The small archaeological collection of Anaphe, occupying just 20 sq.m is located within the settlement of Chora. It was created after a major fire on the island in 1997 that, after burning several acres of land, (a tragic irony since the word Anaphe comes from the verb anafáinomai, meaning to appear suddenly). The then 21st Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities (today the Ephorate of the Cyclades) had launched a multi-year project of recording and collecting the scattered antiquities. The pieces in the Collection come from the ancient acropolis of the ancient city of ‘Kastelli’, the port for the ancient city of ‘Katalymatsa’. Several marble figures in himatia have been collected, whose heads of Roman times have not survived, and a reasonably large number of ancient inscriptions. The ancient objects are temporarily exhibited in the archaeological collection and are particularly important since they illustrate the length of time the island of Anaphe has been inhabited.
Roman sculpture in Anaphe
The ancient objects presented from Roman times are three himation-wearing torsos and a life-size female standing figure, collected from the ancient acropolis in Kastelli. They are held in the archaeological collection of Anaphe. The hollows at the top testify to the fact that the portrait-head of the person being depicted was fitted there. The head was given a protrusion at the neck end, which slotted into the hollow in the torso, so as they appeared as a single whole. Of the depicted objects, three are funerary busts to which the portrait of the illustrious deceased (probably the pater familias) was added. The fourth is a female figure in a himation. All four are commonly encountered in Roman sculpture.
Any workshop of this time throughout the entire Roman imperium found it worthwhile to keep up with the latest fashions. At first glance, the likeness between the items seems to be marked, but it in fact differs in small ‘details’ – as in the direction and number of folds in the fabric depending on the posture and anatomy of the body, but also in the positioning in minor different ways of the fingers. Their material (marble) seems to be imported. As usually done in these cases, the trunks may have been sculpted elsewhere and acquired either in a semi-finished or completed condition.
