Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Roman Antiquities and their Traces at the British Museum

Bust from Alexandria
Zeus Serapis
1st century BC
bronze
British Museum

Bust excavated in Rome
Hercules
2nd century BC
marble
British Museum

When the Emperor Hadrian lay dying in AD 138 he supposedly uttered a short poem. It appears below in several different English translations, extending over several centuries.

John Skippe
Two Herms
ca. 1781-83
chiaroscuro woodcut
British Museum

John Skippe
Two Herms
ca. 1781-83
chiaroscuro woodcut
British Museum

My little wandring sportful Soule,
Ghest, and companion of my body

– John Donne, 1611

Jacopo Tintoretto
Bust of Vitellius
mid-16th century
drawing
British Museum

Jacopo Tintoretto
Bust of Vitellius
mid 16th century
drawing
British Museum

My soul, my pleasant soul and witty,
The guest and consort of my body,
Into what place now all alone
Naked and sad wilt thou be gone?
No mirth, no wit, as heretofore,
Nor Jests wilt thou afford me more. 

 Henry Vaughan, 1652

Sir Thomas Reeves
Dancing Faun
ca. 1744-88
etching
British Museum

Sir Thomas Reeves
Dying Gladiator
ca. 1744-88
etching
British Museum

Poor little, pretty, fluttering thing,
Must we no longer live together?
And dost thou prune thy trembling Wing,
To take thy Flight thou know'st not whither?

Thy humorous Vein, thy pleasing Folly
Lyes all neglected, all forgot;
And pensive, wav'ring, melancholy,
Thou dread'st and hop'st thou know'st not what.

 Matthew Prior, 1709

Giulio Bonasone
Bust of Athena
ca. 1531-76
engraving
British Museum

Giulioi Bonasone
Antique Bust of Jupiter
ca. 1531-76
engraving
British Museum

Nicolas Beatrizet
Antique Bust of Titus Livy
1572
engraving
British Museum

Ah! gentle, fleeting, wav'ring sprite,
Friend and associate of this clay!
     To what unknown region borne,
Wilt thou, now, wing thy distant flight?
No more, with wonted humor gay,
     But pallid, cheerless, and forlorn.

 George Gordon, Lord Byron, 1806

Marcantonio after Raphael
Apollo in niche
ca. 1512-15
engraving
British Museum

circle of Michelangelo
Studies of an antique statue
16th century
drawing
British Museum

Little soul so sleek and smiling
Flesh's guest and friend also
Where departing will you wander
Growing paler now and languid
And not joking as you used to?

 Stevie Smith, 1966

Giuseppe Maria Mitelli
Man Destroying Statue
17th century
drawing
Morgan Library, New York

Giuseppe Maria Mitelli
Man destroying statue
ca. 1678-80
engraving
British Museum

"Easy to destroy a statue, but not to make one."

Mabel's MUNI Sketchbook


The bus ride to kindergarten was only a few minutes long, but Mabel usually found time for us to make quick, parallel pictures in a small calendar-notebook she would retrieve from my bag. We would hurry to finish drawing and writing before our stop came.  















Monday, May 30, 2016

Antique Statues in early Roman Collections III

Anonymous printmaker
Two antique statues
ca. 1530-70
engraving
British Museum

Just as 16th-century Romans expected their antique statues to be physically complete, they also expected to view sculpture in exactly the same way they viewed paintings  straight-on, face-to-face, from the front. Few pieces were displayed free-standing, few could be viewed in the round. The norm was to set these large marble objects against walls or inside niches, restricting and directing the way they should or could be experienced.  

Anonymous printmaker
Two antique statues
ca. 1530-70
engraving
British Museum

Anonymous printmaker
Two antique statues
ca. 1530-70
engraving
British Museum

Antoine Lafréry, publisher
Antique statue of Meleager
1555
engraving
British Museum

Giulio Bonasone
Antique statue of Diana in niche
ca. 1531-76
engraving
British Museum

Giulio Bonasone
Antique statue of Diana in niche
ca. 1531-76
engraving
British Museum

Giulio Bonasone
Antique statue of Leda in niche
ca. 1531-76
engraving
British Museum

Giulio Bonasone
Antique statue of Muse in niche
ca. 1531-76
engraving
British Museum

Jacob Bos
 Colossal antique statue of Mars in niche
1562
engraving
British Museum

Cornelis Cort & Antoine Lafréry
Antique statue of warrior with dead boy
1574
engraving
British Museum

Pedro Perret
Antique statue of Diomedes in niche
1582
engraving
British Museum

Enea Vico
Antique statues in the delle Valle collection
1541
engraving
British Museum

Enea Vico
Antique statues in the della Valle collection
1541
engraving
British Museum

Enea Vico
Antique statue of Venus with Cupid
1561
engraving
British Museum

Sunday, May 29, 2016

Antique Statues in early Roman Collections II

 Anonymous portfolio of Antique Statues in Rome
Reclining Tigris
ca. 1540-50
engraving
British Museum

Another selection of the antique statues recorded anonymously in Rome during the 1540s. Though valued, these marbles never ascended to the great fame of other similar statues judged more significant or more beautiful. The level of detail and completeness seen in most of these examples testifies to the elaborateness of their restoration. The distinct identities with which they are labeled are in most cases the result of that restoration-work. Appropriate-seeming attributes (as well as limbs and heads) were carved and added to increase the comfort of a viewing public who demonstrated a general unwillingness to look at incomplete or unidentified statues. Natural effects of time and neglect were not regarded as testamentary evidence of the object's history and authenticity, but merely as distressing blemishes that in most cases could and should be remedied.  

Anonymous portfolio of Antique Statues in Rome
Minerva
ca. 1540-50
engraving
British Museum

Anonymous portfolio of Antique Statues in Rome
Minerva
ca. 1540-50
engraving
British Museum

Anonymous portfolio of Antique Statues in Rome
Crouching Amazon 
ca. 1540-50
engraving
British Museum

Anonymous portfolio of Antique Statues in Rome
Standing Amazon
ca. 1540-50
engraving
British Museum

Anonymous portfolio of Antique Statues in Rome
Personification of Comedy
ca. 1540-50
engraving
British Museum

Anonymous portfolio of Antique Statues in Rome
Shepherd
ca. 1540-50
engraving
British Museum

Anonymous portfolio of Antique Statues in Rome
Standing Goddess
ca. 1540-50
engraving
British Museum

Anonymous portfolio of Antique Statues in Rome
Wife of Petronius
ca. 1540-50
engraving
British Museum

Anonymous portfolio of Antique Statues in Rome
Asclepius
ca. 1540-50
engraving
British Museum

Anonymous portfolio of Antique Statues in Rome
Athena
ca. 1540-50
engraving
British Museum

Anonymous portfolio of Antique Statues in Rome
Hercules
ca. 1540-50
engraving
British Museum

Anonymous portfolio of Antique Statues in Rome
Marcus Aurelius
ca. 1540-50
engraving
British Museum

Anonymous portfolio of Antique Statues in Rome
Agrippina
ca. 1540-50
engraving
British Museum