Onatas

Onatas ( Ὀνάτας ancient Greek ) was a Greek sculptor and ore caster school of Aegina, who was BC active in the first half of the 5th century. He was the son of the sculptor Micon and is considered one of the most important representatives of the Severe Style. Of his works, none is obtained by copies of the original or backed up. By epigraphic and literary evidence is known that he created statues for Aegina, Athens, Olympia and Delphi.

Works

From the factory Onatas only inscriptions on statue bases are obtained, testified in the literature works were often linked to copies and derivations in context, none of these works is certainly attributable to Onatas.

On the Acropolis in Athens, his signature was on a marble pillar base in Attic form, which can be dated because of the typeface to the early 5th century BC. The marks on the base, the sculpture made as a life-size bronze horse under that mounted on the base dedicatory inscription suggests that the founder Timarchos donated an equestrian portrait of himself to the goddess Athena.

In Olympia there was a pillar base of limestone, whose inscription was added to Onatas. The traces of the base point to a small sculpture, it may have been an eagle consecrated by a Pythion from Byzantium.

The signature Onatas found on a statue base found in Pergamon, the specification under this signature dates from the early 2nd century BC Pausanias, who considered the work of the 2nd century, praises it for its size and its workmanship. Probably the statue was originally in the city sanctuary of Aegina, acquired until around 210 BC, Attalus I the island and then the statue was spent with other works of art to Pergamum. There, she was provided with a new base and consecrated to Apollo again. The Satue originated before 459 BC, since after this date there was war with Athens, which ended with a forced membership in the Attic Confederacy.

Pausanias tells of a statue of the ram- bearing god Hermes, who was given as a votive offering of Pheneos to Olympia. The type of the ram carrying Hermes as the god of shepherds is Peloponnesian origin. After the description of Pausanias Hermes was dressed in chiton, chlamys and a felt hat and held the ram under his arm, which corresponds to the original image Peloponnesian program.

A colossal statue of Hercules was to the east as a votive offering of Thasians before the Temple of Zeus in Olympia, which was donated on the occasion of a victory against the Peucetians. The statue as the base were made ​​of bronze, the statue itself ten cubits high. In the right hand Heracles held his mace in his left a bow. Kalli Teles or Kalynthos are mentioned in the epigram as an employee, according to Pausanias, student or son of Onatas, which was probably responsible for secondary tasks.