Greek & Roman sculpture

Front matter

CORNELL

UNIVERSITY

LIBRARY

Contents

CHAP.

I. Ancient Art

II. Statues of Gods in the Fifth Century

Preface To First Edition

This convenient small edition of the Monuments of Greek and Roman Sculpture just published in folio form appears in accordance with the wishes of a large number of professors and teachers of higher education in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It should enable both teacher and student to form an idea of the contents of the large work.

The explanations and descriptions have been revised and improved by the authors, and translations of all the quotations in foreign languages have been added. The text is divided into ten groups arranged from an historical point of view and in regard to subject. Each of these groups is preceded by a new collective sketch which aims at a comprehensive view of the various examples from a broad and generalised standpoint. But at the same time the work still preserves its character as a collection of monuments and does not pretend to take the place of a complete history of the subject. These short articles are merely intended to give to each example its proper position in relation to the development of antique art. As all the principal periods are here presented the text of the groups constitutes a survey of the whole development of Greek and Roman sculpture.

Quotations from modern authors have been almost entirely avoided; only ancient writers are introduced in relevant passages. The special demands of schools and wider circles of cultured people have been kept in mind.

The pictorial part of the work has also been increased in this edition by one or two examples.

The two authors have worked on a mutually arranged plan in equal parts.

A. FuRTWANGLER and H. L. Urlichs.

Munich, June 1898.

Preface To Third Edition

The aim of this book in its enlarged edition, with revised text and additional illustrations, remains the same as before; by means of a careful and just selection of examples to give a general understanding of the antique in its historic development and aesthetic importance.

The original text of Furtwangler, whose premature death we aU deeply deplore, has been carefully and reverently revised; it has been altered as little as possible, though in many cases considerably amplified. Prominence is given to the disagreement of some of his colleagues with certain subjective opinions of the intrepid and enthusiastic investigator. In the completion of that part for which I alone am responsible Furtwangler's other works have been frequently referred to; in the case of the Aeginetan sculptures his publications have been the principal source. The latter remain for all time a permanent monument of energy and discrimination, of happy chance and inductive reasoning worthy of the great archaeologist.

Heinrich Ludwig Urlichs.

Munich, April 1911.

Art in Greece blossomed richly as early as the twentieth century B.C. It was the period of the so-called Mycenaean civilisation with its shining palaces, its gay coloured garments rich with golden ornaments, its beautiful weapons and vessels decorated with paintings and reliefs. The memory of this period lived on in the epic poems of the Greeks.

But although they were surrounded with art and beauty in that heroic age, monumental sculpture was still in its infancy. And even its beginnings were stunted as the Dorian migration was followed by a general retrogression of civilisation.

Plastic art only began to develop slowly and by degrees in the course of the seventh century b.c. It was not entirely a spontaneous growth, but stimulated from without by foreign examples, of which the connection of the lonians with the Asiatic hinterland and more particularly the knowledge of Egypt were fruitful sources of inspiration. For the single standing figure the formula of Egyptian art was adopted, and this had in the beginning a great influence on the fashioning of detail. But the Greek spirit rapidly made its own way, throwing over the dead abstract formula and giving expression to individual life.

An excellent work in which the main features of the

Egyptian prototype and the properties of the vivacious Greek spirit are recognisable is the statue on Plate I.

It is executed in the beautiful marble from the isle of Paros, which only began to be used for monumental sculpture towards the end of the seventh century. Earlier Greek sculptures were as a rule executed in wood or the inferior sorts of limestone, which the ancients termed " Poros." It was in the islands of Naxos and Paros, so rich in marble, that sculpture in marble was first developed. It began in Naxos, but its somewhat coarser material was in time superseded by the infinitely more beautiful Parian marble. This came to be widely exported, and in Attica nearly all the ancient sculpture which is not executed in the local limestone is wrought in this same Parian marble. It was only in the fifth century that sculpture profited by the beautiful marble of Pentelicus near Athens.

