The Afterlife of the Portrait of Demosthenes by Polyeuctus

Abstract

This appendix examines the portrait statue of Demosthenes by Polyeuctus, one of the posthumous rewards granted to the orator in 281/280 bce and among the most renowned statues of Greek antiquity. It traces the object’s complex history down to the twentieth century, with particular attention to iconographic transformations in the Roman period. Most significant is the replacement of the original interlaced hands with hands holding a papyrus roll, a change that reshaped the statue’s meaning by associating Demosthenes primarily with speechwriting. This modification has important implications for understanding the portrait’s (and Demosthenes’) later reception.