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RM2AXE6DC–Greek bronzes . e beard has beenworked with almost microscopic faithfulness, and yet with perfectfreedom of touch; the minutest folds of the drapery have been followedfrom their origin to their final disappearance into some other larger fold,or into airy nothingness. These are facts which suit no Greek sculptor,of whose practice we know from ancient writers, better than Lysippos.He was famed for a combination of minute finish and a rigorous systemof proportions. He was the most prominent sculptor at the time atwhich we should place these bronzes from other considerations, andwithout claiming h
RM2AXE8GW–Greek bronzes . erence of opinion. In the list of bronze statuesby Praxiteles, Pliny mentions a figure which he calls a Pseliumene, that isto say, a woman or goddess wearing or putting on an armlet. It hasbeen argued that this Greek epithet may mean also the putting on of anecklace, and that this is the action of our bronze. I doubt if this canbe right. The action is more like a reminiscence of the Diadumenos ofPolycleitos, both hands being raised as if just having finished thefastening of a diadem or ribbon round the head. In our bronze themovement of the arms is practically the same as in th
RM2AXE956–Greek bronzes . Fig. 27.—Marble Statue. Apollo Sauroctonos. Louvre. foil to the delicate modelling of the bodily forms. And when we thinkof it, that was a great change from the treatment of drapery in theParthenon sculptures, where the presence of drapery is never accidental,but always shares in the dignity and solemnity of the figure. Even in 68 GREEK BRONZES the draped figures of Praxiteles as in the Muses of Mantinea, we see thathe had created a new type which differs from that of the Parthenon inas-. FiG. 28.—Apollo. From Tkessaly. British Museu?n. much as it is a special study of a draped
RM2AXE5N2–Greek bronzes . y, if we think of the elaborate extent withwhich the cuirass is decorated with patterns, inlaid partly in silver and partlyin a sort of enamel, the leaves of the rosettes being alternately of enameland silver. I take this figure first, because it seems to stand on the borderbetween pure classic workmanship and native art. It has been describedas a portrait of a Roman Emperor or an imperial personage of some sort ;but an insuperable obstacle to its being an imperial Roman is that thehair is bound by a simple ribbon or diadem, whereas the Roman emperorswore wreaths, usually of la
RM2AXEM5T–Greek bronzes . ly in thegigantic knot into which thelions skin is fastened on thebreast of Heracles. Thebody is thrust forward as ifswelling with life. The headis turned violently to theside, the features much ex-aggerated. The whole figureis an instance of breakingaway from traditional canonsof art without being able asyet to substitute another butequally inflexible set of rules.A more agreeable effect isproduced by our third figure(Fig. 10) — a young manholding in his hand a sword,the blade of which has beenbroken off. In his limbs andbodily forms there is a youth-ful sensitiveness which re
RM2AXEWR1–Greek bronzes . . /5/7//.i//,V;//.v X yf/r/f/fn- V yh/f/n, iA.r/// ltv////rf/, v ^). ( GREEK BRONZES By A. S. MURRAY, LL.D., F.S.A Keeper of Greek and Roman Antiquities in the British Museumgreekbronzes00murr
RM2AXEA1Y–Greek bronzes . om right to left, which we know was thedirection always associated with a good omen in the minds of the Greeks.Li the left hand of the god was a sceptre, glittering with various metalsand surmounted by an eagle. The coin omits the eagle, and of coursecan give no equivalent for the metal inlays. The sandals were of gold.As regards the himation worn by the god, ancient writers tell us that itwas richly enamelled, but say nothing of how it was disposed on thefigure. For that we must rely principally on the coin. There we seethat the himation is disposed in the manner usual with Ph
RM2AXEEGY–Greek bronzes . Fig. 15.—Marble Statue: Diadumenos of Vaison.British Museum. Fig. 16.—Marble Statue. DiadumenosFarnese. British Museum. than his time we occasionally find a close approach to this attitude. Ithink that the true significance of his innovation can only be fullyrealised when, taking as an illustration of it the Diadumenos, we observehow, by means of the raised arms, the whole figure is thrown into amomentary poise which at once arrests the attention. Of the Diadumenos, or youth binding round his hair a diadem won 44 GREEK BRONZES in athletic games, several ancient copies exist in
RM2AXE5A2–Greek bronzes . ^<. Fig. 37.—Gaulish Statuette of Bacchus. British Museum. Bacchus holding in his right hand a wine-cup. But the wine-cup or can-tharus which he holds is not of the shape proper to Bacchus. It is, in fact, asmall amphora. No classical artist could have ever made that mistake. Thefigure itself has obviously been studied from a Greek original. Yet it isthroughout pervaded by a difference of artistic feeling, which it is easierto recognise than to define—a difference such as we perceive often in 90 GREEK BRONZES literature between an excellent translation and the original. The
