Statue of Pericles, Dresden

What it is

This is a black-and-white photograph of a marble statue of a bearded man with curly hair. He is bare-chested, with a draped cloth around his hips and a cloak falling from his raised left arm. The statue stands on a pedestal surrounded by dense green foliage in a Dresden palace garden. The statue dates from 1888 and was made by Wiskotsch.

Why it matters

The statue is a later memorial, made more than two thousand years after Pericles lived. Its maker and its setting show how 19th-century Germany chose to honour an Athenian statesman. It tells us more about that later admiration for Athens than about Pericles himself.

Look closer

• What pose and clothing does the sculptor give Pericles, and what qualities might those choices suggest?
• Why would a palace garden in Dresden be a place to honour an ancient Athenian?
• What can a photograph of a statue show, and what does it fail to show, such as its material texture or size?