Terracotta Statuette of a Male Figure

The statuette depicts a standing male figure (kouros), with the body’s weight resting on the right leg while the left is slightly advanced. The small, rounded face features slanted eyes and pronounced cheekbones; the hair is rendered in locks defined by small, regular grooves. At elbow height there are two holes intended for the insertion of the forearms, now lost, which were probably extended forward in a gesture of offering. This detail allows the figure to be identified as a worshipper or votive offerer.

The statuette was discovered in the 1990s during excavations carried out for the construction of a section of the sewer system along Via Di Vittorio, the main thoroughfare of the Fondo Gesù district in the modern city. This area corresponds to the central sector of the ancient Greek colony of Kroton, over which the modern city now extends. The materials and structures uncovered in this area attest to continuous occupation from the time of Kroton’s foundation at the end of the 8th century BC through to the 4th–3rd century BC. This statuette, together with other finds, has led scholars to hypothesize the presence of a place of worship in the area, although it has not yet been securely identified.