Читать книгу 1000 Erotic Works of Genius - Victoria Charles - Страница 3

1. Anonymous, The Venus of Willendorf, 30,000–25,000 B. C. E. Limestone with red polychromy, h: 11.1 cm. Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna (Austria).

Art has dealt with sexuality since its prehistoric beginnings. Though their purpose remains obscure, small Palaeolithic sculptures of women make up some of the earliest evidence of human existence, such as the so-called Venus of Laussel, whose stylised body with exaggerated hips and breasts have led to interpretations as a fertility figure and to her being named after the goddess of love. Much later on, the Minoan civilisation of ancient Crete created similar figures including tantalising statuettes such as the Snake Goddess. While more naturalistic than her prehistoric counterpart, the figure’s feminine attributes were still emphasised. Like her predecessors, the Snake Goddess’s function is unknown – even her identity as a goddess is uncertain.

Succeeding the Minoans in the Mediterranean, the Ancient Greeks developed a virtual cult of the body, particularly the male body. Their admiration of athletic prowess was reflected in their many idealised representations of nude young men. In the Archaic period life-size nude marble statues called kouroi marked the graves of youthful warriors. Polykleitos’ later sculpture, Doryphoros, based on his mathematical set of ideal proportions rather than actual bodies, showed the evolution of such figures into purely aesthetic expressions.

Although Ancient writers discussed many famous Greek paintings, no actual works have survived. Decorated ceramics, offering a wealth of erotic subjects and information on the culture that created them, are the primary surviving form of two-dimensional art from the time. The Greek practice of pederasty, in which an older man attached himself to a beautiful youth as a form of mentorship, was often depicted on vases, such as those by the Triptolemus Painter and the Brygos Painter. Patriarchal Greek society had little room for female sexual agency; females in Greek erotic scenes were usually prostitutes or deities. The beauty of Praxiteles’ fourth century B. C. Aphrodite of Knidos, the most famous sculpture of classical Antiquity, became a tourist attraction for the island and, according to Pliny, won the love of a man who attempted intercourse with it.

Drama and emotion characterised the Hellenistic phase of Greek art, as in the highly sensuous Barberini Faun. Part goat, his unfiltered sexuality and drunken allegiance to Dionysos highlight his animal nature. The famous Vénus de Milo was a graceful representation of Aphrodite showing the Hellenistic ideal of female beauty. As with nearly all free-standing Greek sculpture after the Archaic period, what survives today are largely Roman copies of the Greek originals.

In Italy, the Etruscans adapted many Greek ideas into their own culture, which offered considerably more status to women. Etruscan sarcophagi often depicted a man and woman together as a couple, and decorations in Etruscan tombs sometimes featured paintings of explicit or suggested sexual activity.

Their successors, the Romans, also respected and imitated many aspects of Greek culture. As more Roman art survived than Greek, we thus have more erotic scenes, particularly in painting. Excavations in Pompeii and Herculaneum have revealed the rich sexual culture of the Romans, often humorous in nature as in the depictions of Priapus, cursed with an eternal erection. Brothels often had erotic advertisements and interior decorations. Homosexual themes were not uncommon; the Warren cup depicted two male couples in coitus, and sculptures of Antinous, Emperor Hadrian’s young lover, abounded. Despite a tradition of realism, Roman depictions of bodies followed the Greek methods of idealisation. The classical model of Greece and Rome became the ideal of art and culture for centuries to come.

2. Anonymous, Venus of Laussel, c. 20,000–18,000 B. C. E. Limestone, 54 × 36 × 15.5 cm. Musée d’Aquitaine, Bordeaux (France).

3. Anonymous, Reclining Female Figure, Naxos (?) (Greece), 2,400–2,300 B. C. E. White marble, 36.8 × 11.3 × 3.2 cm. The Menil Collection, Houston (United States).

4. Anonymous, Statuette of a Snake Goddess, c. 1,600–1,500 B. C. E. Gold and ivory, h: 16.1 cm. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (United States).

5. Anonymous, The Cosmic Union of Geb and Nut (detail from an Egyptian papyrus), c. 1,025 B. C. E. Vignette, 53 × 93 cm. The British Museum, London (United Kingdom).

6. Anonymous, Skyphos with an Erotic Group (detail), c. 1 C. E.

7. Anonymous, Sarcophagus of a Couple from Cerveteri, c. 520–510 B. C. E. Painted terra-cotta, 111 × 194 × 69 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris (France).

