No photographText frame in place of a photograph
Marble statue of a kouros (youth)
- Material
- Marble, Naxian
- Dimensions
- 76 5/8 × 20 5/16 × 24 7/8 in. (194.6 × 51.6 × 63.2 cm); height without plinth 76 5/8 in. (194.6 cm); height of head 12 in. (30.5 cm); length of face 8 7/8 in. (22.6 cm); shoulder width 20 5/16 in. (51.6 cm)
- Date as given by the source
- ca. 590-580 BCE
- Record number
- 32.11.1
- Held by
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
The source has an openly licensed image; it is not included here yet
Museum recordDocumented object · Greek, Attic, per the catalogue
Marble statue of a kouros (youth)
A marble statue almost two metres high that the museum describes as one of the earliest marble statues of a human figure carved in Attica. It marked the grave of a young Athenian aristocrat and is dated ca. 590-580 BCE.
Date as given by the sourceca. 590-580 BCEAs worded by the source: ca. 590-580 BCE; Archaic
What you see
What you see
A standing marble youth, 194.6 cm high without the plinth. The record describes "The rigid stance, with the left leg forward and arms at the side", and says that "In this early figure, almost abstract, geometric forms predominate; and anatomical details are rendered in beautiful analogous patterns." The museum marks its photograph as public domain; it is not included on this page in the current round. Source 1.
What the record says
The record dates the statue "ca. 590-580 BCE", period "Archaic", and catalogues its culture as "Greek, Attic". The medium is "Marble, Naxian"; the dimensions are 194.6 × 51.6 × 63.2 cm. The description states: "This is one of the earliest marble statues of a human figure carved in Attica", and "The statue marked the grave of a young Athenian aristocrat." The page gives no provenance and no findspot, and it names neither the grave nor the person buried in it. Source 1.
Making, material and style
The record keeps four things apart, and so does this page. The place of carving is Attica, according to the description. The material is Naxian marble, that is, marble of Naxos; where the stone was quarried is not where the statue was carved. The stance "was derived from Egyptian art": a stylistic borrowing, not evidence that the statue was made in or for Egypt. "Greek, Attic" is the catalogue's attribution of culture. Its function, a grave marker, is stated; where it was found is not. Source 1.
Placement on the timeline
The record names the period, "Archaic", and the range ca. 590-580 BCE lies well inside the site's Archaic period in the Aegean, ca. 700-480 B.C. on the Met's timeline for ancient Greece; the statue is assigned there by the record's own period name. The same timeline page shows this statue among its images, captioned "Marble statue of a kouros (youth)". Sources 1, 2.
Where it is now
Held by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, record 32.11.1, credit line "Fletcher Fund, 1932". On 24 October 2026 the record stated "On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 154".
The object's connections
The object's connections
Culture, period, place, type and holder: every connection comes from the record or a cited source.
Object
Marble statue of a kouros (youth)
Period
Region
Displayed at
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkGallery 154, The Met Fifth Avenue
Source
Sources and further reading
The research and references behind this page. Rights to external content remain with their owners.
- 1
Marble statue of a kouros (youth), collection record 32.11.1
The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Checked
- 2
Ancient Greece, 1000 B.C.-1 A.D. (Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, chronology)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Checked
