Yes, and anyway the distinction in great, old sanctuaries
between the cult images, which were purported to be age-old and actually probably 7th c. BCE, most of them, and stiff (like the Ephesia, like the Samian
Hera, like the
Aphrodisias Hera, if male in what 20c art
history calls a
kouros pose, like the Kanachos
Apollo at Miletus and the stiff
Apollo Smintheus at Alex.
Troas, and if damaged or destroyed reproduced as well as they could, as the Ilion
Troas Athena was—at least as stiff as before) and often ornate
and, on the other hand, when these sanctuaries were famous enough to attract gifts to them, the
statues in a Classical or Hellenistic
current style, that are also shown on their coins. I
think that the words
xoana and
agalmata in the ancient (usually Hellenistic or Empire) sources that talk about famous things refer to these two basic
kinds of image.**
THEY SHOULD NEVER BE CONFUSED. I daresay that
Aphrodisias had agalmata—which means 'adornments' as distinct from objects of worship—as well as her cult image, the subject of
Gordian Guy's coin and Jochen's photo of the marble copy of it, just as at
Ephesus you
had a statue of a girl
Artemis in an easy pose taking an arrow from her quiver, in a
grove of trees, and at Alex.
Troas you
had the
Apollo with one knee raised in the pose of a resting
Hermes, besides the cult image. These were
not in the temple but to be admired in the park, the grounds, of the sanctuary. For that matter, whatever may be the archaeology of the open air shrine in which the Cnidia, the all-famous Cnidia, stood, it was roofed, because she was tinted (not painted all over, of course) and needed some protection. The
cult image of Aphrodite at
Knidos was doubtless old. Besides what I just said,
Knidos had no shortage of
statues of Aphrodite, just as Kolophon
had no shortage of Apollos. Just look at all the coins.
In other words, it is a fact that by the late Classical period sanctuaries, like the great cathedrals and abbeys of Europe, were both places for offerings and prayers, for oracles, for healing, etc., but also AND NO LESS the museums of the ancient world.
Xoana and other cult images of later creation, such as the
Serapis at
Alexandria, were (according to what they could afford) of precious materials (like the Parthenos or the Olympian
Zeus) or of
wood or mixed media fully colored.
Agalmata, on the contrary, were waterproof and (like the
korai on the Acropolis) usually
had only slight added color, just enough to make them look alive; by preference, wealth permitting, they were of bronze with inset eyes and copper for lips and, if the mouth were open, silver for teeth (like the Riace warriors or the
Delphi Charioteer).
This distinction is fundamental to discussion: cult
statues and
agalmata, are apples and oranges, not directly comparable.
Pat L.
** In the singular these two nouns are
xoanon and
agalma, both neuter gender.