RM2AXE7W0–Greek bronzes . ^- ^ GREEK BRONZES 73 its soft tresses carried back from the brow and bound in the simplestpossible manner with a narrow fillet.. Fig. 30.—Marble Statue of an ylpoxyomenos. Vatican Museum. After Praxiteles a number of years elapsed before the next great sculptor,Lysippos, appeared on the scene. He had been exclusively a sculptorin bronze, and one would expect to find among the many bronzes of our 74 GREEK BRONZES museums not a few specimens directly traceable to his influence, the moreso as he had been productive to an extraordinary degree, and becausehis works were in demand f
RM2AXEDRG–Greek bronzes . e,that of the Vaison statue, exists in a number of ancient replicas, it hasbeen argued that the Vaison statue, with its kindred, should be taken asrepresenting the original of Polycleitos, and the Farnese statue referred tosome other sculptor. We know, for instance, that Pheidias had made astatue of a Diadumenos, but it is not pretended that his hand is dis-coverable in the Farnese figure, though we cannot altogether deny thatunder its very poor execution there may lie a blundered survival of hisstatue. Nor does the Farnese figure answer in any way to what we know GREEK BRONZES
RM2AXE4B1–Greek bronzes . Fig. 39.—Gaulish Statuette of Mars. British Museum. GREEK BRONZES 97 of Ogmios. Astonished at so singular a conception, Lucian in-quired of an educated Gaul what might be the meaning of the picture,. Fig. 40.—Gaulish Heracles. Bronze Statuette found at Vienne in France.and was told it was a representation of the power of eloquence to draw men. But Lucians picture of Ogmios is hardly more curious than a bronze G 98 GREEK BRONZES statuette found some years ago at Vlenne in France (Fig. 40). It is a figure ofHeracles of a good classical type, though with the usual differences of s
RM2AXE5XR–Greek bronzes . Fig. 34.—-Bronze Relief. Greek striking down an Jtnazon. Fourth Century B.C. British Museum. GREEK BRONZES 8S make a commemorative group of Alexander and those who were nearesthim in the fight, in all, twenty-five figures, each a portrait. That. Fig. 35.—-Alexander the Great. Large Bronze Statuette. Naples Museum. group was erected in Macedonia, but subsequently was carried off byMetellus to Rome, and possibly the Naples bronze represents the centralfigure of that composition. VI Gaulish Bronzes Certain ancient writers attribute to the Gauls the invention of enamellingand niell
RM2AXEN5J–Greek bronzes . r a new impulse toexpress, if possible, something of the inner forceof organic human life. It must have been justabout this time that the Greek sculptor Antenorappeared upon the scene—he who made for theAthenians a bronze group of the Tyrannicides,Harmodios and Aristogeiton, in the act of slayingthe tyrant Hipparchos in the streets of Athens.We are told that during the brief period whenthe Persian king, Xerxes, held possession ofAthens, he carried off that group, that subsequently a copy of itwas made by two sculptors working conjointly, and that finally, afterthe conquest of A
RM2AXEAN0–Greek bronzes . atment, and equally so isthe face of the goddess. Thequestion is how to reconcile thisslight archaism with Pheidias.Before we say that this is impos-sible, there are several things to betaken into consideration. In thefirst place, we have as yet noauthentic copy of any statue inbronze by him, and cannot sayhow he may have chosen to renderhis draperies while working in thatmaterial. But what is more to thepoint is that the bronze Promachosmay have been a work of his earlyperiod when Greek sculpture wasstill in a measure under the influ-ence of the archaic school in whichhe himse
RM2AXEHK7–Greek bronzes . reek his action of holding up a flower.His body outlined against the background of the spreading wings, andthese wings elaborately delineated as a foil to the simple lines of the body,the face of a large, full type—these are characteristics singularly Greek.Yet the drawing is Etruscan. For instance, one cannot imagine a Greek ^leaving out the lines which should have indicated the bones of the chest,and indeed almost the whole of the inner markings proper to a figure inthis movement. Yet these lines have been purposely omitted for the sake GREEK BRONZES ZZ of a particular effect
RM2AXEP93–Greek bronzes . of sculptors are not so easilychanged as those of poets. We begin with a figure which has been longer and more widely knownthan any other ; and the reason is this, that up to now it is the best copyin existence of a particularly famous statue. We are told that Darius, Kingof Persia, when he sacked the town of Miletus in 494 B.C., carried offfrom a neighbouring temple, long famous for its oracle, a bronze statue ofApollo, the work of a Greek sculptor, Canachos. After a lapse of nearlytwo centuries, when Persia had been forced to yield to the Macedonianconquest, the statue was re
RM2AXE4J1–Greek bronzes . norance coupled with artistic perception. Heracles came nearest in the minds of the Gauls and Britons to whatthey conceived their Supreme Deity to be like. But in most cases theydid not keep too close to the classical model, rather introducing variationssuitable to their own ideas and circumstances. They called HeraclesOgmios, and we have in the Greek writer Lucian {Heracles) a descriptionof a picture of that deity which may be taken as perhaps an extremeinstance of the freedom the Celtic artists allowed themselves in adding tothe Greek type. The Heracles or Ogmios which Lucian
RM2AXED69–Greek bronzes . thatthese characteristics were rightly described by ancient writers as manly.It seems to me probable that the ancient copyist, in reproducing theheads of Polycleitos, had been more faithful than in the bodily forms,just because of the peculiar expression by which they were recognisable.But I do not feel the same confidence as to their fidelity in reproducingthe bodily forms and proportions. It is no doubt true that the measure-ments of the Diadumenos and the Doryphoros, with their replicas, workout in a fairly satisfactory manner, whether we take the foot, the palm,or the digit
RM2AXEGDD–Greek bronzes . had settled among theEtruscans, and had there introduced their art (Pliny, xxxv. 152). Thereis no reason to doubt the authenticity of this tradition, or to assume thatit had been invented by the Greeks as a sort of claim of superiority orprecedence on their part over the Etruscans, because the story is not toldprimarily in connection with these artists. They only come in incidentallyas having accompanied in his exile from Corinth Damaratos from whomdescended Tarquin, the King of Rome. Artists do not usually expatriatethemselves among barbarians. When they leave their home they
RM2AXEMXG–Greek bronzes . Fig. 6. Archaic Greek Bronze.British Museum. 24 GREEK BRONZES These statues are known from ancient copies, and as regards one of themwe may very confidently say that no better comparison for it couldbe found than our bronze statuette. The type of head is differentto some degree, and the action of the figure is not quite the same.. Fig. 7.—Archaic Greek Bronze. British Museum. Yet in both figures we have a striking similarity even in conception,still more in the rendering of the bodily forms. There can be nodoubt for a moment that our bronze belongs to exactly the period atwhich
RM2AXE72W–Greek bronzes . to believe, had not been a portrait in a strict sense, but rather anideal figure, which some people, as Pliny says, had identified as Phryne.A close observer of passing shades of character or of emotion, Praxiteleswas, so far, rightly classed along with Lysippos as regards truth to nature,the one more in a spiritual, the other more in a physical sense. Among the bronze statuettes, which it is usual to identify with the styleof Lysippos, is a figure of Poseidon found at Dodona towards the end of thelast century, and now in the British Museum (Fig. 32). Li the statuette thegod st
RM2AXETDF–Greek bronzes . GREEK BRONZES Archaic Statuettes—General Remarks In a large collection of ancient bronze statuettes, such as that of. the British Museum, there are necessarily many which have no particular merit as works of art, yet even the most insignificant of them may here and there be of service to an artist. Let me give an instance. We have a very small bronze of a Gaulish woman—apparently a prisoner of war—which hardly any one would think of stopping to look at (Fig. i). It happens, however, that a distinguished French sculptor, M. Chapu, caught sight of this figure, and made a sketch o
RM2AXE6AM–Greek bronzes . c//7 ///f/rfy.. Fig. 34.—-Bronze Relief. Greek striking down an Jtnazon. Fourth Century B.C. British Museum. GREEK BRONZES 8S make a commemorative group of Alexander and those who were nearesthim in the fight, in all, twenty-five figures, each a portrait. That
RM2AXEM5H–Greek bronzes . f proportion such as the Greek of thattime possessed. He exaggerates not only thesize of the calf but the effect of its weight inpressing downwards the head of the figure.Neither of these things is to be seen in the con-temporary Greek statue on the Acropolis ofAthens. In the face of the bronze much atten-tion is given to minute details, as if it were there—in the face—principally that the key to the action was to be found.Consistently with this view everything is eliminated from the bodilyforms which was not absolutely necessary to convey the general impression.We may now take
