The Antinous Mondragone, the head from an acrolithic cult image of the deified Antinous.

In Classical antiquity, an acrolith (Greek etymology: acros and lithos, English translation: "height" or "extremity" and "stone") was a statue in which the trunk of the figure was made of wood, and the extremities (head, hands and feet) of marble. The wood was concealed either by gilding or, more commonly, by drapery, and the marble parts alone were exposed. The similar, earlier, Chryselephantine sculptures used ivory instead of marble, and normally gold on the body. Acroliths are frequently mentioned by Pausanias (100s CE), the best known example being the Athene Areia ("Warlike Athena") of the Plataeans.

Examples of acrolithic sculptures

• Athene Areia of the Plataeans
• Colossus of Constantine
• Antinous Mondragone

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.