Friday, June 17, 2016

Afterlives of Roman Artifacts

Anonymous Italian sculptor
Pilaster capital after a Roman model
ca. 1550
limestone
Victoria & Albert Museum

Roman pilaster capital
1st century AD
marble
Metropolitan Museum of Art

The two pilaster capitals above (one Renaissance, one ancient) both belong to the Composite Order. This was invented by the Romans as an elaboration of the Corinthian Order, which they inherited from the Greeks. The volutes (twin spirals near the top) on Composite capitals are enlarged in proportion to the body.

Fragment of Roman pilaster with carved relief of sacrificial incense burner
1st century AD
marble
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Roman relief-carving of horse-tamer from Hadrian's Villa
AD 117-150
marble
British Museum

Roman relief-panel of Ariadne
AD 50-100
stucco
Metropolitan Museum of Art

 Roman torso of a youth
AD 118-161
marble
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Roman statue of Hypnos
AD 130-150
marble
Prado

Roman statue of Apollo
AD 175-200
marble
Prado

Roman radiate with image of Aurelian
AD 270-275
coin in copper-alloy
British Museum

Roman bust of Zeus Sabazios
AD 180 200
bronze
Victoria & Albert Museum

Roman statue of the Emperor Trebonianus Gallus
AD 251-253
bronze
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Three Roman marble copies of an earlier bronze Discobolus were discovered in Rome in the 1780s. The first eventually came to rest at the Vatican, the second at the British Museum, and the third at the Museo delle Terme in Rome.  This third one, sometimes called the Villa Palombara version (from its place of discovery) is universally agreed to be the "best."  It is the only one with an original head attached in the original position as it must have appeared on the lost bronze original. This was the one that Adolf Hitler forced the Italian government to sell him in 1938 (it was returned in 1948). Yet the other two versions (restored incorrectly with the head looking down) enjoy an equal or greater share of fame and frequency of reproduction. Many of the inexpensive casts and copies still widely sold combine features from all three.  

Robert Macpherson
Discobolus (Vatican)
1850s
gelatin silver print
Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Discobolus (Townley)
Roman marble statue
British Museum

Discobolus (Villa Palombara)
Roman marble statue
Museo delle Terme, Rome