Samian Kouros

One of the tallest kouroi from ancient Greece. Originally one of several colossal statues lining the route to the sanctuary of Hera on Samos. The inscription on the left thigh reads: ‘Isches, son of Rhesis, set this up’. We have no idea who Isches was, but he must have been wealthy — marble, and the moving of this amount of marble, does not come cheaply. Traces of pigment on the original reveal that it was covered in a dark paint, with a rosette on the chest

Number

645

Material

Marble

Location of Original

Samos, Archaeological Museum

Size

4.80m

Accession

Robert Cook bequest. Purchased from Bertolin, Munich, installed 16 February 2007

References

Kyrieleis: Der Grosse Kuros von Samos (1996)
Stewart: Greek Sculpture, 117

Date

c.570 BCE

Inscription

Isches, son of (or of the tribe of) Rhesis, set this up

Provenance

Excavated by the German Archaeological Institute in the Sanctuary of Hera on the island of Samos in 1980. Head found in 1985

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