RM2AXEKG9–Greek bronzes . s the figure, passing over the left shoulder. But the folds ofthis upper himation are indicated with much greater freedom and greaterattention to natural effect than in the Greek bronze, which veryprobably is due to the influence of a somewhat later stage of art.The massive fold which runs diagonally from the left shoulderacross the body is quite different in form from anything in Greeksculpture. For one thing it is much ruder, and for another the patternof circles incised upon it appears on the outside of the fold at one partand on the inside at another. Similarly, where the i
RM2AXENRB–Greek bronzes . ulptor Daidalos had fashioneda pair of wings for his son Icaros, who, having soared aloft gaily for aspace, at last reached a point where the artificial wings gave way, where-upon he fell headlong into the sea. If we may judge from ancient repre-sentations, the wings of Icaros are supposed to have been attached to hisarms at the shoulders and wrists, much in the manner of the right armand wing of our bronze, and in accordance with the general rule of figuresof this class. The exceptions are few where the wings start in the frontof the body as if springing from the chest bones,
RM2AXENWM–Greek bronzes . ading the wings sidewards. Truth of that kind was of less import-ance to them than the beauty of the wings themselves, with their longsweeping lines enclosing narrow, flat surfaces which lie contiguously, andappealed irresistibly in an early stage of art, when artists did not carefor more truth to Nature than what was necessary for the moment. Another delight of those early sculptors was in the contrasts whichthey found, or established, between the more or less horizontal lines of GREEK BRONZES 17 the wings and the vertical lines of the drapery as seen in the bronze.The effect
RM2AXEB4H–Greek bronzes . Fig. 21.—Marble Jtkene Parthenos.Athens. Fig. 22. Athen} Parthenos. Bronze Statuette.British Museum. that they are each and all perfectly consistent with the time and mannerof Pheidias. They are not to be classed with those capricious changesin the aspect of Athene which occur in late Greek art. In my judgmentthe whole statuette is as true to the style of Pheidias as could be expectedof so minute a figure. 56 GREEK BRONZES We are accustomed to think of Pheidias as a sculptor of colossalstatues of gold and ivory, or of great compositions in marble brightenedby colour and by acce
RM2AXEF7M–Greek bronzes . go beyond beardless youth. It is said that Lysippos and Praxitelesapproached most nearly to the truth of nature. From other ancient sources we know that one of the services of Poly-cleitos was that he had worked out for the use of sculptors a set of rules,which the Greeks called a canon, for the construction of the human figure.But a set of rules or system of proportions can only be of use to artistsif it is based on a wide generalisation and on a multitude of observationsand measurements of men as they are. If that was the method employedby Polycleitos, we can understand how c
RM2AXE56X–Greek bronzes . ). In any case it is an archaic Greek element whichpredominates in our statuette. The girdle round the waist, with its threeclasps fastened in front, corresponds perfectly to archaic bronze girdles inthe British Museum. The short chiton, drawn tightly across the body andgathered in folds at the sides, was not worn by Heracles except in archaicGreek art of about the sixth century b.c. The short body of the figure,in striking contrast to the long massive legs, is obviously archaic. Equallyso is the manner of standing with both feet flat on the ground. The wayin which the lion*s s
RM2AXE776–Greek bronzes . Fig. 30.—Marble Statue of an ylpoxyomenos. Vatican Museum. After Praxiteles a number of years elapsed before the next great sculptor,Lysippos, appeared on the scene. He had been exclusively a sculptorin bronze, and one would expect to find among the many bronzes of our 74 GREEK BRONZES museums not a few specimens directly traceable to his influence, the moreso as he had been productive to an extraordinary degree, and becausehis works were in demand far and wide. But there are difficulties. Takefor instance the statue of a young athlete scraping his arm with a strigil,usually ca
RM2AXECBD–Greek bronzes . e gave more attention thanany one of his time to a truthful re-presentation of external details, caringlittle for the expression of character.In his statues of athletes his first aimwas a telling and effective composi-tion, with greater variety of actionthan Polycleitos allowed himself, butapparently with less refinement. Itwas Myron who first concentratedupon single statues the variety ofmovement which in older art wasspread over many figures. His philo-sophy of life was to see the greatestpossible display of action in one figure,and directed to one purpose. We must remember t
