When we think of Classical Antiquity – the world of Ancient Greece and Rome – we often imagine gleaming cities of white marble, replete with soaring columns and exquisitely realised statues. Of course, this is an idealisation; ancient life, like modern, was lived in polychrome. In fact, the world of the ancients was often one of garish technicolour. The sculptures we think of as stark white or gentle cream were almost always painted, often in colours which would make most contemporary artists blush. Even more shocking to the modern conception is that marble was not even the material of choice for ancient statuary in Greece and Rome. The Greeks, especially, much preferred working in bronze. In fact, a significant majority of the significant marble sculptures from non-funerary contexts which survive from the ancient world are copies of earlier bronze sculptures. It is this, coupled with the fact that bronze sculpture was often melted down in antiquity during times of extreme danger when the metal could be better used elsewhere, that shapes our perception of lilywhite ancient art and architecture.

Bronze is an incredibly versatile medium. It is both lighter and has a greater tensile strength than stone, and as a result, the repertoire of poses and subjects open to artists working in bronze was far more diverse than for stoneworkers. Freestanding statues could be taller and more slender; limbs could be positioned further from the torso, without the need for supports. More gracile and graceful, Greek bronze statues were prized for the artistic innovations the medium permitted. Recognised masters of bronze sculpture – Lysippos, Praxiteles, Scopas – were especially active during the transition between what we call the Classical and Hellenistic Periods, straddling the reign of the greatest of ‘Greeks’, Alexander the Great. During this time, a distinctive Hellenistic style emerged. Subjects became more dramatic and baroque, with greater movement and facial expression. Rather than depicting gods and heroes in robust, motionless poses, bronze sculptures tended to show these characters in specific mythological moments, in recognisable scenes whose narrative becomes obvious to the initiated from often small cues – a prop, pose, a facial expression, or a costume element.

This hand is all that remains of a larger bronze sculpture of the Hellenistic Period. The fate of the rest of the statue, and indeed the reason for this hand’s survival, is unclear. The fact that the remaining structure has split at the wrist, and the whole wrist has begun to unfurl slightly, indicates that the hand was separated from its arm in antiquity, before it then became deposited in an archaeological context where the weight of the earth above somewhat flattened the palm, bent the fingers slightly, and split the wrist. Nonetheless, it is clear that this hand represents the very pinnacle of the sculptor’s art; even in its present state, it is slender and elegant; if one can imagine how it would look were the pieces flush with one another, it would have been even more delicate and refined. The slim, gracile fingers and the deeply incised fingernails imply that this was a female hand, and there are small rectangular attachments either for some kind of jewellery in another metal, or else (more likely) for drapery, part of the woman’s himation (cloak, which sat over the peplos, or dress made from square fabric. Since male statues were largely nude, the presence of attachments for a cloak, which would have rested across the figure’s wrist, would indicate a female subject.

One of the most unusual features of this sculpture is the presence of a sphere, being held between the thumb and forefinger. Like many Hellenistic sculptures, the presence of this sphere may indicate which mythological story is being referenced. According to myth, there was once a beautiful girl called Persephone. She was the daughter of Demeter, the goddess of agriculture. At the time, the world was in constant Spring or Summer, and was always abundant. The anonymous hymn to Demeter, which was attributed to Homer in ancient times, relates the tale in some detail Persephone was enjoying herself along with various nymphs, daughters of the sea-deity Okeanos. They were picking flowers, when suddenly Persephone spotted a narcissus (probably Narcissus poeticus); she was enamoured with the beautiful flower, and plucked it. Unfortunately, this flower had been grown by the Earth-goddess Gaia as a favour for the ruler of the underworld, Hades. The Earth opened up under her, and Hades, in his chariot pulled by Hell-horses, grabbed Persephone and took her down to the Underworld. Although some of the gods heard her cries of fear and anger, they went unanswered. When Demeter discovered her daughter’s disappearance, she tore off her godly accoutrements and went down to Earth to wander in search of her daughter, forgoing food and drink. On the tenth day, Demeter, accompanied by the magician-goddess Hekate, went to Helios, the sun, since he saw everything. He informed them that Persephone had been kidnapped by Hades. Suffering from terrible grief, Demeter went down to Earth, shunning the food and company of the gods, which made her eternally youthful. In her neglect, farmlands withered. Zeus soon became pitiful towards the cries of the hungry people, and ordered Hades to return Persephone. Hades complied with the request, but he had a secret plan. Anyone who ate the food of the underworld could never leave. He tried to convince her to eat, but she refused even one mouthful or drop of water. But she grew hungry, and just as he was about to take her to the surface, Hades presented her with a pomegranate. Juicy, sweet, blood-red pomegranate seeds were revealed as he opened the fruit; the temptation was too great, and Persephone ate one (or in some versions, six) seed. Persephone claimed that Hades had compelled her to eat the seed by force (bia); whatever the truth of the matter, by allowing the sweet seed to cross her lips, she was forced to return to the Underworld for three months each year. During this time, Demeter, overcome by grief (akhos), hid away again, taking the joys and fine weather of Summer with her. This is the origin of winter.

This feminine hand, then, holding a small sphere between thumb and forefinger, may then represent Persephone holding the fateful Pomegranate seed. Images of Persephone holding either a whole pomegranate, or else an oversized pomegranate seed, are well-attested from the Hellenistic Period. Examples in marble are known at the British Museum in London (1859,1226.43, 1874,0305.64), while an Etruscan figure of Persephone (known locally as Phersipnai) shows the hand in a very similar pose (57.AB.8). This imagery would have been immediately obvious to Hellenistic Greeks, who lived in a world which was heavily imbued with myth. Mythological subjects were familiar from oral storytelling within a household context, from the theatre, from writings, and from representations in both sculpture and on pottery and wall paintings. The story of Persephone and the pomegranate not only explains the origins of a climatological phenomenon – the cold harshness of winter – but also gives a stern warning to all who hear of it about the dangers of temptation.