Monday, May 22, 2017

MASSIMO PALACE - NATIONAL ROMAN MUSEUM (sixth part)

First Gallery - Portraits from Villa Adriana in Tivoli
Fifth Room - Sculptures from Imperial Homes
Two copies of the marvelous “Venus before the bath” from the original maybe in bronze of the second century BC by Doidalsas exhibited, according to Pliny, in the Portico d'Ottavia: one from Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli, the best of many existing copies and one in Parian marble found in 1913 in Via Palermo, near the Viminal Palace
“It is in the wake of the changes introduced by Lysippus and Praxiteles: it inherits from the first the rhythm sought in the apparent instability, from the second the delicate sensuality. Typical of Asia Minor, from which Doidalsas came, however, is the full and prosperous softness” (Elena Calandra)
“Headless Ephebe” first century AD from the Villa of Nero in Subiaco maybe a Niobid with traces of ganosis, the wax-like substance which was used to imitate complexion
“Head of a Young Girl Asleep” first century AD from the Villa of Nero in Subiaco, maybe a dead Niobid
“Dancing Girl” from Hadrian's Villa
It's amazing how a statue with most of the limbs missing would still be able to express so intensely movement, sensuality, music and joy
“Statue of Dionysus” and “Statue of Athena” of the Vescovali-Arezzo type from Hadrian’s Villa
“Maiden of Anzio” third century BC in white Greek marble of two different types of which the finer it is used for the flesh
“Figure of intense expressiveness, caught in a complex pose, enriched with light and shadow play, thoughtful and melancholy” (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)
“The slender figure must be connected to the school of Lysippus, while the overall approach reminds of Praxiteles' compositional schemes. The twist of the figure shows instead the beginning of Hellenism. On the other hand the use of two different qualities of marble connects it to workshops of Asia Minor and also the adoption of the heavy roll of folds around the waist is of Greek and Eastern European origin” (Elena Calandra)
“Apollo of Anzio” mid-first century AD from an original of the fourth century BC of the school of Praxiteles. It was found by the Anzio-Ardea state road
“Headless amazon on horse fighting a barbarian” Antonine period from Anzio. It is a copy of a Hellenistic original
“Head of an Amazon” from Hadrian's Villa
“Headless statue of Heracles” first century BC from the Villa of Voconio Pollio in Ciampino from a Greek original of the fourth century BC
“Crater with cranes and snakes” in Pentelic marble from Hadrian’s Villa
“Two heads of Apollo Lyceus” from the original by Praxiteles (about 395/326 BC)
“Apollo from the Tiber” neo-attic work in Parian marble
Sixth Room - Statues from Gymnasiums
“Lancellotti Discus Thrower” found in 1781 in the Villa Palombara where Piazza Vittorio is today and kept in Palazzo Lancellotti
It was bought in 1939 by Hitler for 5 million lira and was taken to Munich. It was retrieved after the war
Both statues are copies from a bronze original of about 450 BC by Myron of Eleutherae (about 500/about 440 BC)
“The body is caught in the moment of its maximum tension. But the effort is not reflected in the face, which expresses only a measured concentration of determination and intelligence. Strong and harmonious the twisting of limbs, in a wheel composition, with the gestural rhythm of the hands on which attention inevitably focuses” (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)
“Ephebe of Monteverde” first half of the first century AD
“Three heads of athletes” from originals of Skopas, Polykleitos of Argos (about 490/about 425 BC) and Lysippus

No comments:

Post a Comment