Acrolith

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The Antinous Mondragone, the head from an acrolithic cult image of the deified Antinous.
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The Antinous Mondragone, the head from an acrolithic cult image of the deified Antinous.

An acrolith (from Greek: acros, high; and lithos, stone) is a statue of a transition period in the history of plastic art, in which the trunk of the figure was of wood, and the extremities (head, hands and feet) of marble. The wood was concealed either by gilding or, more commonly, by drapery, and the marble parts alone were exposed. Acroliths are frequently mentioned by Pausanias, the best known specimen being the Athene Areia of the Plataeans.

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