Youths in the Palästra relief replica, 8 x 20 cm, 300 g
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Original at the National Archaeological Museum Athens
Young men in the Palestra, the fighting and practice area for wrestling.
This martial art belongs to the oldest heavy athletic discipline of the Olympic program, since 708 B.C., but had been highly developed long before. In the big games there was wrestling as a single discipline and as part of the pentathlon. There was no weight class differentiation (only division into age classes) or time limit of the fight, similar to fistfighting.
The wrestling grips could be applied to the whole body, all pain causing grips were forbidden. The victory was achieved by bringing the opponent to the ground three times after the referee's decision. In addition to the throws and swings, the lifting terms (undergrips and lifters) were particularly effective. For wrestling as a single discipline, therefore, a high body weight - especially during the time of professional athletics - was useful, the fight itself was slower than wrestling in pentathlon, whose predominantly athletic character meant that heavyweights could not even qualify for wrestling, which was lighter, faster and more agile and preferred throws and swings over the lifting handles.
Training possibilities were weightlifting, exercise of grips and parades. For wrestling as an individual fight, particular emphasis was placed on acquiring a high body weight through a sophisticated nutrition programme.
The original relief measures 31 cm x 81 cm and was found on the side of a pedestal carrying a kouros, a naked young man. The ensemble was part of a tomb found in Kerameiko's pottery district, where the cemetery was also located.
Dating to 510 B.C., it is exhibited in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens under inventory number 3476. under the same inventory number you will find two more reliefs "Wrestlers in the Palaestra" and "Young men playing with cat and dog", which form further side parts of the Kouros pedestal, at the same price.
This relief can also be delivered in size 15 cm x 38 cm for € 68,- or in original size 31 cm x 81 cm for € 178,-.
All reliefs with suspension device.
This product was added to our catalog on Sunday, March 9, 2014.