Eracle a Stinfalo

[VALTERI]

Dalla importante vendita  " Masterpieces...from Cabinet W " ( 04-01-2012 ) ,  tra i 19 selezionati esemplari , al n. 1015 un bellissimo e rarissimo statere dell'arcadica Stinfalo , località della 6^ fatica di Eracle , impegnato a liberare dai mostruosi uccelli , appunto , il lago di Stinfalo .

Al rovescio la figura intera di Eracle già provvisto della spoglia del leone di Nemea ( 1^ fatica ) in atto di combatte con la clava un ignoto avversario non raffigurato nel conio .

Al diritto , anepigrafe , una superba testa di Artemide impreziosita da una ricercata , bellissima acconciatura .

[King John]

Nel precedente passaggio in asta come base d'asta aveva appena 100.000 CHF

Leu Numismatik AG

http://www.lhs-numismatik.com/

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Auction	Lot	Date	Estimate	Hammer
Auction 81	226 (« | »)	16. May 2001	* (premium account)	* (premium account)

Description

The Peloponnesos
Arkadia
Stymphalos
Estimate: CHF 100'000.00
Stater (Silver, 12.04 g 8), c. 360. Laureate head of Artemis to right, wearing pearl necklace, elaborate boat-shaped pendant earring, and with her hair tied in a bun at the top. Rev. Herakles striding to left, brandishing club in his raised right hand, holding bow in his left hand, and with lion's skin over his left arm; between his legs, . ACGC 320. BMC 6. BMFA 1269. Gulbenkian 560. Kraay/Hirmer 514. Kunstfreund 204. Traité III, 884, pl. CCXXIV, 22. Extremely rare. Magnificently toned, a superb coin of the finest late classical style. Some minor traces of corrosion, otherwise, good extremely fine.
From the Argos Hoard (IGCH 130). The silver staters of Stymphalos are among the rarest and most sought after coins from 4th century Greece, and this is very possibly the single finest example of those coins known. After the battle of Leuctra in 371 Spartan power went into decline and not only was the Arkadian League refounded, but a number of Peloponnesian cities previously under Spartan domination began minting what might be termed prestige issues of high value coins, of which the coinage of Stymphalos is a perfect example. The obverse bears an exceptionally fine head of Artemis similar in quality to the those found on contemporary staters of the Achaean League, Pheneos, Locris, Elis and Messene; it is likely that one or two master engravers were responsible for the dies made for several of these mints. Interestingly enough, this head of Artemis was later copied at Chersonasos in Crete (as below, 232). The reverse displays a powerful figure of Herakles advancing to the attack, his club in his raised right hand and his bow clutched in his left. One would assume he is about to dispatch the Stymphalian birds, but this seems unlikely since in all sure representations of that mythical scene he either shoots them with his bow or uses a sling. He may, rather, symbolize the liberation of Stymphalos from Spartan domination: while general representations of Herakles advancing with club and bow are found from Archaic times on, this specific pose is so remarkably similar to the well known statue of the Athenian tyrant slayer Harmodios that the allusion must have been intentional.