JEGINE'TAN SCULP'TURES. The small island of _Egina holds an important position in the history of early Grecian art, as the seat of a famous school of bronze workers, whose most celebrated artist was Onatas (about 490 460 n.c.). The school was especially noted for its statues of athletes, and seems to be connected with the Peloponnesian art. On an eminence in the northeastern part of the island stand the ruins of a temple, where in IS11 excavations conducted by Cockerel', Foster, and Linckh brought to light fragments of sculpture, which were bought by the Crown Prime, Louis of Bavaria, and after restoration (not always correct) by Tho•waldsen, set up in the Glypto thek at Munich. The statues are somewhat under life size, and once decorated the pediments of the temple. Each group represented a battle over a fallen warrior in the presence of Athena, and it is probable that one represented the Trojan expedition of Hercules, the other that of Agamemnon, as in both of therm _Eginetan heroes, Telamon and Ajax, were prominent. These arc among the best works of archaic Greek art, of which they were fol- a long time almost the only examples. The artist was evidently used to working in bronze, and his technique is more appropriate to metal than stone. The anatomy of the figures is carefully modeled, but the treatment is somewhat dry and hard, in spite of an evident. effort to give a realistic character
to the groups. The sculptures of the eastern pediment show a decided superiority in this respect, and in particular have nearly lost. the "archaic smile" which appears in the companion group. In 1901, Professor A. Furtwiingler began new excavations on this site in behalf of the Prince Regent of Bavaria. These excavations have yielded a number of important fragments of the pediment sculptures, as well as of other statue; and some inscriptions, of which one indicates that the temple was not dedicated to Athena, as bad been believed, but to all yEgin elan goddess, ApInea, of whom little is otherwise known, but who is shown by the discoveries to have been worshiped by women as a special helper in need and as a guardian of little chil dren. Other buildinp's besides the temple have been found, including traces of an earlier sanc tuary. It is clear that the place was a seat of worship from the Myeeth•an age, but was aban doned in the liellenistie and Roman Con sult for an account of the new excavations: erel', The Tcmplcs of .Egina and !lesser (London, 1860)a Flirt wiingler, Kurz(' Beschecibung (Br Glyplothck (Munich, 1900), and Sitzungsbcrichic (ler iotyeriscggn A kudemie (1901 ).