Though their civilisation flourished alongside that of the Greeks, our limited understanding of Etruscan language and culture has left a veil of mystery over the people who lived in Italy before the Roman Republic. Their art was strongly influenced by that of the Greeks, as evidenced by this terracotta sarcophagus with its echoes of the style of the Greek Archaic period. In Etruscan sculpture, however, we find more lively subjects, like this couple, animated in their easy affection for each other. Like so much of Etruscan art, this is a funerary piece, designed for placement in one of the elaborate tombs the Etruscans carved out of the soft volcanic bedrock of central Italy. It reveals the Etruscan view of the afterlife: an eternal party, where men and women would lounge at a banquet, enjoying good food, drink, and the company of their loved ones.

8. Anonymous, The Sounion Kouros, c. 600 B. C. E. Marble, h: 305 cm. National Archaeological Museum of Athens, Athens (Greece).

9. Anonymous, Kleobis and Biton, Apollo Sanctuary, Delphi, c. 610–580 B. C. E. Marble, h: 218 cm. Archaeological Museum of Delphi, Delphi (Greece).

Kleobis and Biton are life-size statues that were found in the sanctuary at Delphi. An inscription identifies the artist as coming from Argos, on the Peloponnesus. The sculptures’ origin in Argos links them to the mythical twins Kleobis and Biton. These young men from Argos were said to pull a cart a full five miles in order to bring their mother to a festival dedicated to the goddess Hera. In return, Hera granted the men what was seen as a great gift: a gentle death while sleeping. The brothers fell asleep after the festival and never woke up. Their great strength, devotion to their mother, and their early deaths were memorialised in dedicatory statues offered at the great sanctuary at Delphi, according to the historian Herodotus. These statues, which may be those described by Herodotus, are close in date to the Dipylon Head and share the same Egyptian style and decorative, incised details.

10. Anonymous, The Kritios Boy, Acropolis, Athens, c. 480–470 B. C. E. Marble, h: 116 cm. Acropolis Museum, Athens (Greece).

11. Anonymous, Kouros, known as Apollo from Tenea, c. 560–550 B. C. E. Marble, h: 153 cm. Glyptothek, Munich (Germany).

12. Anonymous, Kroisos, Anavyssos, c. 525 B. C. E. Marble, h: 193 cm. National Archaeological Museum of Athens, Athens (Greece).

13. Euaichme Painter, Man Offering a Gift to a Youth, c. 530–430 B. C. E. Athenian red-figure vase. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (United Kingdom).

14. Anonymous, Man and Ephebe Having a Conversation, c. 420 B. C. E. Red-figure dish (detail). Musée Municipal, Laon (France).

15. Euphronios, Ephebes at the Bath, c. 1500–505 B. C. E. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin (Germany).

16. Anonymous, Satyr Playing the Flute, beginning of the Common Era. Attican Plate.

17. Triptolemus Painter, Attican cup. Museo Nazionale Tarquiniese, Tarquinia (Italy).

18. Anonymous, Scene of Debauchery, 510–500 B. C. E. Red-figure cup.

19. Brygos Painter, Erastes Soliciting an Eromenos. Attican cup. The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (United Kingdom).

20. Anonymous, The Battle Between the Lapiths and the Centaurs, West Pediment, Temple of Zeus, Olympia, c. 470–456 B. C. E. Marble, h: 330 cm. Archaeological Museum, Olympia (Greece).

21. Anonymous, 470 B. C. E. Bronze. Athen.

22. After Myron, Discobolus, c. 450 B. C. E. Marble, h: 148 cm. Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome (Italy).

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 first half of the 5th century B. C. E.)

Mid-fifth century B. C. E. Greek sculptor, Myron worked almost exclusively in bronze. Though he made some statues of gods and heroes, his fame rested primarily upon his representations of athletes, for which he proved revolutionary by introducing greater boldness of pose and a more ideal rhythm. His most famous works, according to Pliny, were a cow, Ladas the runner, who fell dead at the moment of victory, and a discus-thrower, Discobolus. The cow seems to have earned its fame largely by serving as a peg on which to hang epigrams, which tells us nothing of the animal’s pose. Of the Ladas, there is no known copy; we are fortunate, however, in possessing several copies of the Discobolus. The athlete is represented at the moment he has swung back the discus with the full stretch of his arm, ready to hurl it with all the weight of his body. His face is calm and untroubled, but every muscle in his body is focused in effort.

Another marble figure, almost certainly a copy of a work of Myron’s, is a Marsyas eager to pick up the flutes Athena had thrown away. The full group is copied on coins of Athens, on a vase and in a relief representing Marsyas as oscillating between curiosity and fear of Athena’s displeasure. His face of the Marsyas is almost a mask; but from the attitude we gain a vivid impression of the passions affecting him.

