Demeter and Kore



One or two cult statues attributed to Praxiteles, doubtless dedicated in a sanctuary at Eleusis, are known to us thanks to reproductions on votive reliefs and steles. The figures are a Kore wearing a chiton, himation and sandals, holding two torches in her right hand, and a Demeter wearing a polos headdress and a peplos with a colpos (a length of material folded over the belt to adjust the length of the garment). Demeter holds a phial in her right hand, as if to pour its contents as a libation (a sacred anointment). She holds a scepter in her left hand. On the basis of a comparison with the Mantinean relief showing the Muses, which is thought to have been carved by Praxiteles's workshop, it has been suggested that Praxiteles himself carved a figure of Kore. Pausanias mentions a group of Eleusian gods by Praxiteles near the Dipylon Gate in Athens. Several versions of the Kore and Demeter may have existed, therefore, apparently showing two different treatments for the draperies, to judge from the surviving copies. The models for these draped figures dated from the 4th century BC, but their attribution to Praxiteles remains fragile and unverifiable.