1000 Portraits of Genius. Victoria Charles
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and the absence of strut pillars – the traditional support used in ancient Egypt. These first human representations made of stone are not the first attempts at the Hellenistic style in this artistic domain. The first examples were made of wood and, unfortunately, not conserved over time: we only have written proofs of their existence. During the whole of the seventh century B.C.E., this early style of Greek statuary appears in Crete, the island located off of the Levantine coast. This style was called Daedalic or orientalist. If we tried to describe, in a simple and linear progression, the art of Greek sculpture, we could legitimately attest to their inexorable conquest for naturalism. The Archaic period is readily associated with perfecting the representation of the human form in all of its anatomic details (proportion, musculature…). The facial features are frozen in place in what we call the “archaic smile.” This particular expression alludes to the high cheekbones and the curved corners of the mouth, characteristics that are specific to the kouros and koraï between 600 and 500 B.C.E. After a brief transition from the Severe style (between 500 and 480–470 B.C.E.), the famous Greek aesthetic Classical movement developed. Except for the acquisition of the necessary bronze casting techniques (lost wax casting), the Classic period is characterised by their development of depicting movement, mastering the third dimension and the beginnings of facial expression. Even though this era and its masterpieces are the most famous in Greek art, we have come to recognize them, for the most part, through intermediary copies from the Roman epoch. Praxiteles, Phidias, Scopas, and Lysippe were the great sculptors who were known for the classical style that began at the end of Greek civilisation when it was overcome by the Macedonian empire. The Hellenistic portrait (a period beginning with the accession of Alexander and the states created after his Empire was dispersed between his generals in 323 B.C.E.) is distinguished by a facial representation where the expression of emotion became the predominant aspect. Hellenistic art favoured explicit attitudes and depicted the realism of aging, pain, the appropriation of space and the search for equilibrium in sharp movements. The Battle of Actium in 31 B.C.E. was the starting point of Roman dominion over Greece and marks the end of the Greek style.
In addition to the influence of Greek Hellenistic art, the Roman portrait was also inspired by the Etruscan art that preceded it. The original artworks were kept inside houses as ancestral masks (imagines majorum) and as personal traditional customs and later the same artistic techniques were seen in public places with erected honorary statues of famous individuals. The mass production of sculpted portraits during the first century B.C.E. can be attributed to the Roman aristocracy’s (the patricians) rise to power, who consciously conserved the most realistic images of their ancestors. The Togatus Barberini is particularly emblematic of this mentality. This traditional mindset persisted until the imperial epoch, but without great impact. A more restrained and idealised portrait style emerged during the reign of Augustus. Around the beginning of the second century C.E. a more uniform style appeared referencing the classical style, but it did not reach its peak until the last few decades of the centennial. Between 200 and 250, portraiture bequeathed a powerful expressivity of the model which translated into complex emotions. At the close of this era, this expressive tendency disappeared into a very formal portrait, with rigid features and a haughty countenance, a precursor to the late period of antiquity (Colossal Head of Constantine).
3. Triad of Menkaura, Egyptian, Old Kingdom, 4th Dynasty, reign of Menkaura (c. 2532–2503 B.C.E.). Greenish grey schiste, height: 95.5 cm. The Egyptian National Museum, Cairo.
4. Statuette of a King, Sumerian, Al-Warka, former Uruk, 3200 B.C.E. Iraq Museum, Baghdad.
5, 6. Praying couple, from Eshnunna, Tell Asmar, Square temple of Abu, Iraq, Sumerian, c. 2700–2600 B.C.E. Gypsum, shell, black limestone and bitumen (glue and colour), height: 72 cm for the man, 59 cm for the woman. Iraq Museum, Baghdad.
7. “Reserve Head” of a Woman, Giza, Egyptian, Old Kingdom, 4th Dynasty, reign of Khufu (c. 2551–2528 B.C.E.). Limestone, 23.5 × 13 × 19 cm. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
8. The Seated Scribe, Serapeum, Saqqara, Egyptian, Old Kingdom, 4th Dynasty, c. 2620–2500 B.C.E. Painted limestone statue, inlaid eyes: rock crystal, magnesite (magnesium carbonate), copper-arsenic alloy, nipples made of wood, height: 53.7 × 44 × 35 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
The Seated Scribe is the most famous of unknown figures. There has been very little information apprehended about the personage that is being represented; nor the name, title or the exact period during which he lived has been discovered. He is known as the “Seated Scribe” because of his cross legged position with the right leg crossing in front of the left. A white kilt is stretched over the knees acting as a support while his left hand holds a partially rolled piece of papyrus. It is thought that his right hand may have held a brush which is now missing. The most striking aspect of the sculpture is the face with its elaborately inlaid eyes that consist of red-veined white magnesite detailed with pieces of slightly truncated crystal. The backside of the crystal is layered with organic materials that give both colour to the iris and serves as an adhesive. The eyes are held in place by two copper clips and the eyebrows are marked by thin lines of dark organic paint. The hands, fingers and fingernails were sculpted with remarkable delicacy and fine detailed attention was paid to the broad chest marked with wooden dowels that served as the nipples.
The figure sits on a semicircular base that originally fit into a larger base which stated his name, origin and titles and was discovered by French archaeologist Auguste Mariette in November 1850. The scribe is portrayed at work which is unusual in Egyptian statuary. Although no king was ever represented in this position, it seems that it was originally used for members of the royal family.
9. Statue of the Pharaoh Khafra, Egyptian, Old Kingdom, 4th Dynasty, reign of Khafra (2558–2532 B.C.E.). Diorite, height: 168 cm. The Egyptian National Museum, Cairo.
10. Seated Figure, called the Singer Ur-Nanshe, shtar temple, Mari, Tell-Hariri, Sumerian, c. 2520 B.C.E. Gypsum, height: 26 cm. National Museum of Damascus, Damascus.
Discovered by André Parrot in 1952 in the temple of Ninni-zaza in Mari, this small gypsum statue of the singer, Ur-Nanshe, has already provoked extensive written analysis. Is it a woman or a man? What were they holding between their missing arms? What was its function?
For a long time it was considered to be feminine, but a linguistic study of the inscription on the back of the piece confirms that, in fact, it is a masculine figure that was created during the reign of Iblul-Il, the king of Mari. It is not the only Presargonic sculpture to have had its gender questioned. Therefore, neither the long and meticulous straight hair pulled behind the ears nor the traditional kaunakés puffed skirt that covers his thighs are seen as a traits that define the gender of the sculpture. Shorter than other representations of this traditional garment, the skirt seems to have been specifically designed to allow the musician to cross his legs while performing. Even though the arms are missing, his position suggests that he was most likely holding a musical instrument against his bosom. Although it is still difficult to allot a specific role to this small ritual sculpture, it was thought to be used as a symbolic representation of Ur-Nanshe while he was away from the temple so that his songs would play for eternity.
11. Cycladic Figurine, Amorgos, Cyclades, Greek, c. 2500 B.C.E. Marble, height: 30 cm. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Marble and bronze were the two materials most used for Greek sculpture, the latter being much more in use than we would be led to infer from the number of bronze statues preserved. The best marble for statuary came from the island of Paros and from Mt. Pentelicus, in Attica. The Greeks at all periods, strange as it seems to us, applied paint to portions of both their architecture and their sculpture. The eyes, eyebrows, hair, perhaps the lips, and certain parts of the drapery, particularly to indicate a pattern, were painted. The original Greek sculpture, which has