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G714 A Rare, Magnificent, and Highly Important Greek Silver Tetradrachm of Naxos (Sicily), Among the Great Masterworks of Greek Art, Among the Finest Known, Attributed to the Aetna Master
G714 A Rare, Magnificent, and Highly Important Greek Silver Tetradrachm of Naxos (Sicily), Among the Great Masterworks of Greek Art, Among the Finest Known, Attributed to the Aetna Master

SICILY, Naxos. Silver. Tetradrachm. 17.29 g. Ca. 460 B.C.E.

Head of bearded Dionysos right, crowned with ivy, hair tied in krobylos at back of neck / N-AXI-ON. Nude ithyphallic silenus seated facing, with head turned to left and raising kantharos to lips

Condition: Extremely fine.
Provenance:
Numismatic Fine Arts X, 1981, lot 45.

One of the finest known examples of the famous tetradrachm of Naxos.

Naxos made only two issues of tetradrachms during the fifth century. The earlier was struck in about 460 BC, and used designs, the god Dionysos and his companion Silenus, which were chosen to symbolize the freedom of the city after the ending of Syracusan tyranny.

The coin exhibits an almost unique combination of subtlety of design and brilliance of execution. The way in which the hair and beard on the obverse break though the restraining border of dots is balanced by the way the figure on the reverse with his perfectly placed cup has been conceived to exactly fill the circular tondo. The modelling and pose of the seated figure are outstanding, and the sense of space has been created by the foreshortening of the limbs and the way that the arms pass behind the legs.

Before the Second World War, the question of whether the dies for this piece were by the same artist as a unique tetradrachm of Aetna was the subject of a bitter and prolonged controversy between Rizzo and Ashmole, two of the great figures of Greek art and Sicilian numismatics. This culminated in an article by Ashmole in the Journal of Hellenic Studies, 1938, with the surprising title ‘Manners and Methods in Archaeology’; Ashmole proclaimed that, for his part, he would be “ignoring the frequent abuse which serves to add bulk and save reasoning!”

HUNT III, 14

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Taken on: September 4, 2011
Sets appears in:   • Masterpieces of Greek Coinage   
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G714 A Rare, Magnificent, and Highly Important Greek Silver Tetradrachm of Naxos (Sicily), Among the Great Masterworks of Greek Art, Among the Finest Known, Attributed to the Aetna Master

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