1000 Portraits of Genius - Victoria Charles The Book

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ritual gesture of offering perfume that, along with the sharing of wine, was part of traditional funeral ceremony. The casket and lid are decorated with bright paintwork, now partially disappeared, that adds to the elegance of the ornaments as well as the details in the fabric and the hair. The style of this particular sculpture shows strong influence from Eastern Greece, particularly from the Ionians, which can be seen from the smiling faces and full forms of the two figures, but there are also very prominent Etruscan features such as the lack of formal coherence, the way the legs received less sculptural volume and the emphasis on the gestures of the deceased.

      45. Statue of Latona Bearing the Infant Apollo, Portonaccio temple, Veio, Etruria, Etruscan, c. 525–500 B.C.E. Acroterion terracotta statue. Museo di Villa Guilia, Rome.

      46. Archermos of Chios (?) (active around 550 B.C.E.), Kore 675 or Chiotissa Kore, Athenian Acropolis, Greek, Chian (?), Archaic style, c. 520–510 B.C.E. Marble, height: 54.5 cm. Acropolis Museum, Athens.

      47. The Euthydikos Kore or Kore 685 also called “The Sulky Kore”, Athenian Acropolis, Greek, Severe style, c. 490 B.C.E. Parian and pentelic marble, height: 122 cm. Acropolis Museum, Athens.

      48. Kore 674, Acropolis, Athens, Greek, Attic, Archaic style, c. 500 B.C.E. Marble, height: 92 cm. Acropolis Museum, Athens.

      49. Head of a Kouros, Marzabotto, Etruria, Greek, Ionian, Archaic style, c. 500 B.C.E. Marble of Cycladic provenance, height: 17.2 cm. Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Marzabotto, Marzabotto.

      50. Blond Kouros’s Head, Athenian Acropolis, Greek, Severe style, c. 485 B.C.E. Marble, traces of paint, height: 25 cm. Acropolis Museum, Athens.

      51. Bust of Herodotus, Benha, former Athribis, Egypt, Greek, Late Classical style, Roman copy (2nd century C.E.) of an original from the late 5th century B.C.E. Marble, height: 47.6 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

      52. The Celtic Prince of Glauberg, outside the larger tumulus, Glauberg, Celtic, Early La Tène style, 5th century B.C.E. Sandstone, height: 186 cm. Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt.

      53. Kritios (?) (active around the 5th century B.C.E.), The Kritios Boy, Athenian Acropolis, Greek, Athenian, Severe style, c. 480–470 B.C.E. Paros marble, height: 117 cm. Acropolis Museum, Athens.

      54. The Charioteer of Delphi or Heniokhos (rein-holder), Delphi, Greek, Severe style, c. 478 or 474 B.C.E. Bronze, height: 180 cm. Delphi Archaeological Museum, Delphi.

      Delphi was a pan-Hellenic sanctuary, a place where people from all over the Greek world would gather to worship, consult the oracle, and participate in the Pythian games, held every four years. The games were comprised of music and sporting events, including chariot racing. This sculpture was part of a group dedicated to commemorate a victory in a chariot race, we are told by the inscription preserved on the piece. In addition to the chariot driver, there were horses, a chariot, and a groom. The lavish expenditure on the life-size monument would have represented not only the victory in the race, but also the great wealth of the donor. The bronze figure was enlivened with inlay of silver, copper, and stone in the teeth, headband, and eyes. The deep, straight folds of the drapery are in keeping with the Early Classical, or Severe, style of sculpture.

      55. Symposiast (detail), south wall, Tomb of the Diver, Paestum, Greek, Classical style, c. 470 B.C.E. Fresco on limestone. In situ.

      56. Velia Velcha, right wall of the tomb of Orcus I or tomb of Velcha, Tarquinia, Etruscan, Hellenistic influence, 470–450 B.C.E. Paint: cinnabar, ochre, orpiment, calcite, copper, Egyptian blue. In situ.

      57. Statue of Zeus or Poseidon, bottom of the sea off Cape Artemision, in north Euboea, Greek, Severe style, c. 460 B.C.E. Bronze, height: 209 cm. National Archaeological Museum, Athens.

      Discovered off the coast of Cape Artemision in 1926, this statue (which is also referred to as the Artemision Bronze) is the subject of much speculation and debate, specifically, about whether the statue represents Zeus or Poseidon. The source of the confusion surrounds whether the missing object in the statue’s right hand is a trident (indicating Poseidon) or a lightening bolt (indicating Zeus).

      Though it was found in the sea, and the pose is similar to that which is found on the Poseidonia coins, many scholars note that a trident would obscure the best view of the statue – its profile – and thus, it is more likely that the statue is a portrayal of Zeus, especially when one considers the numerous smaller bronzes which have been found wielding lightening bolts in the same fearsome pose.

      58. Riace Warrior A, found in the sea off Riace, Italy. Greek, Severe style, c. 460 B.C.E. Bronze, height: 198 cm. Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia, Reggio Calabria.

      59. Myron (active during the second half of the 5th century B.C.E.), Discobolus Palombara (Discus thrower), 1st century Roman copy after a Greek original, Severe style, 460–450 B.C.E. Marble, height: 148 cm. Museo Nazionale Romano, Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome.

      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.

      MYRON

      (ACTIVE DURING THE SECOND HALF OF THE 5th CENTURY B.C.E.)

      Myron, was a Greek sculptor from the second half of the fifth century B.C.E who worked almost exclusively in bronze. Though he did create sculptures of both gods and heroes, his reputation rests essentially on his representations of athletes, a domain where he is considered to be revolutionary because of the audacious poses and rhythms of his subjects. His most famous pieces are of Ladas, the runner who died at the moment of his victory and the discus thrower, Discobolus.

      60. Phidias (c. 480–430 B.C.E.), Apollo Parnopios, early 2nd century C.E. Roman copy of a Greek original, c. 450 B.C.E. Pentelic marble, height: 197 cm. Staatliche Museen, Kassel.

      PHIDIAS

      (ATHENS, c. 488 B.C.E. – OLYMPIA, c. 430 B.C.E.)

      Phidias is universally known and considered as the most important Greek sculptor of his time. His oldest masterpieces were created in memory of the Battle of Marathon. He also erected a colossal bronze effigy of Athena on the Acropolis in Athens that was so high that it was visible at sea. It is because of his gold, bronze and ivory statues that he has been exceedingly praised since Antiquity. Art critics hold his work in high esteem particularly because of his aesthetic and the consistent moral content in his work.

      61. Kresilas (c. 5th century B.C.E.), Bust of Pericles, Roman copy after a Greek original, Classical style, c. 430 B.C.E. Marble, height: 48 cm. Museo Pio-Clementino, Vatican City.

      62. Kresilas

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