EPHEMERA : RECENT MUSINGS ABOUT CLASSICAL ART AND RELEVANT TOPICS
Rings are so deeply personal, are they not? Visible and confronting each time one catches a glimpse of one’s hand. Which is all to say, the choice of subject matter matters, and in this case it is somewhat intriguing. It’s a masterpiece in miniature dating to the last decades of the 5th century B.C., found
This exuberant glass pavement (approximately 30 x 30 square centimeters) is a psychedelic hodgepodge of glass inlays in a variety of techniques. It’s a rare survival of the ‘opus sectile‘ (coming from Latin ‘to cut’) method entirely of glass. Set within a greenish glass-paste matrix, a number of inquisitive birds perch and nibble, their vibrant
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Although the subject is tried and true (boy meets girl, war-torn romance, the allure of the Amazons, yada yada yada) this relief is groundbreaking in all the best ways. The metope was one of a dozen relief panels (one of four that survive) that once wrapped around the Temple of Hera (Temple E) at Selinunte
With that troubled brow, sharp cat-like cheekbones, and slightly downturned eyes, this soulful portrait is most beguiling and attractive. It was excavated in 1861 near the Temple of Apollo in Cyrene (modern Libya), but most essential facts about his identity and dating continue to elude scholars. The casting, coldwork (check out those wispy chin hairs)
Clocking in at 169 grams this coin is a whopper – one of the largest (if not the largest) denomination minted in antiquity. It was discovered in Bukhara (Uzbekistan), acquired by Napoleon III, and is one of a kind. The shrewd looking grump wearing the exciting helmet on the obverse is Eukratides I, a shadowy
It’s not shiny, but this is a rare survival of an impression in plaster, an echo of an important lost historical document. Measuring 15 cm at the max. diameter, it retains the surface of an imperial Ptolemaic portrait relief likely wrought in precious metal in the late 4th century B.C. Plaster doesn’t survive in great
Spring is starting to make itself felt in the Northern hemisphere, which has me thinking about two real masterpieces of late Classical gold-working, whimsy, and observed nature. These are two wreaths (metal ones that served as honorifics, fancy dress for feasting, and the funeral…that eternal festival) that were excavated within ‘Tomb II’ at Vergina. Now
You might not have seen these before and if so might be at a loss about what exactly you’re looking at….I am to some extent, and would be out to sea without some good old archaeological context. Twenty-six life-sized smashed clay heads were found in an early 5th century B.C. tomb within the monumental necropolis
This is my favourite relief from the great monument built for the satrap Mausolos by his Greek-steeped, grief-stricken sister-wife Artemisia on his death at Halikarnassos (Bodrum for you modern hedonists). The monument was gigantic and a sensation, making most ancient ‘Seven Wonders of the World’ list, roughly rectangular in shape, with an imposing podium with
This painted portrait is somewhat difficult to place in time and space, is it not? There are hints of the glorious Macedonian wall paintings as well as the knowing glances of Roman mummy portraits from the Fayoum. It is a marble stele from Thebes, the Greek city that found itself continuously trounced by skirmishing armies
The delightfully animated winged woman on this cup fragment at Emory is likely Iris, the sprightly messenger of the gods. It’s a wonderful representation in every respect, with outstretched wings overlapping the tondo’s border, strongly articulated flight feathers, and an almost downy quality elsewhere rendered with dilute glaze. Her face is typical of the Brygos
This fragmentary lady was unearthed near the citadel of Mycenae in the late 19th century (not by Schliemann, poor guy) and, although she is widely represented in art history textbooks, remains something of an an enigma, sometimes colloquially referred to as the ‘Woman in the Window’. Her fame is rightly deserved, with that stepped, wig-like
Plaited, twined, and knotted to pool over her brow, this young woman’s hairstyle is one of the most elaborate of the increasingly far-fetched hairy confections of the Roman Empire. Her identity is not known and that prim expression gives little away, but the quality of the carving sees to indicate she was from an aristocratic
Vase painting sometimes had a sculptural quality, and from an early period Herakles’ tidy coiffure and beard was a recipient of an attractive additive technique, with Euphronios being an early and great master of it. This fragment of a krater in Milan has all the highlights… Here the hero is in unrelenting profile, with that
When you visit the National Archaeological Museum in Athens (make it your first stop in that fine city!) you will likely encounter this impressive bronze monument – hard to miss since it is a nearly life-sized race-horse dating to the second century B.C. Perched precariously on its withers is a young jockey exhorting his powerful
Painting (as it were) with minute stone tesserae, this mosaicist really nailed the look of a somewhat guilty dog: a slightly inquisitive hunch, all perked ears and muzzle aquiver, with that plaintive, ascertaining gaze…. This most excellent mosaic was found in a private home in Alexandria – one of the pivotal cultural centers in the
Wonder about your neck? Well women of the early Ptolemaic dynasty evidently did and those distinctive fleshy folds ringing the neck were characteristic of their portraits – anatomical flair that does not necessarily translate into modern sensibilities. These ‘Venus-rings’ were a symbol of feminine beauty (and likely prosperity), and were all the rage in the
The most exciting treasure in the lavish Treasury of Aachen’s Cathedral is certainly the so-called Cross of Lothair. In the treasury museum, the Ottonian processional cross is most peculiarly displayed with the colorful principle side facing the wall (a nod to how the cross was oriented when carried into the church or more modern Germanic
This portrait came as something as a shock to me – I’m used to seeing shined up Severan portraits with stylised somnolent eyes, alarming hairdos, and an all together more graphic, surface-oriented approach to the carving (if that convoluted thought makes any kind of sense). Here, the heavy-lidded third century aspect is there, not exaggerated
Unusually large for surviving glass works (just over 30 cm tall), and in the most luxurious mode possible, this pointed amphora in cameo glass is a wonder to behold (and best beheld with a strong light to illuminate its dark blue body). The lavish decoration is appropriate for a vessel shape intended to store wine:
This ivory statuette is both far out of my comfort zone (Classical art) and very much part of the Mediterranean story. She is a Buddhist yakshini (previously erroneously identified as Lakshmi), measuring just under twenty-five centimeters, certainly Indian in origin but found in Pompeii, evidently reaching that fabled city before its destruction in 79 A.D.
