Dying Niobides (Ascos figure), Formerly Johannes W. F. Collection Reimers (Hamburg), clay, hand-modeled, pressed into the mold, clay, Total: Height: 13.6 cm; Width: 12.2 cm; Depth: 6.4 cm, ceramic, small sculptures/small works of art, grave goods, niobe, Early Hellenistic, Greek antiquity, The small, roundly sculptured figure is mounted on a convexly rounded terracotta plate with a small base and two holes. A small clip in the back of the plate gives the figure additional support. The figure shows a naked young man running to the left. His knees are bent and his upper body is thrown back. The arms seem to be looking for support on the plate. The reason for this posture is revealed on closer examination of the left hip side. There is a small hole in which an arrow - possibly made of bronze - was once applied. This wound allows the interpretation that this is the representation of a son of Niobe. The Theban queen made a fateful mistake by comparing herself to the goddess Leto (Roman Latona) and by praising the multitude of her children. As a result of this human hubris, the goddess sent her only two children, Apollo and Artemis, to kill the Niobids with bow and arrow. A second niobide (Inv. 1917.976) can also be classified in the same thematic area. The two figures come from a chamber tomb in Canosa, the find complex of which contained six vessels (askoi) decorated with sculpturally executed terracotta figures. As the holes for attaching the relief support suggest, this niobid figure also decorated such a grave vessel. On the outer wall of the vessel, there was a strip on which the rail of the terracotta plate was placed. The niobide probably belonged to a larger cycle with further niobide figures, which were made after models from the large sculpture and attached to the vessels in smaller groups. Thematically, the depiction of the niobide fits well into the sepulchral find context. It refers to the inevitable fate of mankind, which is in the hands of the gods and whi
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