Il cd. “Kouros di Potenza” e qualche considerazione sui kouroi e sulle korai in marmo della Magna Grecia

Abstract

Kouroi and korai represent the main sculptural types of Greek art in the Archaic Age. In the lack of epigraphic indications,
the function of these statues can be determined as votive or funerary mainly through their discovery context
(even if also metric and technical data, in some cases, can help to define their probable values). A broad-spectrum analysis
of these kinds of sculptures is still missing today for Western Greek art. In this paper, the author tries to address
the question of the spread and development of marble kouroi and korai in the ancient Magna Graecia, starting from the
so-called “Kouros of Potenza”. Thanks to its technical and typological re-examination, it seems possible to reconstruct
this particular sculpture as an offering-bearer, erected in an unknown sanctuary of the ancient Metapontium. The analysis
of this kouros offers the opportunity to compose a new list, as complete as possible, of marble kouroi and korai
referred to Southern Italy, with a renewed interest in their original context and function. The paper will pay particular
attention also to the historical problems, which led to the loss of an unquantifiable number of Greek marble statues
from the ancient Magna Graecia, between the Roman Age and the last century.