The Minoan aesthetic was so wildly different from other Mediterranean cultures in the second millennium B.C. (safe to say it hasn’t been matched since). The vibrant, whimsical wallpaintings they left behind continue to delight and amaze, even if they present a challenge in interpretation. These details are from a particularly famous landscape scene (the third
Livia is one of those characters I just can’t bring myself to like for reasons difficult to pin down, perhaps owing to her portrayal as meddlesome kingmaker in ancient literature and modern television series, and partly because of a personal aversion to the hairstyle she popularised (the odious ‘nodus’). But those are my issues (mea
The sheer bounty of material from ancient Olympia can be a little overwhelming – after all, for over five centuries it was arguably the most important sanctuary in the Greek world and this the site of its most conspicuous and competitive dedications. So it would be easy to overlook this terracotta group. And that would
If this tondo alone were to appear on the art market today, it would instantly be dismissed as a forgery: it’s an absolute outlier within Late Archaic vase painting, even jarringly different from the exterior scenes on the same cup. Happily, it was unearthed in Vulci during the early 19th century and we can dig
With a smattering of exceptions, the names of ancient artists are largely lost to us and likely most toiled in relative obscurity in their own times. Particularly so, the producers of ‘minor’ arts…which brings me to this lovely blue cup. Because the cup bears an inscription, “Ennion made me”, within a prominently placed tabula ansata
While she frolicked in the fields of Nysa and picked flowers with her girlish friends, the earth opened up before Persephone – a gaping chasm from which Hades lunged in his chariot to abduct her as his bride. So begins the archaic ‘Hymn to Demeter’, a primordial tale of divine infighting and maternal rage that
Well I woke up thinking of bronzes today but this marvelous head wormed its way into my imagination. The trick is, it’s not bronze at all, but rather diabolically hard, dark stone. Black basalt (basanite), a fine-grained volcanic stone, was quarried in Egypt from the ‘Mons basanites’ deep in the Eastern desert. While it was
Cradled against the brawny chest of Euphorbos, little Oedipus’ downy flaxen head is tucked beneath the shepherd’s chin, his palm resting against that stalwart pectoral. It is unusual to see men carrying babies or children in Greek art, and even more unusual to encounter such a tender illustration (tender despite the child’s somewhat unsettling adult
A penchant for voyeurism flourished in the artistic climate of the Hellenistic period, and not surprisingly Aphrodite was front and center. (In mythological terms, the idea had been around for far longer: think Akteon and Artemis, Peleus and Thetis, Gyges and Nyssia, satyrs and maenads, etc.) The real innovation in the 4th century B.C. was
With deftly modelled fingertips and slightly dimpled flesh, these nearly clasping female hands in Taranto exude an undeniable sensuality. These are not the chapped and nicked hands of a washerwoman (or former toiling archaeologist…sigh), but rather those of the moneyed leisured class, which the pair of gilt coiled-snake bracelets make abundantly clear. But they are
This little marble fellow in Athens is pretty special. He hails from Amorgos in the Cyclades, where during the third millennium B.C. figurines developed slightly differently to their brethren on other islands. He belongs to the so-called ‘Plastiras’ type – an early (and potentially short-lived) experimentation into rendering the human form, and one that veered
Fancy encountering this fearsome beauty at the bottom of your wine cup? Skylla’s lovely nude torso projects from this small disk as she prepares to over-head-hurl a boulder at an unsuspecting sailor while a decidedly complicated lower body roils in the waves beneath her. Fishtails flail and dog-heads snap, these last giving the monstrous sea-hybrid
Well, I was hankering for a zany, special sort of glass object, and this one in Torino fits the bill beautifully. A small glass medallion (under 5 cm diameter), it encases the haunting portrait of a young woman in gold leaf. There are very few portraits of this kind known (under a dozen authentic ones),
I love this stripped down face. Without the voluminous surround of her coiffure (usually plaited, looped upon itself, perhaps netted, perhaps a true wig) Julia Mammea looks so very much like her son Alexander, the young emperor who was assassinated in her arms. It was the early 3rd century A.D. (a time of impending crises
