The Berlin Foundry Cup: The Casting of Greek Bronze Statuary in the Early Fifth Century B.C.

The Berlin Foundry Cup presents important information about bronze casting techniques and about the style of bronze statues in the early fifth century B. C. While the interior of the cup depicts the relatively common mythological scene of Hephaistos readying the armor for Achilles, the exterior preserves the most detailed picture of a bronze foundry that we have in scenes which must be contemporary with the time at which the cup was produced. The two statues painted on the cup must represent statue types produced in the early fifth century. One of them is a stiffly posed striding warrior of colossal dimensions, probably intended to be a dedicatory statue shown in traditional style. The other statue is a lifesize nude youth in a free and naturalistic pose, probably an athletic victory monument. The sharp distinctions that the Foundry Painter makes between his two statues point to two contemporary trends in bronze statuary, each one governed by markedly different stylistic conventions.