Wounded Amazon (Sciarra type)

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The Amazons were a tribe of powerful women who defied patriarchal norms and sparked a fierce competition among ancient artists in the 5th century BC. Polyclitus, Phidias, Kresilas, Kydon, and Phradmon joined forces to create statues that would be judged by their peers at the Temple of Diana in Ephesus. According to Pliny the Elder, the artists agreed on a ranking system, with Polycletus taking first place, followed closely by Phidias, then Cresilas, Kydon, and finally Phradmon. The Amazons' statues are categorized into five distinct types: the Lansdowne type, the Capitoline type, the Mattei type, and the Villa Doria Pamphilj type. A fifth type was discovered at Ephesus in 1898 but didn't gain recognition until the 1950s. Each of these statues depicts a standing female figure with a similar face and head, clad in a peplos that falls from her shoulders to reveal her bare breasts. The name Amazon comes from the Greek word "Amazoi," meaning "without a breast" or "not-touching men." Although this notion suggests they removed their right breasts to draw the bow unimpeded, this translation has been largely ignored in depictions of them. One notable example is the Amazon Sciarra type, a 1.94-meter-tall copy from the era of Tiberius, derived from Polyclitus's or Kresilas's original. This statue was discovered in Rome in 1868 and now resides in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen.