1000 Scupltures of Genius - Patrick Bade The Book

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her head bowed, her body resting heavily against her spear. The melancholy mood of the piece is characteristic of Severe style sculpture. That style is also seen in the heavy, straight folds of Athena’s dress, or peplos, and the still, heaviness of her pose. In comparison to earlier Archaic sculpture, however, in this piece we see a fleshed, realistic person in a natural pose, expressing real emotion. These qualities reveal the increasing skill of the artists from the sixth to the fifth century B.C.E.

      50. Anonymous. Hades and Persephone, pinax relief (fragment), c. 470–450 B.C.E. Terracotta, h: 255 cm. Museo Nazionale, Reggio Calabria (Italy). Greek Antiquity.

      This terracotta plaque shows Hades, the god of the underworld, with his bride, Persephone. Hades abducted Persephone and brought her to the underworld; in her grief, Persephone’s mother, Demeter, made the world infertile. Zeus had to intervene, demanding that Hades let Persephone spend half the year with her mother. The cycle of Persephone’s annual passage from her mother to the underworld is reflected in the seasons, with the cold, frozen winter the result of her time in the underworld, and Demeter’s grief. On this plaque, Hades and Persephone are shown ruling the underworld. Their stiff, regal poses indicate their status as rulers, but also reflect the style of the early fifth century B.C.E., the Severe style. The stillness of the figures, the straight folds of drapery, and the serious facial expressions are all characteristic of the Severe style.

      51. Anonymous. Apollo, called the “Apollo Parnopios”, copy after a Greek original created around 450 B.C.E. by Phidias. Marble, h: 197 cm. Staatliche Museen, Kassel (Germany). Greek Antiquity.

      Apollo was the god of music, poetry, medicine, archery, and prophecy, and was always shown as young and beautiful. Here, he has the idealised body of a young male athlete. The naturalism of his anatomy, with its sculpted muscles and graceful movement, is expressed through the relaxed, contrapposto stance. His expression is thoughtful but emotionless. This classic fifth-century B.C.E. statue type is transformed into Apollo by the addition of the elaborately curled long hair, and his attributes, the bow and laurel wreath, which he would have held in each hand.

      52. Anonymous. Bust of Perikles, copy after a Greek original created around 425 B.C.E. Marble, h: 48 cm. The British Museum, London (United Kingdom). Greek Antiquity.

      53. Anonymous. Discobolus, copy after a Greek original created around 450 B.C.E. by Myron. Marble, h: 148 cm. Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome (Italy). Greek Antiquity.

      In Myron’s Discobolus, we see the human form freed from the standing, frontal pose of earlier statues. Here, the artist is clearly interested not only in the body of the athlete, but in the movement of the discus thrower. His muscles tense and strain in preparation for his throw, his face focused on his activity. While the pose, with the arms forming a wide arc, is revolutionary, the piece is still meant to be viewed from the front. It would not be until the following century that artists began to conceive of sculpture that could be viewed from all sides.

      54. Anonymous Farnese Heracles, copy after a Greek original created during the 5th century B.C.E. Marble, h: 313 cm. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples (Greece). Greek Antiquity.

      Here, Heracles rests after obtaining the apples of the Hesperides, which he holds in his right hand. The sculpture is a Roman copy in marble of a Greek bronze original, usually attributed to Lysippos, a sculptor of the fourth century B.C.E. The weight of the figure is borne almost completely by Heracles’ right leg and by the club, covered with his signature lion skin, on which he leans. The exaggerated contrapposto, or shift in weight, that results is typical of fourth-century B.C.E. sculpture. However, the heavy, muscled form is not. The uncharacteristic weightiness of the figure may be due to the subject, the notoriously strong Heracles. Or, it may be an exaggeration created by the Roman copyist, in response to the aesthetic ideals of the Roman audience. The weighty realism of this piece inspired artists of the Italian Renaissance and later periods after it was discovered in the ruins of the Baths of Caracalla in Rome in the sixteenth century.

      55. Anonymous. Marsyas, copy after a Greek original created around 450 B.C.E. by Myron. Marble. Museo Gregoriano Profano, Vatican (Italy). Greek Antiquity.

      Like Myron’s Discobolus, his Marsyas, pictured here, is shown in a dramatic stance that marks an important departure from the stiff, frontal poses of Archaic statues. The Roman copy in marble requires a strut for support, but the bronze original would have appeared even more dynamic, delicately balanced on the balls of his feet. The subject has been identified as Marsyas, a satyr, who at the moment shown, has spotted a reed instrument upon the ground, discarded by Athena. He is poised in motion, recoiling in surprise at his good luck, but momentarily fearful of taking the precious item. He will pick it up and become of a master of the instrument, but in the way of Greek tragedy, his gift will be his downfall. Hubris, or pride, leads him to challenge the god of music, Apollo, to a contest. He loses, of course, and is flayed alive as punishment.

      56. Anonymous. Riace Bronze A, Roman copy after a Greek original created around 450 B.C.E. by Phidias. Bronze, h: 198 cm. Museo Nazionale, Reggio Calabria (Italy). Greek Antiquity.

      57. Anonymous. Riace Bronze B, Roman copy after a Greek original created around 450 B.C.E. by Phidias.Bronze, h: 197 cm. Museo Nazionale, Reggio Calabria (Italy). Greek Antiquity.

      A sunken treasure, this bronze statue was pulled from the sea, having been lost in a shipwreck in antiquity. Ironically, its loss in the sea resulted in it being one of the few bronze statues to survive from antiquity, since it was never melted down for its valuable metal. The warrior is one of a pair that has been attributed to the fifth century B.C.E., or High Classical Period. In this piece we can see the ideals of High Classical period sculpture fully realised. At the same time realistic and idealistic, the sculpture shows a lifelike, but perfect, body, each muscle articulated, the figure frozen in a relaxed, life-like pose. The solid, athletic body reflects the ideal of a young athlete, although this figure represents an older warrior, who once would have held a spear and a shield. The nudity of the figure also alludes to the athlete, who in Greece would have practised or competed in the nude, and also to the mythical hero, a reminder that the man represented here was no ordinary warrior, but a semi-divine hero, an appropriate offering for one of the great sanctuaries of the Greek world.

      58. Anonymous. Zeus or Poseidon, Cape Artemision, c. 460 B.C.E. Bronze, h: 209 cm. National Archaeological Museum, Athens (Greece). Greek Antiquity.

      59. Anonymous. Youth of Antikythera, middle of the 4th century B.C.E. Bronze, h: 194 cm. National Archaeological Museum, Athens (Greece). Greek Antiquity.

      60. Anonymous. Battle of the Lapiths and the Centaurs, south metope No.29, Parthenon, Athens (Greece), c. 446–438 B.C.E. Marble, h: 134 cm. The British Museum, London (United Kingdom). Greek Antiquity.

      61. Anonymous. Battle of the Lapith and the Centaurs, south metope No.30, Parthenon, Athens (Greece), c. 446–438 B.C.E. Marble, h: 134 cm. The British Museum, London (United Kingdom). Greek Antiquity.

      62. Anonymous. A Lapith tackles a Fleeing Centaur and prepares to Strike a Decisive Blow, south metope No.27, Parthenon, Athens (Greece), c. 446–438 B.C.E. Marble, h: 135

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