30 Millennia of Erotic Art. Victoria Charles

Greek. Marble, height: 122 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

      49. Anonymous, Meleager, copy after a Greek original created by Skopas, c. 340 BCE.

      Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 123 cm. Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge (United States).

SKOPAS(ACTIVE DURING FIRST HALF OF THE 4TH CENTURY BCE)

      Probably of Parian origin, Skopas was the son of Aristander, a great Greek sculptor of the 4th century BCE. 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 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-quarters of the works exhibited. At the Renaissance it was especially their influence which dominated Italian painting, and through it, modern art.

      50. Anonymous, Athenian Tombstone, c. 340 BCE.

      Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 168 cm. National Archaeological Museum of Athens, Athens.

      51. Anonymous, Phalli, 300 BCE.

      Delos (Greece). Private collection.

      52. Anonymous, Dionysos and Ariadne (detail from the Derveni Krater), c. 340–330 BCE.

      Ancient Greek. Copper, height: 91 cm. Archeological Museum, Thessalonika.

      53. Anonymous, Crouching Venus, Roman copy after a Greek original created in the 3rd century BCE.

      Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 96 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

      54. Anonymous, Belvedere Apollo, Roman copy after a Greek original created by Leochares, c. 330 BCE.

      Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 224 cm. Museo Pio Clementino, Vatican.

      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 15th century. At that time, wealthy Italian nobles began to collect ancient sculptures that were 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 16th and 17th centuries, and to the Romantics of the 18th and 19th centuries.

LEOCHARES(ACTIVE BETWEEN 340–320 BCE)

      A Greek sculptor who worked with Skopas on the Mausoleum around 350 BCE 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.

      55. Anonymous, Apoxyomenos, copy after a bronze original created by Lysippos, c. 330 BCE.

      Marble, height: 205 cm. Ancient Greek. Museo Pio Clementino, Vatican.

      In the 4th 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.

      56. Anonymous, Capitoline Venus, Roman copy after a Greek original created by Praxiteles, 3rd century BCE.

      Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 193 cm. Musei Capitolini, Rome.

      57. Anonymous, Ludovisi Group, Roman copy after a bronze original erected by the Kings of Pergamon Attalus I and Eumenes II, c. 240 BCE.

      Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 211 cm. Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome.

      58. Anonymous, Eros and Psyche, Ancient Greece, Roman copy of a Greek original created in mid-3rd century BCE.

      Ancient Greek. Marble, 71 × 25.5 × 28.5 cm. Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Dresden.

      59. Anonymous, Dying Gaul, Roman copy after a bronze original erected by the Kings of Pergamon Attalus I and Eumenes II, c. 240 BCE.

      Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 93 cm. Musei Capitolini, Rome.

      60. Anonymous, The Three Graces, Roman copy of a Greek original created during the 2nd century BCE, restored in 1609.

      Ancient Greek. Marble, 119 × 85 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

      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 5th 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.

      61. Anonymous, Barberini Faun, copy after a Hellenistic original, c. 200 BCE.

      Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 215 cm.