The ancient critics say of Myron that, while he succeeded admirably in giving life and motion to his figures, he failed in rendering the mind’s emotions. To a certain degree this agrees with the existing evidence, although not perfectly. The bodies of his men are of far greater excellence than the heads.

He was a somewhat older contemporary of Phidias and Polykleitos.

23. Anonymous, Dying Warrior, Corner Figure, East Pediment, Temple of Aphaia, Aegina, c. 500–480 B. C. E. Marble, h: 185 cm. Glyptothek, Munich (Germany).

Greek temples often featured large sculpture decorating the pediment, the triangular space under the eave of the roof. The first examples of pedimental sculpture show that the early artists were not adept at filling the awkward triangular space with a cohesive composition; the figures in the corners were shrunk to a diminutive scale in comparison to the central figures. However, in this pediment group from the end of the Archaic period, the sculptors showed new skill in conceiving the composition. The central figures, not shown, engage in lively battle, lunging and parrying with swords and shields. One archer crouches to take aim, his low position allowing him to fit into the smaller space toward the corner of the pediment. The Dying Warrior next to him fills that corner, the angle of his falling body perfectly fitting into the smallest part of the pediment. A single, cohesive narrative is thereby created across the triangular space, telling the story of a battle fought by local heroes.

24. Anonymous, Heracles Receiving the Golden Apples of the Hesperides from the Hand of Atlas while Minerva Rests a Cushion on his Head, East Metope, Temple of Zeus, Olympia, c. 470–456 B. C. E. Marble, h: 160 cm. Archaeological Museum, Olympia (Greece).

This metope, or square component of the frieze of the temple, is from the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, the largest and most important structure of the first half of the fifth century. Together, the metopes of the Temple of Zeus told the story of the twelve labours of Heracles. Each metope showed one of his labours, or tasks. This metope shows the eleventh labour, the apples of the Hesperides. Heracles was told he had to steal apples belonging to Zeus. He met up with Atlas, who had to hold up the world for all of time. Atlas said he would get the apples for Heracles if Heracles would hold the earth for him. In the scene shown, Atlas has returned with the apples, and Heracles must figure out how to get Atlas to take back the weight of the world. Athena stands behind Heracles, gently helping him hold his burden.

25. Anonymous, Leda and the Swan, copy after a Greek original created by Timotheus, first half of the 5th century B. C. E. Marble, h: 132 cm. Musei Capitolini, Rome (Italy).

26. Anonymous, Aphrodite, type Venus Genitrix, Roman copy after a Greek original created by Callimachus, end of 5th century B. C. E. Marble, h: 164 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris (France).

CALLIMACHUS

(Active between c. 432 – c. 408 B. C. E.)

An ancient sculptor and engraver, Callimachus was nicknamed “katatxitechnos” – “the perfectionist.” He left behind no writings, but we know his life through the works of Pausanias and Vitruvius, although today certain of their accounts seem doubtful. It is known that he contributed to the decoration of the Erechtheion. For this temple he created, among other things, a magnificent golden lamp, above which was mounted a bronze palm branch, which trapped the smoke. Several beautiful sculptures were also ascribed to him: a group of Lacedemonian dancers and a statue of the seated Hera made for the Heraion of Plataea. What characterises Callimachus more than anything else is his painstaking attention to detail; hence the nickname. Purportedly, he was the first to use a drill for shaping marble. He modelled his work on the tradition of the old masters and pioneered the Archaic style.

Callimachus also has a place in the history of architecture. He is considered the inventor of the Corinthian capital. According to the legend told by Vitruvius, he got the idea while looking at the acanthus blossom wrapped around a basket which had been placed on a child’s tomb.

27. Anonymous, Doryphoros, Roman copy after a Greek original created by Polykleitos, c. 440 B. C. E. Marble, h: 196 cm. The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis (United States).

POLYKLEITOS

(Active during the 5th century B. C. E.)

Polykleitos was a contemporary of Phidias, and in the opinion of the Greeks his equal. He made a figure of an Amazon for Ephesus regarded as superior to the Amazon of Phidias made at the same time; and his colossal Hera of gold and ivory, which stood in the temple near Argos, was considered worthy to rank with the Zeus of Phidias.

It would be hard for a modern critic to rate Polykleitos so high, for reasons of balance, rhythm, and minute perfection of bodily form, the great merits of this sculptor, which appeal less to us than they did to the fifth century Greeks. He worked mainly in bronze.

His artistic activity must thus have been long and prolific.

