Perfume Container (Balsamarium) with Running Male Figure

Perfume container (balsamarium) modeled in the shape of a nude youth (kouros) in the characteristic “kneeling-run” pose. The face of the young figure, fashioned as a vessel intended to contain oils and perfumes, displays pronounced features: a prominent nose, elongated eyes, and projecting lips. The hair is arranged in two braids on each side, partly lost. The body shows careful anatomical rendering, with defined pectoral muscles, muscular arms, a rounded abdomen with an incised navel, and flexed legs in a dynamic posture.

The balsamarium is shaped as a nude youth (kouros), depicted according to the archaic convention of the kneeling run, a typical figurative scheme in Archaic Greek art used to suggest movement through the forward extension of one leg and the bending of the other. Rather than a naturalistic depiction of running, this is a symbolic formula expressing energy, momentum, and vitality. The kouros figure embodies the ideal of youth and is often associated with a transitional stage of life between childhood and adulthood. In this sense, such iconography within the sanctuary of Hera may be consistent with the goddess’s role in Greek religion as protector of the fundamental stages of human life.