Together with stone sculpture developed the casting of larger statues in bronze. Samian artists seem to have learnt the art of casting in moulds in Egypt and introduced it into Greece. But it was towards the end of the sixth century that casting in bronze reached its fuU development and became from then the principal medium for single figures.

In ancient plastic art human beings were executed as monuments for tombs as well as offerings for shrines; gods and heroes were also represented either as temple statues or as votive gifts in the shrines. For the same purpose animal figures were also executed. Plate I. is a statue from a tomb, Plate II. and fig. i are votive offerings from a shrine.

In the temples that from the end of the seventh century were customarily erected out of massive stone-blocks in the place of the wood and clay that had satisfied the ancients, decorative sculpture had its most grateful opportunity. The pediment and metopes and sometimes the frieze were now

ANCIENT STATUE OE A YOUTH I'KOM TENEA

GI.VPTOTHI'IK, MUNICH covered with sculpture. Of Parian marble are the figures in the pediment of the temple of Aphaea at Aegina (Plates III. and IV. and figs. 4 and 5), a precious treasure of Archaic art at its best, excellent in its careful reproduction of natural forms and rhythmic action of the single figures and groups as in the vitality of the whole composition.

PLATE I

Ancient Statue of a youth from Tenea In the Glyptathek, Munich

This statue, about five feet in height, was discovered in 1846 in the neighbourhood of Corinth on the site of ancient Tenea, and was acquired by the Munich Glyptothek in 1853.

It is made of coarse-grained Parian marble. At the time of its discovery the arms and legs were broken in several pieces ; the middle of the right arm was missing and has been restored. The rest of the figure is in excellent preservation; particularly the head, which was found protected by an overturned earthenware vessel, and is fortunately quite uninjured.

The statue represents a youth of stiff upright carriage. The weight of the body rests on both feet, the left being slightly advanced; both touch the ground with the whole sole. The arms hang perfectly symmetrically straight down on either side, and both hands are clasped with the thumbs outwards. The hair is long and falls in a broad mass down the back. It is cut up in arbitrary waves, and like the lips and eyes was without doubt at one time painted. A band surrounding the head was also originally coloured.

The statue is commonly designated the " ApoUo of Tenea." It is certainly true that the type of youthful male figure before us is used in ancient Greek art for the god Apollo.

But it is equally used for the representation of men and heroes. In this case the circumstances of its discovery point decidedly to its being the statue of some departed mortal, for it was found in the Necropolis of Tenea on a tomb. The deceased is not, however, represented clothed as in life, but as an ideal nude figure, a higher being, a hero.

All the essentials of the scheme — ^with the exception of the complete nudity — are borrowed from Egyptian art; the first attempts of the Greeks in monumental statuary were based on Egyptian models. The execution in detail is pure Greek and markedly different from the habitual manner of the Egyptians. The youth is not merely put there as in similar Egyptian figures, but stands firmly, with knees pressed in, full of his own innate energy; and from the head there shines, instead of the insensible expression of the Egyptians, a ray of that free vital humanity that was to develop so gloriously in Greek art.

In the execution of the figure the legs are the most successful part. The small knees and ankles, the elegant feet, the strong fleshy muscles and their differentiation from the bony parts are surprisingly well rendered. The torso is far less perfect in execution; but even this, in contrast to its Egyptian prototype, shows an independent effort and individual observation of nature. Thus the thorax is essentially more accurately rendered than in the Egyptian type and in some older Greek works which follow this more closely.

The ideal before the artist is that of a young athleticallybuilt youth with a powerful chest and slim supple-jointed limbs, with nothing soft and flabby about him.

The work belongs to the end of the seventh or beginning of the sixth century b.c, and is in all probability an excellent example of the artists Dipoinus and Scyllis or their school working at that time in the neighbourhood of Tenea (Cleonae, Argos, Corinth, and Sicyonia). It is by far the finest example

PLATE II

ANCIENT STATUE OF A GIRL

ACROPOLIS MUSEUM, ATHENS extant of the now no longer rare type of ancient sculpture which stands at the beginning of the development of plastic art in Greece.

PLATE II

Ancient Statue of a Girl In the Acropolis Museum at Athens

In the Acropolis at Athens in the eighties of the last century a number of antique female statues were discovered, executed in fine Parian marble and to a certain extent preserving their original painted colouring. They were found in the so-called Persian ash-heap, that is the ashes left through the destruction of the citadel by fire by the Persians about 480 b.c.

One of the best of these pieces is reproduced on Plate II. The statue was found in 1886 in three separate fragments in the north-west of the Erectheum. It is a little under life-size.

The girl stands quite in the ancient manner with legs together. The right arm with closed fist hangs in imitation of the Egyptian model as in the figure of the youth shown on Plate I. The left forearm was horizontally extended and separately affixed; it has not been found. The clothing consists of an Ionic linen chiton which is only visible below in wavy lines, over it is drawn a woollen Doric peplum fastened on both shoulders. This is bound with a girdle both ends of which hang down in front; both before and behind the pep'um overlaps almost to the waist. Only on the upper arm and on either side of the girdle are there small flat folds in the peplum, the greater part of the drapery is represented quite flat.

This flatness of the drapery and the pose with the legs together are typical of early archaic art. The head on the

Fig. I. Maiden from the Acropolis.

Other hand is surprisingly refined in execution and life-like in expression. The statue is essentially later than the youth in Plate I.; the face and the treatment of the hair are in a considerably more advanced style. The artist had he wished could, like others of his contemporaries, have used a freer pose and folds in the drapery ; he has followed purposely in pose and drapery a decidedly earlier tradition. The effect he has achieved is indeed striking; the contrast of the stiff carriage and flat surfaces of the figure with the head sparkling with life is exceedingly captivating and makes this figure one of the most attractive among her comrades on the Acropolis.

Her hair hangs quite freely and loosely on her shoulders and far down her back ; it dispenses with all artificial arrangement.

A simple straight band lies in it.

The red colouring of the hair is well-preserved ; the iris of the eye is also red. On the drapery is some ornamentation finely painted with red and green; three broad stripes run downward from the girdle; and the hem below as well as that of the overlap exhibits a very dainty ornamentation. But the greater part of the drapery is like the flesh left simply white. As an example of a figure of the same period, but in a totally different convention, we give a second statue (fig. i) from the same excavation on the Acropolis. Until lately only the upper part of this figure was perfect, and the figure has

Fig. 2. Head of Fig. j.

only quite recently been completed through a happy adjustment of further fragments. The figure now with the left foot advanced and the drapery in rich folds held up by the left hand looks quite different in pose and dress from our Plate I. Slim and elegant she stands there tapering like a column. The position of the feet is stiU awkward — it is a weak attempt to express the action of walking. The strong and varied folds of the close-fitting drapery are engraved and show the form of the legs distinctly. The somewhat empty surfaces were originally enlivened with painting. The extended right hand probably held some fruit. This richly-clad maiden wears over the Ionic chiton an overdress across the breast, fastened on the right shoulder and hanging in elaborate folds. The head (fig. 2) with its dainty curls is adorned with a diadem.^ The expression of the face with its full sensuous lips is particularly pleasing. The borders of the draperies are, as in the statue in Plate II., embellished with coloured ornaments.

The true home of the artistic tendency displayed in this figure is undoubtedly Ionia, Asia Minor, and particularly the Island of Chios, while the style of the other statue (Plate II.) more probably grew up in detached islands like Naxos, and in the Peloponnesus.

The date of neither statue can be placed earlier than before the last quarter of the sixth century. We cannot give them any name but that of Kopai, " maidens " ; they are not goddesses but merely statues of maidens, dedicated to Athena. They are among the most precious things that archaic art has bequeathed to us.

' On the top of the head a long, sharp-pointed metal nail is inserted to protect the figure from birds. Cf. Horace, Satires, i, 8, 3-7.

_dH

EASTERX PEDIMENT OF

WESTERN PEDIMENT OF

FALLEN \\ARRIOR FROM WESTERN PEDIMENT

GLYPTOTHEK, jrUNICH

•LE OF APHAEA (RESTORED)

>LE OF APHAEA (RESTORED)

FALLEN WARRIOR FROM EASTERN PEDIMENT

GLYPTOTHEK, MUNICH

Fig. 3.

Complete Restoration of the Eastern Pediment of the Temple of Aphaea at Aegina.

PLATES III AND IV

The Pediments of the Temple of Aphaea at Aegina

On the island of Aegina opposite Athens, away from any large settlements, there rises in silent solitude a temple on a wooded height. There a fortunate fate preserved in a comparatively good condition the now world-famous Aeginetan sculptures. Rather more than a hundred years ago two architects, Cockerell an Englishman and Haller von Hallerstein of Nuremberg, inspired by a noble enthusiasm for the antique and full of the romantic feelings of youth, recovered from the undisturbed ruins of the temple the statues of fine Parian marble, under the gracious protection of Athena lo GREEK AND ROMAN SCULPTURE

Ergane. The acquisition in the teeth of their numerous competitors, the journey from Malta with storms at sea and dangers from pirates, the landing at Naples and the journey by land to Rome, all read like a modern Odyssey. The rescue was the work of the sculptor Martin von Wagner, the active and persistent agent of the Crown Prince Louis of Bavaria.^ The two discoverers, who were devoted friends and equally inspired by noble aims, remain to posterity a shining example and incentive to imitation. Honour is above all due to the art-loving prince, who immediately after their discovery realised the worth of the Aeginetan marbles and brought about their purchase. ' For since 1828 they have served in the Glyptothek at Munich as a very important example of the best archaic art, and have given two generations some acquaintance, however superficial, with this style. The " Aeginetan smile," which is the amiable expression of emotion, obtained among those ignorant of its intention an often almost comic interpretation. Ninety years after the first exploration the temple precincts were thoroughly examined under Furtwangler's energetic and careful guidance; by means of new discoveries and renewed investigation of the old material, the reconstruction has been accomplished on which our exposition is based. The models ^ in the Glyptothek, one-fifth the natural size, arouse a lively interest in all beholders, partly on account of the restoration of the

' After the successful purchase of the precious treasure in 1813, he expressed liis joyful thanks in a letter in the characteristic words: " Like Odysseus you have suffered much, Wagner, on my account, and I will not forget it as long as I live." The accompanying present, a gold watch, has on the back an " L " surrounded by the following inscription, slightly altered from Vergil (Aeneid, i. 204), " Post varies casus, post tot discrimina rerum " {" After manifold vicissitudes, after so many perils ").

" Fig. 2 represents the east front in restoration. Six columns, in the centre the graceful Palmette with two female figures, at each corner a gryphon. The metopes, of which not a trace has been found, perhaps consisted of painted wooden panels. The whole is an admirable example of the strictly regular Doric Order in severe, compact style.

ANCIENT ART ii

rich painting. Beside the harmonious completeness and rhythmic variety of the two pediments the scattered and defective parts of the original appear dull and tedious. Their restoration was carried out in Rome under Thorwaldsen's guidance in marble, in the manner of the time without much reverence for the pieces preserved. The name of the temple itself was also established during the Bavarian excavations ; the shrine, at first falsely attributed to Zeus Panhellenius, later with more apparent justification to Athena, is now through the discovery of an inscription proved to be the temple of Aphaea. The cult of this local goddess so highly esteemed on the island was introduced there by Cretan settlers in the early days of Greece, in the twentieth century B.C. For the then indigenous Aphaea a new house was built between 490 and 480 B.C. The style of architecture and sculpture point to this period; a more certain date is so far not possible.

We now turn to the consideration of the sculpture itself and begin with the composition. The very first glance informs us that the statues stand admirably in the space, which slopes steeply from the centre, adapting themselves architecturally to the pediment without appearing stiff, but rather suggesting the notion of vigorous life. Thus the difficult task of filling the narrow frame is solved. Within the pediment also the artists have striven for a great variety of subject and grouping, of arms and costume. Particularly the contrast in the general treatment of the two scenes obviates an all too easily possible monotony. In both the warrior-goddess stands among her heroes, in the first in a restful pose in which only the foot suggests a gentle walking action, the second time wildly advancing with the Aegis widely spread. She forms a fixed point in the centre and ensures the strict symmetry of the whole. In the western pediment there follows on either side an admirable group of three warriors; after an ancient formula two heroes fight over one lying on the ground. Then foUow two assailants advancing towards one already wounded. In this reclining figure, and in the shield and helmet at the end, the gradual abatement of the din of battle seems to be symbolically suggested, and at the same time the architectural difficulties of filling this portion successfully overcome.^

Though equally regular, the east front presents a more varied and spirited appearance; detachment instead of combination, more motley variety of movement, an almost elastic rising and falling of limbs like the waves of the sea. The groups on either side of the goddess are composed of four figures. A hero is sinking back in the act of receiving his death-blow from a victorious assailant, a squire hurries to his aid whilst an archer aims an arrow at the confident victor — a picture of heroism and fidelity in a simple form. And once more the heated battle softly dies away; far from the tumult two mortally wounded heroes breathe their last; weapons complete the whole.

The principal achievement of the artist lies in the spacefilling, as simple as it is ingenious, the happy result of mature consideration. The chief groups taken by themselves are quite successful compositions, and every part is worthy of examination in detail. The contrast of rest and action, of nudity and clothing, the variety of arms and weapons, everything awakens interest and attention. Sinking backwards, hurrying forwards, reclining, kneeling, and springing aside, every figure gives new delight ; each in its way is in pose and action a worthy achievement, the most ambitious of all being the splendidly successful rendering of the dying hero in the round. Looking at the whole composition, the beholder is

^ On account of certain discoveries and internal evidence a rearrangement of some of the figures has recently been made. The unarmed and defenceless corner figures have replaced the still armed and vigorous warriors between the fighters, and these fallen figures have been relegated to the cornel's.

carried away to the death-dealing wars of Troy and in his imagination many a verse or episode of the Iliad is there plastically embodied; more vividly in the presence of the brightly painted models.^ But the illustration of definite episodes is scarcely intended, the two pediments rather aim at a certain typical representation of the long and changeful struggle round the sturdy citadel. And this comprehensive picture is attained by small means, with twelve or thirteen figures. That the inc dents refer to Troy might be conjectured from the warlike nature of the subject, but it is definitely suggested by the last figure but one on the right of the eastern pediment (also reproduced in fig. 5). Heracles is recognisable by the lion's head in front of his helmet, of which it forms a part; he joined the Aeginetans with Telamon, son of Aeacus, against the Trojan prince Laomedon. The back pediment, therefore, can only refer to the later and more fa;mous expedition, wherein the heroes of the island, above all Ajax, son of Telamon, played a prominent part. The praise of this double deed of fame is loudly sung by Pindar,^ so that the sculptures as well as contemporary literature are evidence of the popularity of the legend. Its representation is well suited to keep alive the memory of their ancestors among this sturdy and energetic sea-folk. A more definite indication either of individual figures or exact illustrations of the epos lay neither in his commission nor in the mind of the sculptor. Every beholder, every inhabitant of the island was involuntarily reminded of the battles of Ilion and of the glorious deeds of his ancestors. More than this the art of that time did not aim at expressing, did not achieve.

A closer examination of single figures enables us to

• Remains of the original painting are still to be found on the marble; they were abundantly noticeable soon after the discovery of the sculptures.

^ Nemean Songs of Victory, iii. 36, iv. 24 et seq.; Isthmian, v. 35 fii seq. and vi. 2y et seq.

Fig. 4. Head and Shoulders of a Squire.

