Editing Charioteer of Delphi (section)

==Design and completeness==
{{external media | width = 210px | float = right | headerimage = [[File:Sculpture Eyelashes.jpg|210px]] | video1 = [http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/charioteer-of-delphi.html Charioteer of Delphi], (3:38), [[Smarthistory]]
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Most bronze statues from ancient times have long been destroyed, either having been melted down for their raw materials or were naturally corroded. Some freestanding bronze statues, however, including the charioteer, have been rediscovered in the 20th century.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=October 11, 2015 |title=Western Sculpture |journal=Britannica Academic}}</ref> The Charioteer survived due to being buried under a rock-fall at Delphi, which likely destroyed the site in 373 B.C.<ref name=HF/>  On discovery the figure exhibited a blue appearance which correlates with [[Plutarch]]'s description of the Spartan Monument from Delphi having an, "unusual blue and glossy patina, due to peculiarities of the air inside the sanctuary."  After a century of indoor exposure, the Charioteer has turned a shade of green, although the lower torso still preserves a blue coloration.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Plutarch's Report on the Blue Patina of Bronze Statues at Delphi: A Scientific Explanation|last = Mircea, Magda|first = Frank, Walter A.|date = Summer 2005|journal = Journal of the American Institute for Conservation}}</ref> The statue remains mostly intact excluding its left forearm and certain details on the head, including the copper inlays on the lips, most of the silver eyelashes, and the headband.<ref name=HF/> The statue is one of the few Greek bronze statues to be preserved with inlaid glass eyes. Greek bronzes were [[molding (process)|cast]] in sections and then assembled. When discovered, the statue was in three pieces—head and upper torso, lower torso, and right arm.

The figure is of a young man, as is demonstrated by his soft side-curls. Like modern jockeys, [[Chariot racing|chariot racers]] were chosen for their lightness; however, they also needed to be tall, meaning they were frequently teenagers. It appears to represent a youth from a noble family of his time; aristocratic chariot racers selected their drivers from noble families for the [[Panhellenic Games]]. The Charioteer wears a customary long tunic (the {{interlanguage link|xystis|nl}}) reaching down to his ankles. A wide belt tightens the tunic high above the waist, while two other bands pass as suspenders over the shoulders, under the arms, and criss-cross on the back. This is the ''analavos,'' which keeps the garment from billowing in the wind during the race. The deep vertical pleats in the lower part of the tunic emphasize the Charioteer’s solid posture, resembling also the fluting of an [[Ionic column]]. On the upper part of the body, however, the pleats are wavy, diagonal or curved. This contrast in the garment's representation is also followed by the body’s contrapuntal posture, so that the statue does not show any rigidity, but looks perfectly mobile and lifelike. The entire statue appears as if it is animated, through a gradual shift to the right, starting from the solid stance of the feet, and progressing sequentially through the body, passing the hips, chest, and head, to end up at its gaze. The hands are spread out holding the reins, with long and thin fingers tightened around – together with the reins – a cylindrical object, the riding crop.<ref name="latsis" /> 

The Charioteer does not appear to be portrayed during the race, as his movement lacks intensity. Instead, it seems to be at its end, when he makes his victory lap around the hippodrome. The face and the body portray a great self-confidence and assuredness.<ref name="latsis">[http://www.latsis-foundation.org/megazine/publish/ebook.php?book=1  Ροζίνα Κολώνια, Το Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Δελφών, Κοινωφελές Ίδρυμα Ιωάννη Σ. Λάτση, Ολκός, 2006, σελ. 256 -257.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150408093243/http://www.latsis-foundation.org/megazine/publish/ebook.php?book=1 |date=2015-04-08 }}</ref>

Unusually for this era, the Charioteer is clothed head to foot. Most athletes at this time would have competed, and been depicted, nude. This indicates that the young man would thus have been of a lower status than his master, Polyzalos. It has been speculated he may have been a household slave whom it was not appropriate to depict in the nude.<ref name=HF/>