Jackie Kennedy Onassis in front of the Charioteer
The Charioteer of Delphi
Discovered in 1896 at the Temple of Apollo, during the excavations of the Sanctuary by the French Archaeological School at Athens, the Charioteer of Delphi is a magnificent example of the Greek Bronze sculpture. It's a life-size (1.8m) standing male figure of a char driver, with his left arm missing below elbow and his right arm restored from elbow.
The statue was discovered together with bits and pieces of a chariot, reins, four horses and a groom. Originally it was part of a much larger bronze sculpture erected at Delphi to commemorate a victory in a chariot race in the Pythian Games, though not to celebrate the charioteer, as we might suppose, but the owner of the chariot and the team of four horses.
Two fragments of text were located around the Charioteer of Delphi. Closest to the statue is written «Polyzalos dedicated me» referring to tyrant of the Sicilian Greek colony of Gela. The poets Bacchylides and Pindar, both contemporaries of the Charioteer, wrote odes to celebrate the victories of Polyzalos’ brothers, Gelon and Hieron, in the Olympian and Pythian equestrian and chariot races. Therefore, the chariot with the Charioteer was dedicated by Polyzalos, either to honor his own victory in the Pythian Games of 474 BC or that of his brother Hieron.
Princess Soraya of Iran in front of the Charioteer (1960)
The other fragment, being more unreadable, suggests that the Charioteer was sculpted by Sotades but little is know about the artist that made this statue of the Charioteer of Delphi. Some specialists are suggesting that it's the work of Pythagoras of Samos, an artist renowned for the rhythm and symmetry of his works, and the attention he payed to the rendering of details.
The Charioteer of Delphi is developed along the vertical axis and the athlete is shown wearing a «xystis», a long tunic, tied at the waist, which was used in races. It conceals the anatomy of the body, transforming it into a deeply grooved, cylindrical mass reminiscent of the shape and fluting of a Doric column.
The dtunic is a remarkable achievement in itself with its irregularly but naturalistic distributed folds. Its hemline, a series of arches, creates an optical effect which emphasizes the depth of the folds, while appearing to be a straight line. On the upper part the pleats are wavy. This contrast is a deliberated choice made by the artist to avoid rigidity. The same apply to stance of the body.
The face of the Charioteer is asymmetric in order to make it more realistic. His eyes are made of Onyx. The lips are made of cooper and his head band impressed in silver.
As a youth from a noble family of his day, when aristocratic chariot racers selected their drivers for the Panhellenic games from nobility, the Charioteer of Delphi seems impassive. This is partly because his role requires it and also because of the «Severe style», the artistic movement that developed between the Archaic and the Classical ages (480-460 BC), which contributes to the symmetrical rigidity relieved only by the slight right turn of the head.
The Charioteer of Delphi was the subject of many discussions and has inspired many artists. One of the reasons of this enthusiasm was resumed with an extreme idealism by J. J. Pollitt in James Whitley the Archaeology of Ancient Greece: Not only does it celebrate, like the Pythian odes, a victory won at the festival games, but the ethos which it conveys is a manifestation of Pindaric arete... the "innate excellence" of noble natures which gives them proficiency and pride in their human endeavors before the gods.
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The emplacement of the Charioteer of Delphi inside the Sanctuary of Apollo
The tunic of the Charioteer of Delphi inspired the famous «Delphos gown» a finely pleated silk dress first created in 1907 by Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo and Henriette Negrin (his wife).
