Starting on 20 may 2013, until 5 november, at Castel Sant'Angelo in
Rome there will be an exhibition: "Capolavori dell'archeologia: recuperi, ritrovamenti, confronti".
Among the many masterpieces, it will be put on display the so-called "kouros of Reggio
Calabria" (Reggio
Calabria is the modern name for the ancient Rhegion in
Bruttium).
The
Italian State acquired it, after a seizure by
Italian Police from a private citizen. The statue, lacking the upper and lower limbs, is cm. 90.5 high while, in origin, it was about m. 1.30.
The statue can be compared to the kouroi of the “group Ptoion n.20”, found in Beotia, in a shrine to
Apollo Ptoios, manufactured between 520 and 485 B.C, with a
style elaborated in
Attica, starting from the
Ionian canons. The Rhegion specimen stands between the end of the 6 th and the beginning of the 5 th century B.C, since the arms'position, detached from the body and the right one forward, states a quite mature
style. Probably it was created by an artist working in Rhegion, who used marble imported from the Greek island of Paros.
The kouroi represent the idea of human perfection of the Greek aristocracy, the moral and intellectual excellence and the body puissance. In particular, the example in Reggio, has been identified with a young athlete;
his original aim could be funerary, (as signal of the grave), or cultural (as ex-vote given on a shrine).