The discovery of the ancient Statue of Antinous found in Delphi, Greece during an excavation in 1894 (colourised photo).
The discovery of the ancient Statue of Antinous found in Delphi, Greece during an excavation in 1894 (colourised photo).
The statue is located at the Delphi Archaeological Museum.
Antinous was a young Greek of extraordinary beauty from Bithynia, who became the beloved companion of the Roman emperor Hadrian but later died in the Nile under mysterious circumstances.
Stricken by the death of Antinous, Hadrian, who was an admirer and a passionate devotee of classical Greek Antiquity, and also a patron of the Oracle of Delphi, gave orders that statues of the beautiful young man, whom he had loved so passionately, should be erected in all sanctuaries and cities of his vast empire.
Furthermore he decreed the institution and establishment of Games in honor of Antinous, who thereafter was honoured and worshipped as a god. Thus a statue of Antinous was erected within the sanctuary of Delphi, after his death, in A.D. 130, and it was one of the most beautiful and impressive cult statues.
During the excavations, the statue was discovered upright on its pedestal, next to the wall of a brick chamber, alongside the Temple.
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