SCULPTURE · LA ALCUDIA

Warrior of Ilici

Dressing Power Piece by Piece

The torso shows a protection of metal discs and a wolf’s head over the chest.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Image of Warrior of Ilici — **DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · AI-GENERATED IMAGE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction, created for museographic contextualisation; not a photograph of the original nor does it constitute documentary evidence.

History and context

The torso bears a kardiophylax: two metal discs joined by straps, with a wolf’s head on the chest and acorn adornments. The sculpture makes legible layers that the visitor can reconstruct: linen, leather, belt, metal, weapon and shield.

The image has been linked to a heroic founder or ‘Wolf King’, but that identification is a modern proposal. What is certain is that the visual programme turned military equipment, protective animal and clothing into a language of authority.

The assembly presents each piece as work: mineral, forging, sewing, tanning, fitting and maintenance preceding the public instant of the warrior.

Evidence and interpretation

Documented fact: sculpture, date, discovery, kardiophylax and animal emblem. Interpretation and caution: name, real condition and foundation narrative are not inscribed in the piece.

Catalogue facts

Narrative date: Late 5th–early 4th centuries BCE
Location: La Alcudia / Ilici, Elche (Alicante)
Material: Limestone
Context: Aristocratic sculpture found in 1949
Classification: Iberian collection or explicit interpretive resource
Visual reference: Visual file of La Alcudia · inventory LA-884

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: September 5, 2026.

A sculpture continues to have a history after excavation

The University of Alicante identifies the warrior's torso as piece LA-884 from La Alcudia. Its 2023–2024 report explains that the demand for exhibition loans led to preparing a specific conservation and temporary transfer protocol for it. This is another part of the object's life: moving a sculpture requires documenting its condition and the conditions of the transfer, not just choosing where to display it. This modern record identifies the specimen and its care; it does not turn reconstructions of its clothing or the literary name of its bearer into ancient testimony.

Research · University of Alicante · 2023–2024 Report, La Alcudia FoundationAccess recorded: September 5, 2026.

Reference images and provenance

No verifiable entrance photograph is preserved for this representation. You may consult its documentation, but we would not present its face as an exact reconstruction.

Additional visual documentation

A cited publication does not establish which image was used to create the character.

Location and territory

LOCATED SITE

La Alcudia of Elche · AlicanteMarker of the Ilici site.

Where it is held

Monographic Museum of L’Alcúdia · La Alcudia University Foundation

Item or group in the record · Documented collection

Deposit LA-884; the loan cited by the source ended in January 2025.

The holding institution is documented; public display may change. Check its official record before visiting.

Sources and references

Expand this information and consult its provenance

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