The Youth of Magdalensberg at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

myminifactory

The Youth of Magdalensberg was a Roman bronze statue dating back to the first century B.C., missing since around 1810, now presumed lost, that was discovered in 1502 at the Carinthian mountain Magdalensberg. It is known today primarily from a sixteenth-century cast now held at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (Inventory # VI 1), which until 1986 was mistakenly regarded as the original. Until the twentieth century, the statue was also known as the Youth of Helenenberg from the old name for Magdalensberg. The youth is the only ancient full-size bronze statue known from the Eastern Alpine region and therefore holds great significance in Austria. An inscription is carved on the right thigh: Aulus Poblicius Decimi libertus Antiochus Tiberius Barbius Quinti Publii libertus Tibertinus or -ianus (Aulus Poblicus Antiochus, freedman of Decimus; Tiberius Barbius Tibertinus or ianus, freedman of Quintus Publius). An identification as the image of a god cannot be made on the basis of the statue itself or the inscription. Therefore, various interpretations exist. These range from athlete to torchbearer (Lychnophoros) and different divinities. The round shield offers no further assistance. Recent interpretations see the statue as the cult statue of a Celtic Mars from the sanctuary on the mountaintop, or as a priest of Noreia, or as part of a statue group dedicated to Noreia, or as a statue of Mercury which stood in the town's forum. This scan originates from Oliver Laric's initiative 'threedscans'. It is part of an ongoing project by Laric, titled 'Versions', which deals with historical and contemporary ideas relating to image hierarchies. Every model produced by Laric is free to be downloaded and used without copyright restrictions. If you use the models please write to stw@myminifactory.com and contact@threedscans.com.