Riace bronzes

The Riace bronzes (Italian: Bronzi di Riace, [ˈbrondzi di riˈaːtʃe]), also called the Riace Warriors, are two full-size Greek bronze statues conventionally designated Statue A (the "Young") and Statue B (the "Old"). They depict two nude, bearded men standing slightly over life size; they originally carried weapons and wore headgear that is now lost. They were cast by the lost-wax process and include materials other than bronze in the eyes, lips and other details. The Riace bronzes are among the few surviving originals of large-scale Greek bronze statuary from the 5th century BC. Statue A is generally dated to around 460 BC and Statue B to around 430 BC. The two statues were found in the sea on 16 August 1972 off Riace Marina, in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria. They are kept in the Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia in Reggio Calabria. Their ancient setting and the monument for which they were made are unknown; there is no agreement on the identity of the figures, their provenance or their makers. Although they were found together, most scholars consider them to have been made by different artists at least two decades apart, and it has not been established whether they originally belonged to the same statuary group.