Kriophoros (Ram-Bearer), Statuette (650–600 BCE): Art, History and Details

Kriophoros (Ram-Bearer), Statuette (650–600 BCE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

In Greek art, the kriophoros is usually a shepherd or, later, Hermes. This statuette may be unique in presenting a warrior-hero as kriophoros. It is certainly one of the earliest sculptural representations of this type. The figure appears to be wearing a helmet, secured under the chin with a painted strap. Double outlines, reinforced at the bottom with incision and adorned with dotted circles in the area of the nipples, were used to suggest breastplates. A thick waist belt, decorated with painted crosshatched lines, is clearly the heroic zoster (warrior's belt). As described in ancient Homeric poetry, the zoster is the ultimate symbol of valor and prowess, worn by such heroes as the brothers Agamemnon and Menelaos and old King Nestor. This figure is shown in the solemn act of presenting a ram, most likely as a sacrificial offering, to a god or goddess.

Object facts

• Title: Kriophoros (Ram-Bearer), Statuette
• Date: 650–600 BCE
• Culture: Greece, Crete
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: terracotta and polychrome
• Dimensions: Overall: 17.5 x 9.6 x 8 cm (6 7/8 x 3 3/4 x 3 1/8 in.)
• Collection: GR - Greek
• Department: Greek and Roman Art
• Accession number: 1998.172

A detail from the museum

This heroic figure is shown presenting a ram, most likely as a sacrificial offering to a god or goddess.

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cleveland Museum of Art, “New Cleveland Indian Arrives at the CMA,” November 27, 1998, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.
• Bennett, Michael, "Poussin’s Holy Family", Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 39 no. 10, December 1999
• Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.