30 Millennia of Sculpture. Patrick Bade
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fuse them both in one single body. This ambiguous subject was strongly appreciated at the end of the Hellenistic period because of the surprise it created upon the viewer. This Roman copy of a Greek original of the 2nd century BCE continued to fascinate the collectors among which the cardinal Scipione Borghese who commissioned Bernini to sculpt the mattress upon which the Hermaphrodite lays.
204. Anonymous, The Three Graces, Roman copy of a Greek original created during the 2nd century BCE restored in 1609. Ancient Greek. Marble, 119 × 85 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
The Graces, or Charities, were three goddesses named Beauty, Mirth, and Cheer. They oversaw happy events such as dances and banquets. They were companions to Aphrodite, providing the happiness that accompanies love. Like Aphrodite, they were often depicted in the nude, and often, as in this example, dancing in a circle. In each, we see the familiar shift in weight, or contrapposto, developed in the 5th century. However, the composition of this piece is far more elaborate than any High Classical sculpture. It was not until the Hellenistic period that complex groups of multiple figures were depicted in free-standing sculpture. The figures are tied together by their embrace, unifying the piece, yet they face different directions, so that the sculpture would be interesting from any angle from which it was viewed.
205. Anonymous, Aphrodite of Melos, called the Venus de Milo, c. 100 BCE. Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 202 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
The Aphrodite of Melos, or Venus de Milo, is an original Greek sculpture dating to the Hellenistic period. It was discovered in a field along with other sculptural fragments, including a separate arm holding an apple, which belongs with this figure. The apple is probably a reference to the mythical “Judgment of Paris”. In that tale, the goddess of Discord tossed a golden apple inscribed “for the loveliest” towards the goddesses Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera. The young Trojan prince, Paris, was asked to decide which goddess should be awarded the apple. Each tried to bribe Paris but he chose Aphrodite, who offered him the love of the most beautiful mortal woman in the world. That woman, of course, was Helen of Sparta, already married to the Greek king. Her abduction by Paris started the Trojan War. While Aphrodite is criticised by Homer for her role in starting the conflict, she is celebrated here as the purveyor of true love.
206. Anonymous, Athena Fighting with the Son of Gaea the Earth Goddess, pedestal frieze, Great Altar of Zeus, Pergamon (Turkey), c. 180 BCE. Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 230 cm. Pergamonmuseum, Berlin.
The greater-than-life-size figures of this relief adorned the Pergamon altar, a structure at the highest point of the city of Pergamon in Turkey, capital of one of the Hellenistic kingdoms. The sculpture filled the frieze, which wrapped around the outside of the building and along its great staircase. It depicted the battle between the gods and giants. The giants are shown with wings on their backs and snakes emerging from them, in contrast to the gods, shown in typical Greek-style robes. In this fragment, Athena, the central figure, battles with a giant, on the left. She is pulling back his head as he pulls in the opposite direction, trying to escape. At the same time, he struggles to hold onto the hand of his mother, Gaia, the earth and mother of all giants. She is shown at the bottom of the scene, as though emerging from the earth itself. Gaia was the source of all power for the giants, and as long as they touch her they cannot be killed. But this giant has lost his grip, and the winged victory figure already swoops in behind Athena, ready to crown her victor. For Athena, the battle is one. This dramatic battle plays out around the entire frieze, with the same kind of violent struggle seen here. The scene is in high relief, with deeply cut shadows accentuating the drama, and figures spilling off of the wall and onto the staircase.
207. Anonymous, Silhouette, around 1st century BCE. Ancient Celtic. Wood. Ralagan, County Cavan.
208. Anonymous, The Stone of Turo, 1st century BCE. Ancient Celtic. County Galway.
209. Anonymous, Mask of Male Deity, 1st century BCE. Ancient Celtic, Montsérié. Bronze. Massey Museum, Tarbes.
210. Anonymous, Portrait of Julius Caesar, c. 30–20 BCE. Ancient Roman. Marble, 56 × 19 × 26 cm. Musei Vaticani, Vatican City.
Julius Caesar began his political leadership as the head of the traditionally Republican government of Rome, but ended it as a murdered dictator. Caesar had taken control over the vast empire of Rome, eschewing the practice of sharing power with the Senate. He was both revered for his strong leadership and resented for his tyranny. It was that resentment that led to his assassination on the Ides of March, 44 BCE. This portrait expresses not only Caesar’s likeness, but also his character. We sense his strength, intelligence and nobility. The bust follows the Republican tradition of veristic portraiture.
211. Anonymous, Augustus Prima Porta, 50 BCE. Ancient Roman. Marble, height: 104 cm. Musei Vaticani, Vatican City.
Augustus, the first emperor of Rome, transformed the way art and image were used by the Romans. He rejected the “veristic” style of Roman portraiture, preferring instead to emulate the High Classical style of 5th-century Greece. In this portrait, found at the villa of his wife Livia at Prima Porta, Augustus is shown in a pose that directly quotes Polykleitos’ Doryphoros, the best-known statue of the 5th century. In doing so, Augustus called upon all the associations the High Classical period carried: empire and power, but also democracy. Augustus was trying to appease those who might resent his absolute rule and the end of the Republic. He was at once advertising his strength, and also his role as a fair, democratic leader who would represent the senate and the people of Rome.
212. Anonymous, The Horse Goddess Epona. Ancient Celtic. Limestone. Museum Alesia, Alise-Sainte-Reine.
213. Anonymous, Statuette of Seated Child, 1st century BCE–2nd century CE. Ancient Near East. Terracotta composed of separate parts, moulded, white coating and black, brown and pink painting, 31.5 × 25 × 24 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
214. Anonymous, Praying. Ancient Near East, Tell Asmar. Gypsum, height: 72 cm. Iraq Museum, Baghdad.
215. Anonymous, Figure of a Seated Woman, Head of the Skeleton, late 1st century BCE–2nd century CE. Ancient Near East. Alabaster. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
216. Anonymous, Seated Boxer, 100–50 BCE. Ancient Roman. Bronze, height: 128 cm. Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome.
A rare bronze statue that survived from antiquity, this powerful image of a tired boxer is likely an original Hellenistic work, dated perhaps to the 1st century BCE. The seated pose of the boxer invites the viewer to look down at the figure, as he in turn looks up, perhaps to discover the verdict of the judge. He still wears his boxing gloves, and is badly bruised and bleeding, his face and ears swollen from the fight. Despite these wounds, he does not appear defeated. He has all the exaggerated musculature of other Hellenistic works, such as the Laocoön (fig. 202) and the Belvedere Torso. His mouth and the cuts on his face are copper additions to the bronze statue, and the eyes would have likewise been made of a different material.
217. Anonymous, Spinario (Boy Removing a Thorn from his Foot), Roman bronze copy of a Greek original, 1st century BCE. Ancient Roman. Bronze, height: 73 cm. Palazzo dei Conservatori, Rome.
This piece is one of the rare bronze works