With that designer scruff of a beard and magnificent hat, there’s a lot to love about this portrait, but there is much more at play here than a manly fashion statement… Because that’s no ordinary hat: it is a kausia (the special northern cousin of the petasos, the Greek traveler’s hat) nestled on his head
The rapacious god has transformed himself into an enormous eagle to abduct the beautiful Trojan youth Ganymede (his love interest du jour) and transport him to Olympus where he would serve as cup bearer of the gods – a plum position that apparently bestowed some perks of immortality upon the disoriented boy. Miniature as a
A decade after the Met’s acquisition of the famous Euphronios krater for a cool 1.2 million dollars (and presumably in part as a reaction to the soaring prices of Attic pottery) a most intriguing, ingenious, and inflammatory (depending on who you ask) theory was floated…. In a series of studies, Michael Vickers (and later jointly
I’ve been thinking about tritons lately, those marine hybrid creatures that so delightfully combine manly torsos with elaborate fishy tails. The essential flexibility of these imaginary bodies is their best selling point and their popularity flourished in the late Hellenistic period – bounded not by corporeal limits, only artistic flair. Their dramatic inclusion in sculptural
While sharing many characteristics with his archaic kin, the so-called ‘Rampin rider’ is on the whole far more lively with a beguiling dip and tilt to the head, extraordinary plaits and trimmed beard, amused doe-eyed expression, and small asymmetries throughout. The head was found on the Akropolis in 1877 and was later donated to the
A little frenzied homicide with dinner? This is one of my favorite of the Pompeian wall paintings, showing dramatic and violent demise of the Theban king Pentheus at the hands of incensed maenads. The wall paintings of Pompeii might not have been the most refined or the highest possible quality in the 1st century A.D.
’Tis the time for feasting (and hunkering) in much of the Northern hemisphere. As it was for Herakles in his later career, when he had more time to carouse. And this stage of the hero’s life – athletic action man gone to seed – was explored artistically with great relish beginning in the later 4th
Is there any way to overestimate the immense impact of the Persian Wars on Athenian (even panHellenic) consciousness and self-determination? Shown here in relief (not such a big one, just over 50 cm tall), the city’s patron goddess is helmeted and standing in repose, one hand on her hip, and the other grasping the butt
As far as fragments go, this one has a lot to say! It is from near the shoulder of a big white-ground lekythos, produced in Athens around 480 B.C. and attributed to the master painter Douris. Unlike many white ground lekythoi, this one did not have funerary imagery. Rather it shows a beautiful youth, his
This miniature, full-length rendition of Demosthenes – that great Athenian statesman and orator – is a frequently overlooked masterpiece. His chiton reveals sloped shoulders and the distinctly unathletic body that famously prevented him from gymnastic pursuits as a child and pushed him into a career as an orator. As part of that precocious training, he
After weeks of relentless gray rain, it seemed appropriate to start off this Monday with a stunner of a vessel as radiant and round as the sun. This is the exterior of an omphalos phiale (omphalos being Greek for belly-button / navel), named for that central circular indentation poking up into the vase’s interior. The
I count this as one of the most glorious (and innovative?) of all Roman imperial portraits: Caracalla, with his fierce glower in the years just before he became sole-ruler (more on that later…). He arguably inherited an empire already on a downward slide. Born in Gaul, even his parentage spoke to a vast territory, Septimius
This is a deeply weird object in every way possible. And as mysterious as it may be, the two core lessons are: don’t antagonise Dionysos and don’t forget the power of light. In a previous post, I discussed the Trivulzio cup, a gorgeous, more straightforward cage cup with translucent and blue glass with an inscribed
It could be argued that the very pose and activity of this delightfully carved Nike was chosen just to highlight the skills of an extremely talented sculptor. Because that carving is nothing less than the work of a true virtuoso. Originally part of the balustrade partially surrounding the tiny Temple of Athena Nike on the
Staggering in terms of preservation and beauty, undeniably masterful bronze working (and those unsettling eyes!), this head of Augustus is in every survey book on Roman art and portraiture worth its salt. It shows Augustus, the freshly minted princeps of Rome, as a young man, which he was at the time of this portrait’s manufacture