Marble Sculpture of Eirene in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Feb. 2007

Sculpture (Statue). Julio-Claudian (Roman) copy of a Greek original by Kephisodotos.

Material : Marble

Date : approx. between 14 and 68

Original artist : Kephisodotos

Place : Metropolitan Museum of Art
Greek art from the Sixth through Fourth Century B.C.

Acquisition : Fonds Roger (1906)

Description: Eirene, the daughter of Zeus and Themis, was one of the three Horai (Seasons), maidens closely associated with the fertility of the earth and the nurturing of children. The original bronze was erected on the Agora of Athens, between 375/374 and 360/359 B.C. Rarely can an ancient monument be dated so exactly. We know from literary sources that the cult of Eirene was introduced to Athens in 375/374 B.C. Six recently found Panathenaic amphorae dated to 360/359 B.C. show an image of the statue. The Greek traveller Pausanius saw the work and reported that the sculptor was Kephisodotos.

Text from: www.insecula.com/us/oeuvre/O0009566.html