RM2AXEJFK–Greek bronzes . the highlycivilised nations of the East, and to assume that this same distinguishingquality was likely to hold good also as against the nations of the Westsuch as the Etruscans, because we know how the Etruscans admired andcoveted these products of Greek genius, and how direct and intimate weretheir relations with the Greeks. There must have been some radicaldifference in the artistic instincts of the two peoples. One would suppose that the faculty of incising designs on bronzewas practically the same as drawing with a fine brush on a terra-cottavase. In each case success depen
RM2AXE906–Greek bronzes . FiG. 28.—Apollo. From Tkessaly. British Museu?n. much as it is a special study of a draped figure. Another point is theeasy attitude of the Hermes, suggestive almost of indolence, or at allevents of a happy nature. In others of the statues by Praxiteles, known. Fig. 29.—Bronze Statuette. Aphrodite Pourtdes. British Museum. GREEK BRONZES 71 to us from ancient copies, this ease of attitude is more strongly marked.But from this point of view the most interesting of his works is the statueof Apollo Sauroctonos (Fig. 27), known to us from several copies in marble,and from one, a lar
RM2AXE6MN–Greek bronzes . Fig. T,2.--Bronze Statuette from Dodona {Paramythia), Poseidon. Ancient base British Museum. Ok. Fig. 33.—Bronze Statuette frofn Dodona {Paramytbia). Touth pouring Libation. British Museum. .*^./ilL: ? H^l ^^^^^^^^^^J*^ ^^^^^^^^H 7f>frj.Crlts. y/i.Jc. ^£./ys, ^frc^ri t/Am/^iU GREEK BRONZES 8i head and abundance of hair. The sculptor could not change that type.Lysippos was famed above his contemporaries for minute finish down tothe smallest details. Another ancient statuette could not be foundwhere this is more admirably exemplified. The hair and beard arefull of the most b
RM2AXE977–Greek bronzes . Fig. 26.—Hermes by Praxiteles. Olympia. think, be traced to any other than Praxiteles himself. Similarly, themotive or action of the Hermes is exactly of that very slight kind whichwe expect from that sculptor more than any other. Hermes, as we now GREEK BRONZES 67 know, had held up in his right hand a bunch of grapes, and is watchingits effect on the infant god of the vine. The drapery hanging on a treestem, however beautifully executed, is only an accessory, serving as a. Fig. 27.—Marble Statue. Apollo Sauroctonos. Louvre. foil to the delicate modelling of the bodily forms. A
RM2AXEC0K–Greek bronzes . Fig. 19.—Greek Bronze. British Museum. GREEK BRONZES 51 seems improbable, however true it may be to fact. That is a principle ofart laid down by Aristotle, and one of his instances is that of the hind withstags antlers, which seems likely enough but is not true.. Fig. 20.—Bronze Marsyas. British Museum. We are more fortunate in possessing a bronze figure of the Satyr Marsyas(Fig. 20), which, to some extent, may fairly be traced back to Myron.The style is doubtless much later. It cannot in fact be earlier than the 52 GREEK BRONZES third or at most the fourth century b.c. There w
RM2AXEGXH–Greek bronzes . Fig. 12.—Etruscan Mirro?. British Museu?n. we see him on archaic Greek vases, and it is possible that so far the figurehas been based on Perseus. But apart from the identification of the figureon the mirror, I think we have already seen enough to recognise in it astriking combination of the influence of Greek drawing and Etruscanindividuality. On the other mirror (Fig. 13), the central figure is again one of thosemuch-winged beings of archaic art—Greek as well as Etruscan. Thepeculiarity in this instance is that the wings spring from her waist and not 34 GREEK BRONZES from the
RM2AXEWAJ–Greek bronzes . . LONDONSEELEY AND CO., LIMITED, GREAT RUSSELL STREET NEW YORK : THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1898 iHE LIBRARY BlilGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY PROVO, UTAH LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS COPPERPLATES PAGE I. Archaic Figure. Sixth Century b.c. British Museum . Frontispiece II. Hypnos, God of Sleep. Early Fourth Century b.c. British Museum . 72 [II. Zeus. From Dodona. British Museum . . .80 IV. Heroic Figure. British Museum . . . .82 ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT FIG. 1. Gaulish Female Prisoner. British Museum . 2. Bronze Mirror-case. Greek work, about 400 e.g. British Museum 3. Bronze Statuette. Apollo o
RM2AXEAB0–Greek bronzes . antiquity of all the works of Pheidias was hischryselephantine statue of Zeus at Olympia. Unfortunately we have nocopies of it, except on certain very rare coins of Elis, on one of whichan attempt is made to give a view of the statue in profile (Fig. 24), inanother, the head alone, also in profile. It is not, perhaps, surprising that no other copies of the great statueexist. We must remember that though Olympia was a great show-placewhere sculptures by the greatest artists of Greece were to be seen inprofusion, yet it was not an art centre. No sculptors were established GREEK B
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