Archaeological Museum of Delos

Archaeological Museum of Delos

The Archaeological Museum of Delos houses the abundant finds from the excavations on Delos conducted by the French Archeological School at Athens since the end of the 19th-century. Particularly important is the collection of marble sculptures, with works from the early Archaic period until Roman Imperial times. Judging from the surviving pedestals at Delos, there were many bonze statues too, although almost none have survived.

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Information regarding the Naxian Lions. Incidentally, the lion casts were not in place in September 2000 since that is precisely when we visited Delos. All we saw at the site were the empty pedestals.	The marble lions dedicated to Apollo by the Naxians at the end of 7th century BCE originally stood in a row facing eastwards, towards the Sacred Lake. They are the survivors of a line of at least nine lions, perhaps as many as 16, but only five lions and the remains of three more, standing on modern bases, can be seen today. The headless body of another lion, removed in the 17th century, decorates the Arsenal in Venice.	Close-up of a Naxian marble lion. Bordering the west side of the road leading from the harbor in Skardana bay to the temples, they were the eternal guardians of the Sanctuary. They lined the avenue in a manner only encountered in the Orient and Egypt. The lions crouch on their hind limbs, their tails between their legs. With their massive front part thrust menacingly to the fore, they inspire divine awe in the visitor.

Well-preserved group of Artemis slaying a deer.	Mosaic floor from a house on the hill. The vegetal motifs, guilloches and vine branches with leaves and grapes, are rendered in a strikingly naturalistic manner with bull heads and masks of the New Comedy characters.	The central representation of the mosaic floor contains three figures - Athena in armor and helmet, Hermes in chlamys and petasos, and a majestic seated figure that cannot be identified due to damage.

Statue associated with Dionysus. It represents an actor dressed as Papposilenus in sheepskin and himation. His bald head is wreathed with ivy and he holds a drum and a wineskin in his hands.	Artemis wearing a chiton and a peplos with an over fold (apoptygma), after a known 5th century BCE type. The baldric on her chest held her quiver. Traces of color are still preserved on the surface of the work.	Marble statue of Apollo. The relaxed pose of the small nude Apollo Lykios recalls works by the great sculptor Praxiteles. The god is represented leaning on a tree and stepping on three Galatian shields. It is probably a smaller copy of the statue dedicated to Delphi to commemorate a victory against the Galls who attacked the Delphic Sanctuary in 279/278 BCE. It was found in a private house in the Theatre Quarter and dates from the 2nd century BCE.

Mosaic of a panther and a grape bushel.