The statue of Apollo of Tenea, exiled against his will in Munich for 160 years, was one of the first works of the Greeks who (left) for Bavaria.

Apollo of Tenea II

This statue is one of the most famous Greek sculptures of the so-called archaic Period, dating from the 6th century.

It was found in 1840 in Tenea, a small settlement near Corinth. The designation of “Apollo” has been generally accepted but is incorrect.

The figure is a kouros, i.e. a statue of a youth served as funerary monument.The proportions are subject to a strict system of measurement, the basic unit of which is the length of the foot of the statue.

One foot represents the height of the head and the width of the waist, Altogether the figure is 7,5 feet high. Although the proportions are worked out in such simple, formulaic way, the figure exudes an unexpected vitality.The raised corners of the mouth, commonly called the “archaic smile”, are a reflection of this vitality.

The grave statue of a youth from Tenea known as the Kouros of Tenea is now located in the Glyptothek in Munich, Germany.