Sculpture. Victoria Charles

servants, priests and wives. They were, according to Ottfried Miller, washed, waxed, scrubbed, dressed and adorned with crowns as well as jewelry.

      Aryballos. Vase in the Form of a Kneeling Athlete

      580 B. C.

      Museum of the Agora of Athens

      Roman sculpture

      Vanquished and conquered by Rome, Greece was reduced to the state of a simple province of the Republic and later the Roman Empire. It remained nonetheless a strong cultural model for Rome. Cicero, Pliny and Quintilien have brought us the names of all the important Greek sculptors; and yet they do not once quote a single Roman sculptor.

      Hera of Samos

      Middle of the 6th century B. C.

      Marble

      The Louvre, Paris

      So, the Romans themselves or the Greeks who came to Rome would scarcely make any other works than those depicting Caesar, the impure wives of their Emperors, the favourites of the imperial Palace.

      Kouros from Anavyssos

      550 B. C.

      Marble, height 2.14 m

      National Museum, Athens

      Art was industrialised, and pre-fabricated statues of emperors were produced to which they adapted heads according to their needs. After enriching itself with the spoils of the world, Rome fell for opulence and bad taste, preferring precious metals over simple art materials and richness over beauty.

      Apollo in the Temple of Portanaccio of Véies

      510 B.C

      Sandstone

      Villa Giulia National Museum, Rome

      When Constantine transferred the seat of the new empire to Byzantium, he brought with him the gods and the heroes of paganism, converting Roman basilicas into churches. The first Christians showed a certain ignorance and deep antipathy towards the fine arts and started to destroy all the vestiges of Antiquity and the ancient world.

      The Man and Wife Sarcophagus

      Etruria, end of 6th century B. C.

      Terracotta, height 114 cm

      The Louvre, Paris

      Italian sculpture

      In 13th century Tuscany, an artistic renovation movement began that would bring sweeping changes to the art of sculpture. Nicolas de Pise was at the head of this movement, followed by his son Giovanni, his student Arnolfo, Agnolo di Ventura of Sienna, and later Donatello, Della Robbia and Michelangelo.

      Harmodius and Aristogiton The Tyrannicides

      477 B.C

      Marble copy of a Greek original in bronze

      National Archaeological Museum, Naples

      Born in Florence in 1474, Michelangelo Buonarroti would often start work on a block of marble without any preparation, without any sketches, and without any models. He would sometimes run out of marble, or would sometimes cut the marble too deeply, which stopped him in his creation, leaving the block of marble only roughly worked.

      Zeus and Ganymede

      470 B. C.

      Marble and polychrome sandstone

      Archaeological Museum, Ferrara

      However, none would complain as such work, like with any artist’s sketches, offers a look at the early thoughts and inspiration of the artist. His finished works offered an extraordinary perfection, such as the delicate forms found in Bacchus (1496–1497). About the same time that Michelangelo was living in Florence, and Sansovino in Venice, another Florentine, named Benvenuto Cellini (1500–1570), left Italy to work in Fontainebleau, just outside of Paris.

      West Pediment of Zeus Temple in Olympia, centaur raping Déidamia

      460 B. C.

      Marble

      Museum of Archaeology, Olympia

      There he met another italian Gian Lorenzo Bernini from Naples. Lorenzo was an architect and artist credited with starting the Baroque style of sculpture. He was named ‘the second Michelangelo’ and it was he who came to be asked by Louis XIV to help to restore the Louvre.

      Two Discus Throwers

      Myron, ca. 450 B.C

      Vatican Museums, Rome

      It was Antonio Canova (1757–1822) who continued the line of impressive sculptors. His figures were apparently so realistic that he was accused of making plaster casts from live models. Among his most important commissions were the tombs of two popes, Clement XIII and Clement XIV.

      Metope from the Selinonte Temple The Acteon’s Punishment

      Sicily, ca. 450 B. C.

      Archaeological Museum, Palermo

      In 1802 he became court sculptor to Napoleon I in Paris. He dominated European sculpture around the turn of the century and was of primary importance in the development of the neoclassical style in sculpture. He was not, however, a disciple of Michelangelo’s!

      Doryphorus (Spear-Carrier)

      Polykleitos, 440 B.C

      Marble copy of a Greek original in bronze, height 2.12 m

      National Archaeological Museum, Naples

      Spanish sculpture

      Sculpture in Spain was never as highly regarded as painting. One can hardly find any clue to its existence as Spanish sculpture could never rival the magnificent paintings of Velásquez, Murrilo or Ribera. The Arabs taught the Spanish much about architecture since the Koran speaks against other arts.

      Victory Fastening Her Sandal

      407–410

      Marble, height 1.07 m

      Acropolis Museum, Athens

      It was two foreigners, Florentine Guerardo Starina and Flemish Pierre de Champagne, that would later bring over examples of more impressive sculpture. A disciple of Michelangelo’s, Torrigiano (1472–1528) fled Florence, became a soldier and won the right to teach. He returned to art traveling between Flanders, England, and then Spain.

      Statue from Riace

      5th century B. C.

      Bronze, classical epoque, height 1.96 m

      National Archaeological