Page 52 [52]
OCR
ZSUZSANNA TURCSÁN-TÓTH Furthermore, she analyzed only one of the known Artemis Ephesia statues, the so-called Schöne Artemis Ephesia, which was found in the Prytaneion of Ephesus. Without doubt, this statue, as opposed to numerous replicas of the cult statue, is original in every detail. However, we easily arrive at a misconception if we study only one sculpture, as there is considerable variation when it comes to the ornaments. Although I agree with Portefaix’s conclusion that some elements of the statue are interpretable with the help of the De antro nympharum and that this interpretation is related to birth or perhaps rebirth, I suggest analyzing not one but all of the replicas of Artemis Ephesia in order to arrive at a more nuanced understanding of the meaning of the ornaments. My goal is to select the elements which regularly appear on the statues and analyze them. More specifically, 1am choosing one of the most commonly appearing group of elements here in order to present an allegorical interpretation of them and to analyze their possible connection with the mysteries concerning the goddess. For my specific topic, the most important parts of the statue are the ornaments on the chest. This is the part which can be observed in detail only on the statues, while the coins, gemstones, small sculptures, and pottery stamps do not provide relevant information concerning this area. There are two reasons why I have chosen this part of the statues to analyze. The first is that most of the statues went through a certain level of restoration. But as the chest ornamentations are more relief-like, they are less likely to have sustained damage than the decorations on the polos, ependytes, and arms. The changes related to restoration hardly affected the chest, so we can be sure in almost every case that we are looking at the original ancient surface of the statues. It is important to point out that, in most cases, we do not know the exact site of the Artemis Ephesia statues or their condition when they were found. The first information about them is provided by drawings and descriptions from the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, or we only know the statues directly from nineteenth and twentieth-century collections. At that time, they were usually parts of some antique art collection in a restored condition. In very fortunate cases, some earlier drawings from the time before the restoration are also known. These might help further research, but we can never be sure whether the artist represented the real figure and condition or added elements of their own imagination. The other reason why the main focus of the examination is the chest part of the statue is that the sculptures—though they are similar to one another in the major features—have several variants as to the details of their ornaments. Daréczi-Sepsi-Vassanyi_Initiation_155x240.indb 50 6 2020.06.15. 11:04:11
