The golden Olympian cast in bronze
A bronze replica of the “Discus Thrower” sculpture by Kostas Dimitriadis (1881-1943) was placed (with a fig leaf) in New York’s Central Park, near the Metropolitan Museum, in 1926. The famous sculpture was entered into the art competition of the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris and won the gold medal in the category of sculpture, under its official name, “Discobole Finlandais.” Modeled after the Finnish athlete Armas Taipale (1890-1976), it evoked the Classical ideal, the spirit of Olympism and the pursuit of a new plasticity. The “Discus Thrower,” which Greeks know from its prominent position opposite the Panathenaic Stadium (it was installed in Athens on December 4, 1927), was admired from the outset, which is why there are so many copies of it – all originals, cast from the same mold, according to art historian Nikoleta Tzani. The work is inextricably linked to the international history of art connected to the Olympic Games of recent times. As such, a smaller replica, located by Tzani at the Villa Kerylos in the south of France, features in the current exhibition at the Louvre in Paris titled “Olympism: A Modern Invention, an Ancient Heritage,” which highlights the key personalities who contributed to the rise of the modern Olympic Games.