Copies of his spearman (Doryphoros) and his victor winding a ribbon round his head (Diadoumenos (see nos. 29 & 32)) have long been recognised in galleries. While we understand their excellence, they inspire no enthusiasm; they are fleshier than modern athletic figures and lack charm. They are chiefly valuable for showing us the square forms of body affected by Polykleitos, and the scheme he adopted, for throwing the body’s weight (as Pliny says of him) onto one leg.

The Amazon of Polykleitos survives in several copies. Here again we find a certain heaviness, and the Amazon’s womanly character scarcely appears through her robust limbs.

The masterpiece of Polykleitos, his Hera of gold and ivory, has of course totally disappeared. The Argos coins give us only the general type. Ancient critics reproached Polykleitos for the lack of variety in his works. We have already observed the slight variety in their attitudes. Except for the statue of Hera, which was the work of his old age, he produced hardly any notable statue of a deity. His field was narrowly limited; but in that field he was unsurpassed.

28. Anonymous, The Tyrannicides Harmodius and Aristogeiton, Roman copy after a Greek original created by Critios, c. 477 B. C. E. Marble, h: 195 cm. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples (Italy).

Harmodius and Aristogeiton Metal was a valuable commodity in the ancient world, so sculptures made of bronze or other metals were often eventually melted down by a conquering nation or a successive ruler who did not care for the art of his predecessor. For that reason, few large-scale bronze sculptures survive from Antiquity. Romans, however, had a taste for Greek art, and copied many of their bronze sculptures in stone, the material preferred by Romans. Often, the bronze original has since been lost, and the Roman copies are all that survive. Such is the case with this group, Roman copies in marble of two Greek sculptures in bronze. The subjects are Harmodius and Aristogeiton, lovers who together conspired to murder the political tyrant, Hippias. They lost their nerve and killed his brother instead, but were revered as heroes by Athenians who believed them to have murdered the tyrant. Statues of the two were erected in their honour in the Athenian Agora.

29. Anonymous, Diadoumenos, the Young Athlete, copy after a bronze original created by Polykleitos, c. 430 B. C. E. Marble, h: 186 cm. National Archaeological Museum of Athens, Athens (Greece).

Polykleitos is one of the best-known sculptors of the fifth century B. C. E., known especially for his athletic dedications, such as this one. The figure binds his hair with a tie in preparation for sport. His clothes rest next to him on a low branch, since Greek athletes exercised in the nude. Polykleitos’ Doryphoros, or Canon, sought to illustrate the ideal male figure. In the piece shown, we see the same proportions the sculptor established with his Canon, and the same attention to anatomical realism. The Polykleitan ideal is a heavy, muscled, somewhat stocky body, especially in comparison to the more gracile figures of the next century.

30. Anonymous, Apollo, known as Apollo Parnopios, copy after a Greek original created by Phidias, c. 450 B. C. E. Marble, h: 197 cm. Staatliche Museen, Kassel (Germany).

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.

PHIDIAS

(Athens, c. 488 B. C. E. – c. 431 B. C. E.)

Son of Charmides, universally regarded as the greatest of Greek sculptors, Phidias was born in Athens. We have varying accounts of his training. Hegias of Athens, Ageladas of Argos, and the Thasian painter Polygnotus, have all been regarded as his teachers.

The earliest of his great works were dedications in memory of Marathon, from the spoils of the victory. On the Acropolis of Athens he erected a colossal bronze image of Athena, visible far out at sea. Other works at Delphi, at Pellene in Achaea, and at Plataea were appreciated; among the Greeks themselves, however, the two works of Phidias which far outstripped all others – providing the basis of his fame – were the colossal figures in gold and ivory of Zeus at Olympia and of Athena Parthenos at Athens, both of which belong to about the middle of the fifth century.

Plutarch gives in his life of Perikles a charming account of the vast artistic activity that went on at Athens while that statesman was in power. For the decoration of his own city he used the money furnished by the Athenian allies for defence against Persia. “In all these works,” says Plutarch, “Phidias was the adviser and overseer of Perikles.” Phidias introduced his own portrait and that of Perikles on the shield of his Parthenos statue. And it was through Phidias that the political enemies of Perikles struck at him.

It is important to observe that in resting the fame of Phidias upon the sculptures of the Parthenon we proceed with little evidence. What he was celebrated for in Antiquity was his statues in bronze or gold and ivory. If Plutarch tells us that he superintended the great works of Perikles on the Acropolis, this phrase is very vague.

Of his death we have two discrepant accounts. According to Plutarch he was made an object of attack by the political enemies of Perikles, and died in prison at Athens. According to Philochorus, he fled to Elis, where he made the great statue of Zeus for the Eleans, and was afterwards put to death by them. For several reasons the first of these tales is preferable.

