The Arrotino, bronze cast of a 2nd - 1st century BCE Roman original at the Palace of Versailles, about 12 miles southwest of Paris, France

The Arrotino, bronze cast of a 2nd - 1st century BCE Roman original at the Palace of Versailles, about 12 miles southwest of Paris, France.
The original Arrotino is a marble Roman copy of a Hellenistic original of a slave or barbarian whetting his knife in anticipation of skinning Marsyas alive. The original sculpture was found in Rome between 1534 and 1538. It was transported to the Villa Medici and now resides in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. A number of casts were made of the work including a cast made in 1884 and displayed at the Fitzwilliam Museum. According to the Cambridge Museum of Classical Archaeology "Group sculpture was popular in Hellenistic times, and the Arrotino was part of a group encapsulating all the drama beloved of Hellenistic sculptors - the flaying of Marsyas." Marsyas, a Silenos, was an expert player of the double-piped double reed instrument known as the aulos. He challenged Apollo, the god of music, to a musical contest. The contest was judged by the Muses or the Nysean nymphs, depending on the version, and the terms stated that the winner could treat the defeated party any way he wanted. Marsyas played his flute, putting everyone there into a frenzy, and they started dancing wildly. When it was Apollo's turn, though, he played his lyre so beautifully that everyone became still and their eyes welled with tears. Apollo was declared the winner and sentenced Marsyas to be flayed alive in a cave near Celaenae for his hubris. A barbarian slave was to perform the gruesome act, and the sculpture depicts him as he crouches, sharpening his blade with an ominous mixture of concentration and curiosity on his face, his posture apprehensive yet purposeful.


Image: The Arrotino, bronze cast of a 2nd - 1st century BCE Roman original at the Palace of Versailles, about 12 miles southwest of Paris, France. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Joseolgon.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Imperial Italic G Roman helmet found near Hebron at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem

Image
Imperial Italic G Roman helmet found near Hebron at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. This distinctive Imperial Italic G-style helmet was a 2nd century development derived from the earlier Coolus-style helmets with a domed bowl fashioned after La Tène III helmet types. The original Coolus-style helmets were named after the city of Coolus in northeastern France where a helmet of the Coolus type was dredged from the River Marne. Ro man helmets were typically constructed of a copper alloy or bronze. Some were spun on a lathe rather than hammered into shape with a turned, cast-soldered or riveted crest knob. The brow-guard was designed to protect the front of the face from downward-slashing sword blows, just as the neck-guard was intended to deflect blows aimed at the nape of the neck and shoulders. The Hebron helmet is also constructed with post-Dacian Wars crossbars on the crown, thought to have been part of the original construction, as evidenced by the brass lunate decorations applie...
Read more

The iconic kausia hat of ancient Macedon

Image
 While researching artwork of ancient Macedon this morning, I stumbled across an interesting image of a 3rd Century BCE Macedonian wearing a kausia, headgear said by some scholars to be adapted from a style worn in the Hindu Kush during Alexander the Great's campaign there.  Other scholars think the kausia was identified with Macedonia for too long to have been imported from Asia.   Depictions of the kausia can be found on a variety of coins and statues found from the Mediterranean to the Greco-Bactrian kingdom and the Indo-Greeks in northwestern India. The Persians referred to both the rest of the Greeks and Macedonians as "Yauna" (Ionians), but made a distinction between "Yauna by the sea" and those "with hats that look like shields" (yauna takabara), probably referring to the Macedonian kausia hat.  You can see Alexander himself wearing a kausia and fighting an Asiatic lion with his friend Craterus in a late 4th century BCE mosaic from Pella as well...
Read more

Roman and Byzantine mosaics at the Haleplibahçe Mosaics Museum in Şanlıurfa, Turkey.

Image
Roman and Byzantine mosaics at the Haleplibahçe Mosaics Museum in Şanlıurfa, Turkey. Opened in 2015, the modern 6,000 square meter Haleplibahce Mosaic Museum houses the remains of the mosaic pavements of a large Roman villa uncovered during a municipal construction project i n Şanlıurfa, Turkey. Şanlıurfa, also known as Urfa, is built on the site of the ancient Greek city of Edessa. Discoveries include mosaics depicting the life of Achilles, including his mother, Thetis, holding him by the heel and dipping him into the waters of the River Styx, his training by the centaur, Chiron, and his departure for the Trojan War. Another pavement depicts Amazon queens hunting wild beasts. Mosaics from other archaeological areas depict various animals, Ktisis, a figure personifying the act of generous donation or foundation often found in 6th century Greek mosaics, and a 2nd century CE depiction of the myth of Orpheus. The Orpheus mosaic was recently repatriated from the Dallas Museum of Art. ...
Read more