Marble Eagle Statue from Yozgat Museum

Öz

In this study, the marble eagle statue exhibited in the Yozgat Museum is examined in terms of its possible function, representational context, and iconographic character within the Roman Imperial Period. As the object is not an archaeological excavation find with contextual data, it has been evaluated on the basis of formal, stylistic, and iconographic evidence. Carved from a single block of marble, the statue is distinguished by its closed-wing arrangement, compact body mass, and schematized feather treatment, while the goat beneath its talons constitutes one of the defining elements of its iconography. The sculpture has been considered comparatively alongside selected eagle representations from the Roman Imperial Period, with particular emphasis on the examples from Kınık Höyük. These comparisons have made it possible to assess the Çayıralan statue not only stylistically, but also in terms of how superiority and hierarchy were transformed into a visual order in large-scale sculpture. The available evidence indicates that the statue should be understood not as an ordinary animal depiction, but as a representation structured around the hierarchical relationship between the eagle and the goat. In this respect, the object should be regarded as an example of high representational value situated at the intersection of Roman eagle iconography and the Anatolian eagle–goat tradition.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Roman Period
• Eagle Sculpture
• Eagle–Goat Iconography
• Anatolia
• Symbolism

Kaynakça

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