Ancient critics take a high view of the merits of Phidias. What they especially praise is the ethos or permanent moral level of his works as compared with those of the later “pathetic” school. Demetrius calls his statues sublime and at the same time precise.

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

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.

32. Anonymous, Male Torso, in the style of the Diadoumenos, copy after a bronze original created by Polykleitos, c. 430 B. C. E. Marble, h: 85 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris (France).

33. Anonymous, Apollo Sauroktonos, Hellenistic copy after a Greek original created by Praxiteles, 4th century B. C. E. Marble, h: 149 cm. Museo Pio Clementino, Vatican (Vatican).

PRAXITELES

(Active between c. 375 – c. 335 B. C. E.)

Greek sculptor, Praxiteles of Athens, the son of Cephissodotus, is considered the greatest of the fourth century B. C. E. Attic sculptors. He left an imperishable mark on the history of art.

Our knowledge of Praxiteles received a significant contribution, and was placed on a satisfactory basis with the discovery at Olympia in 1877 of his statue of Hermes with the Infant Dionysos, a statue that has become world famous, but which is now regarded as a copy. Full and solid without being fleshy, at once strong and active, the Hermes is a masterpiece and the surface play astonishing. In the head we have a remarkably rounded and intelligent shape, and the face expresses the perfection of health and enjoyment.

Among the numerous copies that came to us, perhaps the most notable is the Apollo Sauroktonos, or the lizard-slayer, a youth leaning against a tree and idly striking with an arrow at a lizard, and the Aphrodite of Knidos of the Vatican, which is a copy of the statue made by Praxiteles for the people of Knidos; they valued it so highly they refused to sell it to King Nicomedes, who was willing in return to discharge the city’s entire debt, which, according to Pliny, was enormous.

The subjects chosen by Praxiteles were either human or the less elderly and dignified deities. Apollo, Hermes and Aphrodite rather than Zeus, Poseidon or Athena attracted him. Under his hands the deities descend to human level; indeed, sometimes almost below it. They possess grace and charm to a supreme degree, though the element of awe and reverence is wanting.

Praxiteles and his school worked almost entirely in marble. At the time the marble quarries of Paros were at their best; for the sculptor’s purpose no marble could be finer than that of which the Hermes is made.

34. Anonymous, Diomedes, c. 430 B. C. E. Marble, h: 102 cm. Glyptothek, Munich (Germany).

35. Anonymous, Hermes Tying his Sandal, Roman copy after a Greek original created by Lysippos, 4th century B. C. E. Marble, h: 161 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris (France).

LYSIPPOS

(c. 395 – c. 305 B. C. E.)

The Greek sculptor, Lysippos, was head of the school of Argos and Sicyon in the time of Philip and Alexander of Macedon. His works, some colossal, are said to have numbered 1500. Certain accounts have him continuing the school of Polykleitos; others represent him as self-taught. He was especially innovative regarding the proportions of the human male body; in contrast to his predecessors, he reduced the head size and made the body harder and more slender, producing the impression of greater height. He also took great pains with hair and other details. Pliny and other writers mention many of his statues. Among the gods he seems to have produced new and striking types of Zeus, the Sun-god and others; many of these were colossal figures in bronze. Among heroes he was particularly attracted by the mighty physique of Heracles. The Heracles Farnese of Naples, though signed by Glycon of Athens, and a later and exaggerated transcript, owes something, including the motive of rest after labour, to Lysippos. Lysippos made many statues of Alexander the Great, and so satisfied his patron, no doubt by idealising him, that he became the king’s court sculptor; the king and his generals provided numerous commissions. Portraits of Alexander vary greatly, and it is impossible to determine which among them go back to Lysippos.

As head of the great athletic school of Peloponnese, Lysippos naturally sculptured many athletes; a figure by him of a man scraping himself with a strigil was a great favourite of the Romans in the time of Tiberius; it has usually been regarded as the original copied in the Apoxyomenos of the Vatican.

36. Anonymous, Meleager, copy after a Greek original created by Skopas, c. 340 B. C. E. Marble, h: 123 cm. Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge (United States).

SKOPAS

(Active during first half of the 4th century B. C. E.)

Probably of Parian origin, Skopas was the son of Aristander, a great Greek sculptor of the fourth century B. C. E. Although classed as an Athenian, and similar in tendency to Praxiteles, he was really a cosmopolitan artist, working largely in Asia and Peloponnesos. The existing works with which he is associated are the Mausoleum of Halicarnassos, and the temple of Athena Alea at Tegea. In the case of the Mausoleum, though no doubt the sculpture generally belongs to his school, it remains impossible to single out any specific part of it as his own. There is, however, good reason to think that the pedimental figures from Tegea are Skopas’ own work. They are, unfortunately, all in extremely poor condition, but appear to be the best evidence of his style.