From the right-hand side of the Eastern Pediment.

appreciate the style. The figures are under life-size, the body short, the legs long; on the western pediment the outlines clean and precise, almost hard in comparison with the fuller, rounder forms of the eastern pediment ; in the latter, too, there is more expression in the spirited faces: a transitional style, a mingling of the ancient and the more advanced, an earnest struggle for perfection. The marble technique is boldly practised, competing with that of bronze; even extended limbs are executed without supports. There is scarcely a trace of a relief style of handling. The figures fully modelled in the round are placed free from the wall, mostly in profile, sometimes with a slight turn approaching full face, one or two in awkward positions: the western Athena sets her feet sideways, her body turned to the front. Keen observation, of nature, loving execution, and faithful render-

Fig. 5. Heracles with the Bow.

From the right-hand side of the Eastern Pediment.

ing of the nude distinguish these works of ripe archaic art. One never tires of studying the exuberant, often naively effective freshness of the faces; they are the buds which expanded and blossomed into the highest art. The bright joy of creation which inspired the master communicates itself to the spectator, particularly before the marbles in the Glyptothek. Every one who feels the charm of the antique will turn to these away from reproductions, and here a comparison with other sculpture in the Museum brings home to one the enormous difference between the original and the copy. It is impossible, in the absence of written evidence, to allocate the Aeginetan marbles to any school or particular artists ; in any case that sureness of technique and wonderful naturalism were only attainable by long practice, under the influence certainly of the eastern islands, of Ionia, of neighbouring Athens, and perhaps of a local tradition. Certain figures have been particularly famous in the past. The bearded warrior who, mortally wounded in the breast, still bears himself like a hero, arouses a strong .sympathy in the beholder, above all when one looks at the suffering face. The treatment of form is admirable; for example, the accurate rendering of the veins and muscles of the left leg. In the wounded youth, whose attitude with the right leg drawn across the left suggests convulsive pain, it is the face that in the first place attracts attention; though the tight-drawn open mouth betokens extreme pain, only repressed suffering is visible in the serious thoughtful glance.

This head with its protruding almond-shaped eyes remains a notable example of the ancient style. Very characteristic is the abundant hair, which forms two rows of curls in front and hangs down behind in a long broad mass ; a few stray locks of metal lay at one time on the breast. All the freshness of archaic art looks out of the face of the young squire (fig. 4) who hurries up and, bending forward, holds out to his staggering lord his fallen helmet. On the well rounded skull the hair is arranged as in the left-hand lower figure in Plates III. and IV., in the fashion of the period but treated in an artistic convention; it falls forward from the crown and is gathered in front in three rows of little curls, which are remarkable for their careful execution. The back of the head was painted, and from ear to ear runs a double plait. The figure is modelled fully in the round. In the Hvely expression of the face the eager zeal of the faithful servant is naively expressed. The kneeling archer (fig. 5) next to the dying warrior in the right-hand corner of the eastern pediment has always been counted a pearl of Aeginetan sculpture. Sure of aim, certain of victory, the young Heracles is here represented in the act of loosing his arrow. The pose itself is very striking. Only the ball of the right foot and the heel of the left touch the ground, even the right knee is clear. This gives such truth of movement, such elastic action to this athletically built hero, that one almost wonders if this is cold marble or warm pulsating life. " What expression of tension and energy, of pride and courage, of self-conscious confidence in the full mastery of muscle and limb that only gymnastic training can give ! There is no part of the body that does not show this tension. And so are all the Aeginetans. They know no giving way, no letting themselves go; only death can release the tension — a race never tired or weary, always gay and glad, always rejoicing in labour, always ready to put the whole sinewy body, steeled in muscular exercise, into the thing to be done."

Thus the study of the individual figures provides as much delight as the pediments as a whole in their reconstruction in the models. We are grateful for these fruits of investigation, and will now appreciate much better than our fathers and grandfathers the style and composition of the famous Aeginetan sculpture. And nowhere more than in Munich, where Ludwig I. of Bavaria has provided a distinguished and classical home by Klenze for this treasure of the antique. And yet these sculptures in all their glory of form and colour could only have had their full effect in the place for which they were made, in relation to the architecture for which they were designed. On the solitary heights of Aegina, in the clear light of the southern sun, they adorned the pediment of that Doric temple whose pale gleaming ruins to-day smile from afar a greeting to travellers by sea.