Corporal Fragments - II

Federico Barocci
Study of Arm
ca. 1566-67
drawing on blue paper
(study for Crucifixion painting)
Kupferstichkabinett,
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Niccolò Berrettoni
Study of Torso, Hands and Feet
ca. 1658
drawing
Morgan Library, New York

Barbara Crane
Chicagofest
1982
dye diffusion transfer print
Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas

Daniele da Volterra (Daniele Ricciarelli)
Anatomical Studies of Arm
ca. 1550
drawing
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Daniele da Volterra (Daniele Ricciarelli)
Studies of Legs
ca. 1540
drawing
Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna

Edgar Degas
Study of Woman's Arm
ca. 1895-1900
drawing
Yale University Art Gallery

Odoardo Fialetti
Knees
1608
etching
(plate 31 from the artist's Drawing Book)
Hamburger Kunsthalle

Hellenistic Culture in Asia Minor
Head of Male Figure
(colossal fragment excavated at Pergamon)
200-150 BC
marble
Antikensammlung, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Ancient Greek Culture
Genitals
(Fragment of Herm)
450-350 BC
bronze
Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
Arm of Pindar
1826
oil on canvas
(study for painting, Apotheosis of Homer)
Musée Sainte-Croix, Poitiers

Anonymous Italian Artist
Sheet of Studies
16th century
drawing
Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna

Joseph van Lerius
Portrait of Henriette Mayer van den Bergh
(fragment)
1857
oil on canvas
Museum Mayer van den Bergh, Antwerp

Carlo Maratti
Arm Studies
ca. 1650-55
drawing
Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Parmigianino (Francesco Mazzola)
Studies of Bent Elbow
before 1540
drawing
Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna

John Singer Sargent
Figure Study for Law
ca. 1903-1916
drawing
(study for Boston Public Library mural)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Michelangelo Buonarroti
Study of Forearms
ca. 1508
drawing
(study for Drunkenness of Noah, Sistine Ceiling)
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam

Read: a story by Iamblichus, with a love plot.  He parades salaciousness less than does Achilles Tatius but exhibits more shamelessness than does the Phoenician Heliodorus.  These three writers set for themselves almost the same goal in presenting love stories.  Heliodorus does so in a more reverent and decent way.  Iamblichus less so than he, and Achilles Tatius most disgracefully and shamelessly.  His vocabulary is flowing and gentle.  As for its sonorous qualities, the words have not been given rhythmical force so much as titillating and, so to speak, mincing movement.  Iamblichus was justified in displaying the skill and force of his writing, as far as the merits of his language and construction and disposition of narrative are concerned, and on really serious subjects, not on frivolous fictions. 

The characters in the story are the attractive Sinonis and Rhodanes, who are joined by the mutual ties of love and marriage, and the Babylonian king Garmus.  After the death of his wife, he falls in love with Sinonis and is eager to marry her.  Sinonis refuses and is bound in gold chains.  The king's eunuchs Damas and Sacas are given the task of putting Rhodanes onto a cross for this reason.  But through Sinonis's efforts he is taken down, and they each avoid their fate, he of crucifixion, she of marriage.  Because of this Sacas and Damas have their ears and noses cut off and are sent in search of the pair.  They split up and start to track them down.

– Iamblichus, from A Babylonian Story, written in Greek, 2nd century AD.  A summary of the book was composed (also in Greek) in the 9th century by Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople.  Except for fragments, the original text by Iamblichus was subsequently lost, but the summary by Photius has survived.  This was translated into English by Gerald N. Sandy (1989).