While in general style Skopas approached Praxiteles, he differed from him in preferring strong expression and vigorous action to repose and sentiment.

Early writers give a good deal of information on the works of Skopas. For the people of Elis he made a bronze Aphrodite riding on a goat (copied on the coins of Elis); a Maenad at Athens, running with head thrown back and a torn kid in her hands, was ascribed to him. Another type of his was Apollo as leader of the Muses, singing to the lyre. The most elaborate of his works was a great group representing Achilles being conveyed over the sea to the island of Leuce by his mother Thetis, accompanied by Nereids.

Jointly with his contemporaries Praxiteles and Lysippos, Skopas may be considered to have completely changed the character of Greek sculpture; they initiated the lines of development that culminated in the schools of Pergamum, Rhodes and other great cities of later Greece. In most modern museums of ancient art their influence may be seen in three-fourths of the works exhibited. At the Renaissance it was especially their influence which dominated Italian painting, and through it, modern art.

37. Anonymous, Athenian Tombstone, c. 340 B. C. E. Marble, h: 168 cm. National Archaeological Museum of Athens, Athens (Greece).

38. Anonymous, Aphrodite of Knidos, copy after a Greek original created by Praxiteles, c. 350 B. C. E. Marble. Museo Pio Clementino, Vatican (Italy).

39. Anonymous, Aphrodite of Knidos, Roman copy after a Greek original created by Praxiteles, c. 350 B. C. E. Marble, h: 122 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris (France).

40. Anonymous, Crouching Venus, Roman copy after a Greek original created in the 3rd century B. C. E. Marble, h: 96 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris (France).

41. Anonymous, Dionysos and Ariadne (detail from the Derveni Krater), c. 340–330 B. C. E. Copper, h: 91 cm. Archeological Museum, Thessaloniki (Greece).

42. Anonymous, Venus and Cupid, Roman copy after a Greek original, 4th century B. C. E. Restored at the end of the 17th century C. E. by Alessandro Algardi. Marble, h: 174 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris (France).

Aphrodite became a common subject for Greek sculptors in the fourth century B. C. E. and later, because her renowned beauty provided an acceptable excuse for an erotic representation of the female body. She is sometimes shown, as here, with her son Eros, known to the Romans as Cupid, and in later art as “putti,” the winged babies symbolising earthly and divine love. In Roman art and mythology, Aphrodite became Venus, goddess of love. To the Romans she had a more elevated status, seen as the progenitor of the line of Caesar, Augustus, and the Julio-Claudian emperors, and by extension as an embodiment of the Roman people. This playful depiction of Aphrodite and Eros, or Venus and Cupid, is more suggestive of the Greek view of Aphrodite, who saw her not only as the symbol of sensual beauty, but also as occasionally silly and humorous.

43. Anonymous, Capitoline Venus, Roman copy after a Greek original created by Praxiteles, 3rd century B. C. E. Marble, h: 193 cm. Musei Capitolini, Rome (Italy).

44. Anonymous, Wounded Amazon, Roman copy after a Greek original created by Polykleitos, c. 440–430 B. C. E. Marble, h: 202 cm. Musei Capitolini, Rome (Italy).

45. Anonymous, Belvedere Apollo, Roman copy after a Greek original created by Leochares, c. 330 B. C. E. Marble, h: 224 cm. Museo Pio Clementino, Vatican (Italy).

The Belvedere Apollo has long enjoyed fame, known as the prototypical work of Greek art. This fame springs from its rediscovery during the Renaissance of the fifteenth century. At that time, wealthy Italian nobles began to collect ancient sculpture that was being discovered in the ruins of Roman Italy. The Belvedere Apollo went to the collection of the Pope, and was displayed in the courtyard of the Belvedere villa in the Vatican. There, it was seen by countless visitors and visiting artists, who sketched the piece. Copies were made for various courts of Europe. The proud, princely bearing of the figure, along with the delicate beauty of Apollo’s face, had great appeal among the aristocratic classes of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and to the Romantics of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

LEOCHARES

(Active between 340–320 B. C. E.)

A Greek sculptor who worked with Skopas on the Mausoleum around 350 B. C. E. Leochares executed statues in gold and ivory of Philip of Macedon’s family; the king placed them in the Philippeum at Olympia. Along with Lysippos, he made a group in bronze at Delphi representing a lion-hunt of Alexander. We hear of other statues by Leochares of Zeus, Apollo and Ares. The statuette in the Vatican, representing Ganymede being carried away by an eagle, originally poorly executed, though considerably restored, corresponds closely with Pliny’s description of a group by Leochares.

