Lot 10073 – Statues: Athlete in bronze holding up an Olympic winner’s wreath

Note: The olive wreath also known as kotinos (Greek: κότινος),was the prize for the winner at the ancient Olympic Games. It was a branch of the wild olive tree that grew at Olympia, intertwined to form a circle or a horse-shoe. The branches of the sacred wild-olive tree near the temple of Zeus were cut by a “pais amfithalis” (a boy whose parents were both alive) with a pair of golden scissors. Then he took them to the temple of Hera and placed them on a gold-ivory table. From there, the Hellanodikai (the judges of the Olympic Games) would take them, make the wreaths and crown the winners of the Games.