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Klaudios Peisōn Anethēken: A Gift of Sculpture at the South Baths of Perge

July 2017 (121.3)
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Klaudios Peisōn Anethēken: A Gift of Sculpture at the South Baths of Perge

121.3
Susan Wood
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A group of marble statues, all bearing the dedication of Klaudios Peisōn, were found together in 1981 in the South Baths of Perge. They appear datable to the principate of Antoninus Pius, when the baths were enlarged. To date, however, these statues have not been examined as a group, and little attention has been paid to the role of their donor. The name Klaudios Peisōn indicates membership in a prominent family of Sagalassos; his generosity to another city suggests that this man owned property near or conducted business in Perge. His euergetism here is more modest than that of Perge’s own great families, but it shows Peisōn’s desire to win favor with the people and local officials. Technical evidence indicates that at least six of the statues were not new when Peisōn donated them; some of them had been recut to receive his dedicatory inscription. They were, however, carefully chosen by someone, both for their connections with local cult and for their aesthetic appeal. Peisōn’s euergetism consisted in preserving and reinstalling a group of statues from some other venue.

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Art History
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Klaudios Peisōn Anethēken: A Gift of Sculpture at the South Baths of Perge

By Susan Wood

American Journal of Archaeology Vol. 121, No. 3 (July 2017), pp. 439–466

DOI: 10.3764/aja.121.3.0439

© 2017 Archaeological Institute of America

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