figure of Melpomene in Venice is wearing this particu-
lar garment and has such a hairstyle (Faedo 1994, 993–1011; Lancha 1994, 1013–25).