★ Wonderful Classical Style ★

Sicily, Naxos AR Tetradrachm. Circa 430-420 BC. Bearded head of Dionysos to right, wearing stephanos ornamented with ivy wreath, hair hanging in loose curly locks / Nude, bearded Silenos kneeling facing on ground, head left, holding kantharos in raised right hand which he contemplates, holding thyrsos upright in left, his tail curled behind him; an ivy branch springs upward from the ground in left field; NAΞION downwards in right field. Cahn 100 (V66/R82); SNG ANS 524 (same obv. die); SNG Lloyd 1156 (same obv. die); Rizzo pl. XXVIII, 16 (same obv. die); Basel 386 (same obv. die); Gulbenkian 232 (same dies); SNG München 761 (same dies); SNG Fitzwilliam 1113 (same dies); Jameson 677 (same dies); de Hirsch 513 (same dies); Ward 225 (same dies); Giesecke pl. V, 14 (same dies); Kraay & Hirmer 8-9 (same obv. die); HGC 2, 984. 16.75g, 30mm, 8h.

Extremely Fine; attractive cabinet tone. Very Rare; no other example of this obverse die is known in such a high grade.

Ex Ira & Larry Goldberg Coins & Collectibles, Auction 80, 3 June 2014, lot 3248;
Ex Gemini LLC - Heritage World Coin Auctions, Auction VIII, 14 April 2011, lot 13;
Ex Classical Numismatic Group, Triton XII, 6 January 2009, lot 95 (hammer: US$ 160,000).

This tetradrachm, designed and engraved just 30 years after the other Naxos tetradrachm seen earlier in the sale, shows a distinct transition in artistic style from the archaic to the classical. We are fortunate to have these two pieces depicting the same figures and scenes so that we can directly compare them and examine the development of classical style on Greek coinage at this time. The most striking difference is in the obverse portrait of Dionysos: the hair on this piece represents idealised naturalism, with irregular strands curling in different directions in an attractive tousled manner. It has been suggested that these curls echo the grape bunches which are so commonly associated with this god (CNG, Triton XV, lot 1007 [same dies as above]). This is in contrast to the stylised hair on the archaic piece which is depicted in a regular linear pattern with long hair tied in a bun at the back, demonstrating the development in hairstyles as well as in art. This shows how the focus for artists and die engravers had moved from the symmetrical and pattern-like forms which were the ideals of the archaic style to a more idealised naturalistic portrayal of human (or god) form. The difference between the proportions in the facial features also demonstrate the new ways in which engravers approached their work. The eye and lips on this coin appear in proportion to the rest of the face rather than the enlarged features seen on the earlier version. The more archaic style created a mask-like effect more in line with Greek theatrical representations of the gods rather than contemporary statues which are reflected here (see below). The difference in the form of Silenos on the two coins is also worth noting; on the archaic example Silenos is shown in a cross legged crouch which makes him look more as if he would be more comfortable on all fours, his facial features are also exaggerated and his tail clearly visible, reminding us of his part animal nature. In this more classical depiction of Silenos, he appears more human than his earlier counterpart, seated in a comfortable position and with more delicate facial features, his tail is also less prominent due to the addition of the twisting vine to the left of the design. This transition from animal-like creature to a more civilised being reflects the changing cultural ideals at the time.

Historians attribute the significant alteration in artistic style in ancient Greece to approximately the year 450 BC, which aligns with our evidence here. Polykleitos, an artist famed for leading the movement into classical style, is thought to have created his 'canon' at this time, a treatise laying out the correct proportions for creating the new aesthetic ideal of a human figure. These new methods for creating art were materialised in Polykleitos' most famous work, his Doryphoros or spear-bearer, a sculpture depicting a nude warrior. Galen commented on this sculpture that it "holds beauty to consist not in the commensurability or 'symmetria' of the constituent elements, but in the commensurability of the parts, such as that of finger to finger, and of all the fingers to the palm and wrist... and in fact, of everything to everything else, just as it is written in the Canon of Polykleitos. For having taught us in that work all the proportions of the body, Polykleitos supported his treatise with a work". Polykleitos is believed to have finished this sculpture in approximately 440 BC around a decade before this coin was minted. The 440s and 430s can be considered a high point in the production of classical art works. With the cessation of the painter Polygnotus' work in approximately 450 BC, came the end of the simpler, more archaic artistic fashion and made way for some of the classical works that are still appreciated today. Myron's Diskobolos (copies of which can been seen all around the globe) and the Parthenon's metopes and frieze sculptures and relief carvings (British Museum) display some of Polykleitos' new methodology and are archetypal of the high classical period. The masterful use of classical style on this coin of Naxos sets it firmly in the new artistic tradition and demonstrates how the inclination and techniques had fully permeated the Greek world by 430-420.