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Hellenistic portrait: *
LEFT: illustration Fayum mummy portraits
Nearly all the panels depict the head, or head & shoulders of a single person viewed from the front. Subjects include men, women and children of all ages. Of a high standard, highly naturalistic, lifelike appearance, the quality varies according to the artist's understanding of human anatomy & expertise in the use chiaroscuro. They appear to be true-life depictions of actual individuals, but closer analysis reveals that the 'individual' features are sometimes no more than repetitive, formulaic renderings. Quite a few of the portraits appear to have been created from a small number of facial templates, disguised by the use of different fashions, hairstyles and beards.
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RIGHT: bust of Socrates Roman copy, first century AD, based on a Greek original dated to the first half 4th century. The original must have been made shortly after Socrates’ death or perhaps as much as a generation later which makes it less likely to be an accurate reflection of the man’s appearance. This bust of Socrates evokes the satyr Silenus more than a mortal man. In Plato’s Symposium Alcibiades compares Socrates first to Silenus. Silenus was the ancestor of satyrs & was depicted with the body of a man with ears and tail of a horse (satyr like). Unlike typical satyrs, he was also depicted as older, with a beard, bald head & snub nose; older satyrs were likewise called sileni and modelled after him. Thus, this portrait doesn’t tell us much about Socrates himself. He may have looked sort of like this, but there’s no real way to tell. We have this portrait that might not at all resemble what the man actually looked like, but rather reflects popular opinion of him: a satyr-like figure..
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Myron (Discobulus): *
Greek sculpture, 460–450 BC, known through Roman copies; shows a youthful Greek athlete throwing the discus. Myron depicts a single moment of action completely transitory; the potential energy expressed in the tightly wound pose, expressing the single moment of stasis just before the release, is an example of the advancement of Classical sculpture from Archaic. The torso shows no muscular strain, however, even though the limbs are outflung. The capturing of this moment is an example of rhythmos, harmony and balance. Myron is often credited with being the first sculptor to master this.
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Paeonius (Nike): *
statue of the Greek goddess of victory, Nike, made 425–420 BC, of Parian marble, the statue was restored from many fragments, but is lacking face, neck, forearms, part of left leg, toes and some fragments of drapery. It also had wings. The goddess is shown landing gently on her left foot, with the drapery blown against her body. The goddess is represented in descending flight, positioned upon a triangular pedestal about thirty feet high, she seems all but independent of support. Her draperies, blown by the wind, form a background for her figure. An eagle at her feet suggests the element through which she moves. It is said to inspire the sense buoyancy, speed, and grace.
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Madonna of the St. Anne portal, Notre-Dame: *
The tympanum has a magnificent Virgin with Child in the middle. It seems that these very old statues of Romanesque style came from the church of St. Mary (dismantled when the choir was expanded). Mary is seen seated on a throne under a canopy wearing a crown and a sceptre. On her knee, Jesus holds the books of the Law. To the left of the throne stand an angel, the bishop of Paris and maybe his treasurer. To the right is another angel and a king of France.
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Madonna with the Bean-blossom (Meister Wilhelm): *
Firm attribution to Wilhelm is NOT possible for the Madonna with the Bean-Blossom and its variant the Madonna with the Pea-Blossom triptych (includes wing-panels of St. Catherine & St. Elizabeth).
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Sluter (Well of Moses, Chartreuse, Dijon): *
monumental sculpture, the masterpiece of Sluter (1395-1403) & his workshop, for the Carthusian monastery of Chartreuse de Champmol, at Dijon (the burial site for Burgundian Duke Philip the Bold). The style combines the elegance of International Gothic with a northern realism, with a monumental quality unusual in either. Consisted of a large crucifixion scene, a tall slender cross surmounting a hexagonal base surrounded by the figures of the 6 prophets who had foreseen the death of Christ. (Moses, David, Jeremiah, Zachariah, Daniel and Isaiah). Standing on slender corner colonnettes between the prophets are 6 weeping angels. All the figures were painted & gilded by Jean Malouel.
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Giovanni Pisano (Sant' Andrea at Pistoia): *
a masterpiece often compared to the pulpits sculpted by Giovanni's father Nicola Pisano (Baptistery of Pisa & Duomo of Siena), which Giovanni had assisted with; completed 1301, "proto-Renaissance", inspired by Roman sarcophagi, a style reflecting an early revival of classical sculpture, while also remaining Gothic, and usingsources such as French ivory carvings. The structure is a hexagonal plan with 7columns (1in the middle), 2 supported by lions, 1 by Atlas, central column rests on 3 winged gryphons, the remaining on plain bases. The iconographic program is also inspired by Nicola, with "Allegories" in the pendentives of the arches, "Sibyls" & "Prophets” on the capitals' tops & 5 parapets with scenes from the Life of Christ:
see illustraions I, ii and iii
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resting figures on the Gothic tombs: *
LEFT: Free-standing cadaver tomb of John FitzAlan, 14th Earl of Arundel (died 1435)
RIGHT: Double tomb effigies or gisants, 15th century (Olivier de Clisson and his wife, in the church of Josselin, France)
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stelae (Attic cemeteries): *
The Grave Stele of Hegeso , by Callimachus, 410–400 BC, Pentelic marble, standing 1.5m high x 1m wide, in the form of a naiskos (small temple in classical order with columns & pediment) featuring palmette acroteria. Hegeso, a mature Athenian woman, wears a chiton & himation, seating on a chair with her feet resting on an elaborate footstool. She holds an open pyxis & a piece of (missing) jewelry (originally painted), at which she is directing her gaze. Her maidservant wearing a tunic & a headdress, presents a pyxis to her. The inscription is ambiguous regarding Hegeso & Koroibos (her partner), this may have been purposeful, so that Hegeso could memorialize not just one woman, but instead represent the qualities of all the unnamed wives of male descendants from the Koroibos stele. The stelae are retrospective funerary art, reflecting Athenian ideals of social living through the portrayal of a domestic sphere. From 450 BC, Athenian funerary monuments increasingly depicted women, as their civic importance increased. This stele employs a purely domestic scene, but the virtues it honours were not just the private celebration of an individual woman; rather the presence of stelae similar to the Hegeso stele serve to define the female within a recognized social framework (a type). The iconography of classical Athenian tombstones did not focus on representing dead individuals, but display the ideal roles of the family in the context of the civic world. The quiet contemplation evident in the 2 figures is common in all 5th century grave reliefs; this mere shadow of emotion reflects absence of individuality (reminiscent of the Parthenon frieze in its expression).
