L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 6 NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS Continued from page 4 t h e e m p t i e d s t a t u e s weighed half of what they did when they were discov- ered. The secret colors of the Bronzi T h e r e a r e m a n y m o r e things to learn about the two warriors of Riace. For i n s t a n c e , w e a r e c e r t a i n that, in origin, they were colored, as shown by the red hue of both their lips and nipples; their eyes – o n l y W a r r i o r A s t i l l h a s t h e m , b u t w e c a n g u e s s Warrior B was the same – are made with glass paste and calcite, with small, pink stones used for their tear duct. Warrior A also has visible teeth, made in silver. But what probably stunned restorers and archaeologists the most is the way their hair and beards were ren- dered: the alloy used gave them a golden hue, which m e a n s t h e y w e r e b o t h … b l o n d e ! T h e o r i g i n a l , sunkissed nuance of their bodies was also created by mixing cleverly different s u b s t a n c e s , i n t h i s c a s e , bronze and potassium sul- fide. A bit more history This is all very interest- ing, you may say, but what about their origins and how did they end up at the bot- tom of the Ionian Sea? T h a n k s t o m o d e r n archaeometry, that is, the study of ancient materials to date artifacts, we know they were likely made in Argos, in Peloponnesus. We know they were then trans- p o r t e d t o R o m e d u r i n g imperial times when War- rior B's whole forearm was recast. It is on this occasion t h a t b o t h s t a t u e s w e r e painted in black: traces of that paint are still visible today. When it comes to the sec- ond question literature, as it o f t e n h a p p e n s w h e n i t c o m e s t o a n c i e n t a n d medieval history, comes to the rescue. The Anthologia P a l a t i n a , a c o l l e c t i o n o f Greek epigrams dating to the 10th century, tells us how Emperor Constantine and his son Constance II wanted an ancient Greek sculptural group housed in Rome to be moved to their new capital, Constantinople. Very likely, Warrior A and B were part of the collection, w h i c h h o w e v e r n e v e r reached the Middle East, but sank near Riace, in the Ion- ian Sea. Is there a third warrior? B a c k i n 1 9 7 2 , S t e f a n o Mariottini, the scuba diver w h o f i r s t d i s c o v e r e d the Bronzi, declared he had seen a group of statues, one o f t h e m w i t h a r m s w i d e open and a foot in front of the other: but this descrip- tion corresponds neither to Warrior A nor to Warrior B. The question comes natu- rally: are there more war- riors to be discovered? At the end of last year, Riace's mayor, Antonio Tri- foli, announced that, on the o c c a s i o n o f t h e 5 0 t h anniversary of the Bronzi's discovery, a new archaeolog- ical dig will be carried out. The dig will be divided into three parts, all to take place in 2022, that should last for a total of 9 weeks: the team is also formed by American archaeologists. Celebrating the Bronzi Reggio Calabria and Italy want to celebrate their war- r i o r s w i t h a p l e t h o r a o f events aimed at valorizing local excellence, history and, of course, the Bronzi them- s e l v e s . D u r i n g t h e w h o l e summer, until the month of September, Calabria's muse- ums will be at the heart of the action with a series of e v e n t s a n d s e m i n a r s . I n Reggio Calabria, the home of the Bronzi, the very central C o r s o G a r i b a l d i b e c o m e s t h i s s u m m e r a n o p e n - a i r archaeological museum; on the 16th of August, anniver- sary day, Riace will take cen- ter stage with photographic exhibitions, a cultural-his- torical congress, and con- certs. From October to the end of the year and through- out 2023, events will contin- ue across Italy and Europe, with itinerant art exhibits and multimodal installations dedicated to Magna Graecia and the ancient history of Calabria. Audiovisual cre- ations will also be protago- n i s t s . A d o c u m e n t a r y , I Bronzi di Riace, directed by Fabio Mollo and produced by Palomar will open the way for other works, includ- ing several TV shows dedi- cated to the warriors pro- duced by RAI Cultura and Rai Play. Italy is happy to celebrate the first fifty years spent w i t h h e r B r o n z i , a n c i e n t warriors, vestiges of a glori- ous past, and symbol of per- fection, strength, and beau- ty. From them, we can learn a lot: to value our history, admire our ancestors' inge- n u i t y , a n d t o r e m e m b e r , always, that culture is the lifeblood of a nation. A view of Riace (Photo: Polonio Video/Shutterstock) The Bronzi di Riace, perhaps the most famous classical statues in Italy, have entered the country's collective imagination and language. Their perfect proportions embody classical beauty at its highest Experimental reconstruction of the Riace Bronzes, based on research carried out by the Liebeghaus Polychromy Research Project (Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons agreement. Author: Aquaplaning. License: CC BY-SA 4.0)

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