46. Anonymous, Apoxyomenos, copy after a bronze original created by Lysippos, c. 330 B. C. E. Marble, h: 205 cm. Museo Pio Clementino, Vatican (Italy).

In the fourth century, standing male statues of idealised athletes remained a popular subject for sculpture. The poses became more varied, however, as sculptors experimented with forms that could be viewed from multiple angles. The Apoxyomenos, or Man scraping Himself, is an example of innovation of pose. His right arm extends forward, reaching out of the plane in which the rest of his body lies. Before exercising, a Greek athlete would apply oil to his body. He would then return to the bath house, after engaging in sport, and scrape the oil off himself. The subject of the Apoxyomenos is in the process of scraping himself clean.

47. Anonymous, Ludovisi Group, Roman copy after a bronze original erected by the Kings of Pergamon Attalus I and Eumenes II, c. 240 B. C. E. Marble, h: 211 cm. Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome (Italy).

48. Anonymous, The Three Graces, Roman copy of a Greek original created during the 2nd century B. C. E., restored in 1609. Marble, 119 × 85 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris (France).

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 fifth 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.

49. Anonymous, Dying Gaul, Roman copy after a bronze original erected by the Kings of Pergamon Attalus I and Eumenes II, c. 240 B. C. E. Marble, h: 93 cm. Musei Capitolini, Rome (Italy).

50. Anonymous, Zeus and Porphyrion during the Battle with the Giants, Pedestal Frieze, Great Altar of Zeus, Pergamon, c. 180 B. C. E. Marble, h: 230 cm. Pergamonmuseum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin (Germany).

51. Anonymous, Erotic Scene from the Back of a Stele Depicting Dionysos, Hellenistic period. Archeological Museum, Nicosia (Cyprus).

52. Anonymous, Zeus and Leda. Oil lamp. National Archeological Museum, Athens (Greece).

53. Anonymous, Laocoön, Roman copy after a bronze original made in Pergamon, c. 150 B. C. E. Marble, h: 242 cm. Museo Pio Clementino, Vatican (Italy).

Laocoön was a Trojan priest. When the Achaeans, who were holding Troy under siege, left the famous Trojan horse on the beach, Laocoön tried to warn the Trojan leaders against bringing it into the city, fearing it was a trap. Athena, acting as helper and protector of the Greeks, punished Laocoön for his interference. She had him and his two sons attacked by giant snakes. In this famous sculpture group, probably a Roman copy of the Hellenistic original, one son breaks free of the snakes, looking back to see his father and brother being killed. The Baroque style of the piece ties it to the Pergamon school. It exhibits the same drama, seen in the straining muscles and the faces contorted in pain. In fact, the pose of Laocoön seems to echo that of the giants battling the Olympic gods on the Pergamon Altar.

54. Agasias of Ephesus, The Fighting Warrior, known as the Borghese Gladiator, c. 100 B. C. E. Marble, h: 199 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris (France).

This Roman copy of a Greek original dating, perhaps, to the fourth century B. C. E., was rediscovered in the early seventeenth century and acquired by Cardinal Borghese. A wealthy relative of Pope Paul V, he collected hundreds of statues, many of which were ancient, some of which were contemporary pieces in the style of Antiquity. Pieces in the Borghese collection often suffered from unfortunate restorations, though this piece seems to have escaped unmarred. It was later purchased by Napoléon Bonaparte, a relative by marriage of the Borghese family. In that way it made its way to Paris. It was long thought to represent a gladiator, but more recently it has been acknowledged that it could as easily be an athlete or warrior. Much has been made of the ideal musculature and anatomy of the subject. The artist clearly sought to emulate as realistically as possible the form, stance, and sinews of the lunging figure.

55. Anonymous, Sleeping Hermaphrodite, Roman copy of a Greek original from the 2nd century B. C. E. (?), mattress carved in 1619 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Marble, 169 × 89 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris (France).

56. Anonymous, Barberini Faun, copy after a Hellenistic original, c. 200 B. C. E. Marble, h: 215 cm. Glyptothek, Munich (Germany).

The wealth of the Hellenistic period meant that many people could afford sculpture for their private houses and gardens. Consequently, more profane, even erotic, subjects were introduced to the repertoire of Greek art. Here, a sleeping, and probably drunk, satyr lounges sprawled out on an animal skin. The pose is unabashedly erotic, the figure’s nudity no longer signalling simply that he is a hero, athlete, or god, but rather suggesting his sexual availability. The naturalistic and idealised manner of depiction of the body of the satyr is a legacy of High Classical sculpture.

