Croatian Apoxyomenos
| Croatian Apoxyomenos | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Artist | Unknown |
| Year | 2nd or 1st century BC |
| Type | Statue |
| Medium | Bronze |
| Dimensions | 192 cm (76 in) |
| Location | Museum of Apoxyomenos Mali Lošinj, Croatia |
The Croatian Apoxyomenos (Croatian: Hrvatski Apoksiomen) is an Ancient Greek statue cast in bronze in the 2nd or 1st century BC; it was discovered in 1996 on the bottom of the sea near the Croatian islet of Vele Orjule, southeast of the island of Lošinj. It represents an athlete – Apoxyomenos ("the Scraper") – caught in the act of scraping sweat and dust from his body with the small curved instrument called a strigil.
After the Croatian Apoxyomenos was raised from the sea in 1999, it was extensively restored. It was not publicly displayed until 2006. It is the most complete and best preserved among eight known Apoxyomenos statues.
Apoxyomenos was found in 1996 by Belgian tourist René Wouters in the sea near the islet of Vele Orjule, on the sandy bottom between two rocks at a depth of about 45 metres (148 ft). Wouters, an avid sports diver and amateur photographer who had been visiting Croatia and the island of Lošinj for a number of years, discovered the statue by chance during one of his dives. Wouters reported the finding to the Croatian Ministry of Culture in 1998. He was present when a team of divers from the Ministry of Culture and Archaeological Museum in Zadar, the Special Police and the Submar d.o.o., raised the statue from the sea on 27 April 1999.
When brought from the sea, Apoxyomenos was covered with marine organisms which had adhered to it. Scientists did not use chemical agents to remove them: instead, only mechanical precision hand tools (and the occasional machine) were used in the conservation process, which was the first of its kind in Croatia. Cracks and breaks were repaired, and a specially designed construction that supported the whole figure from the inside was made.
Croatian Apoxyomenos is 6 feet 3.5 inches (1.918 m) high, and stands on a 10-centimetre (3.9 in) high original bronze base which is decorated with square and swastika ornamentation. Art historians Nenad Cambi from Split and professor Vincenzo Saladino from the University of Florence believe that this bronze statue dates from 2nd or 1st century BC. The author is unknown, but the statue's beauty, as well as the quality of its casting, indicate a highly skilled craftsman.
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