A Phrygian Sculptor at Work in Roman Athens

This article presents a contextual analysis of eight marble sculptures that were excavated in 1937 from a well on the north slope of the Areopagos at Athens. The assemblage, which includes both finished and unfinished works, was discarded from a sculptor's studio following the Herulian sack in A.D. 267. In several instances the sculptor used iconographies and materials that fall outside local traditions. In addition, a set of bronzes from the personal shrine of the sculptor is suggestive of non-Athenian religious customs. Taken together, this evidence points to an individual who had migrated to Athens from Asia Minor, probably from the region of Phrygia.