57. Anonymous, Winner Athlete, 1st century C. E. Marble, h: 148 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris (France).

58. Anonymous, Statuette of a Standing Goddess, Babylonia, 2nd century B. C. E. Alabaster, gold and ruby, h: 24.8 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris (France).

59. Anonymous, Fragment of a Rhyton Showing an Amorous Embrace, 2nd century B. C. E.

60. Anonymous, Aphrodite of Melos, known as Vénus de Milo, c. 100 B. C. E. Marble, h: 202 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris (France).

The Aphrodite of Melos, or Vénus 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.

61. Anonymous, Artemis of Ephesus, 2nd century B. C. E.

62. Anonymous, Aphrodite, known as Venus of Arles, end of the 1st century B. C. E. Marble, h: 194 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris (France).

63. Anonymous, Cameo with Leda and the Swan. 2.5 × 1.7 cm. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples (Italy).

64. Anonymous, Hercules and Omphale, 1st century B. C. E. Carnelian. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (Austria).

65. Anonymous, Mirror Cover Showing a Couple, 1st century C. E. Bronze. Antiquarium, Rome (Italy).

66. Anonymous, Yakshi Swaying (detail of a portal), 1st century B. C. E. Sculpted stone. Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh (India).

67. Anonymous, Grimani Altar, last quarter of the 1st century B. C. E. Museo Archeologico Nazional, Venice (Italy).

68. Anonymous, Skyphos with an Erotic Group (detail), c. 1st century C. E.

69. Anonymous, Priapus, God of Fertility, 1st century C. E. Naples (Italy).

70. Anonymous, Tripod with Ithyphallic Young Pans, c. 1st century C. E. Bronze from Pompeii. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples (Italy).

71. Anonymous, Couple, known as Venus Pendula, 1st century C. E. House of the Vettii, Pompeii (Italy).

72. Anonymous, One of three small erotic pictures from a small room adjacent to the kitchen, 1st century C. E. House of the Vettii, Pompeii (Italy).

73. Anonymous, The Standing Man Supports the Woman’s Legs on his Shoulders while she half-lies on the Bed, 1st century C. E. From the House of Punished Love, Pompeii (Italy).

74. Anonymous, Depiction of “Coitus a Tergo”, 1st century C. E. Pompeii (Italy).

75. Anonymous, Mars with his Spear and Plumed Helmet Caressing Venus’ Breast as she Sits on a Throne and a Putto Looks on, 1st century C. E. Fresco. From the House of Punished Love, Pompeii (Italy).

76. Anonymous, Maenad Solicited by a Satyr wearing earrings. Fresco. From the House of L. Caecilius Jucundus in Pompeii, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples (Italy).

77. Anonymous, Coupling Scene between a Satyr and a Nymph. From the House of the Faun, Pompeii (Italy).

78. Anonymous, Scene of Banquet in Open Air, Pompeii, 1st century C. E. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples (Italy).

79. Anonymous, Mercury with Many Penises, c. 10 °C. E. Pompeii (Italy).

80. Anonymous, Phallic Tintinnabulum, 1st century C. E. Bronze. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples (Italy).

81. Anonymous, Phallic Tintinnabulum. Bronze. Pompeii (Italy).

82. Anonymous, Erotic Scene from the Suburban Baths of Pompeii.

83. Anonymous, Pan with Hermaphroditus, atrium of the House of Dioscuri, Nero’s reign. Wall painting from Pompeii. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples (Italy).

84. Anonymus, Erotic Frieze. Greek Antiquity.

85. Anonymous. Marble low-relief. The Tomb of the Bulls, Tarquinia (Italy).

86. Anonymous, Leda and the Swan, 3rd century C. E. Mosaic. Museum of Nicosia, Nicosia (Cyprus).

87. Anonymous, Erotic Scene. Fresco. Wall painting from Pompeii (Italy).

88. Anonymous, Priapus, 10 °C. E. Fresco. Wall painting from Pompeii (Italy).

89. Anonymous, Faunus, c. 10 °C. E. Pompeii (Italy).

90. Anonymous, Statue of Antinous, Favourite of Emperor Hadrian, c. 130–138 C. E. Marble, h: 199 cm. Archaeological Museum of Delphi, Delphi (Greece).

91. Anonymous, Artemis of Ephesus, 2nd century C. E. Bronze and alabaster. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples (Italy).

92. Anonymous, Phalli, 30 °C. E. Delos (Greece).