DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5253#0422
388
THE AGE OF PHEIDIAS AND OF POLYCLEITOS.
statues that in general pose seem a variation on Polycleitos' Doryphoros, none
is, however, more beautiful than a rare life-size bronze discovered in the sea off
Salamis, and now one of the greatest treasures of the Saburoff collection.7J9
The head is gone ; and such are the marvellous ease and rhythmic grace of pose,
and exquisite lines of the fingers, that we
cannot enough mourn its loss. The right
arm hangs easily at the side, and the left
is extended. Like this statue in general,
is also the celebrated " Idolino," that life-
size bronze discovered in 1530 in Pesaro,
and now in Florence. This work is,
however, greatly inferior, in its hard and
academic lines, to the fresh beauty of the
bronze of the Saburoff collection.
Polycleitos' second great statue, the
Diadumenos, was that of a youth bind-
ing a fillet about his head, — a motive
likewise suggested by scenes in the ath-
letic games. Several statues in marble
and bronze, of a youthful figure in the
act of binding a fillet about his head,
bear so strong a resemblance, in gene-
ral conception and pose, to Polycleitos'
Doryphoros, that there can be no doubt
that these statues also are reproductions
of some famous original by the master.
These are a small bronze in Paris and two
marble statues in the British Museum,
the one under life-size, long owned by
the family Farnese (Fig. 177), and the
other of heavier proportions, but more
than life-size, discovered at Vaison in
France. The latter, with its massive
build, flabby muscles, slender ankles,
and surface finished in a manner more
in keeping with marble than bronze, seems farther removed from originals of
the fifth century than does the smaller, well-knitted frame of the Farnese statue,
with its thick ankles and smoother surface. But neither of them can give more
than the feeblest conception of Polycleitos' Diadumenos, which, according to
Pliny, was a youth of gentle form {mollitcr juvenis), and so highly prized in
antiquity, as, at one time, to have brought a hundred talents ($117,750), an
immense sum for a single figure, either in ancient or modern times.?20
Fig. 177. A Copy of Polycleitos' Diadumenos. British
Museum. (Restored. J
THE AGE OF PHEIDIAS AND OF POLYCLEITOS.
statues that in general pose seem a variation on Polycleitos' Doryphoros, none
is, however, more beautiful than a rare life-size bronze discovered in the sea off
Salamis, and now one of the greatest treasures of the Saburoff collection.7J9
The head is gone ; and such are the marvellous ease and rhythmic grace of pose,
and exquisite lines of the fingers, that we
cannot enough mourn its loss. The right
arm hangs easily at the side, and the left
is extended. Like this statue in general,
is also the celebrated " Idolino," that life-
size bronze discovered in 1530 in Pesaro,
and now in Florence. This work is,
however, greatly inferior, in its hard and
academic lines, to the fresh beauty of the
bronze of the Saburoff collection.
Polycleitos' second great statue, the
Diadumenos, was that of a youth bind-
ing a fillet about his head, — a motive
likewise suggested by scenes in the ath-
letic games. Several statues in marble
and bronze, of a youthful figure in the
act of binding a fillet about his head,
bear so strong a resemblance, in gene-
ral conception and pose, to Polycleitos'
Doryphoros, that there can be no doubt
that these statues also are reproductions
of some famous original by the master.
These are a small bronze in Paris and two
marble statues in the British Museum,
the one under life-size, long owned by
the family Farnese (Fig. 177), and the
other of heavier proportions, but more
than life-size, discovered at Vaison in
France. The latter, with its massive
build, flabby muscles, slender ankles,
and surface finished in a manner more
in keeping with marble than bronze, seems farther removed from originals of
the fifth century than does the smaller, well-knitted frame of the Farnese statue,
with its thick ankles and smoother surface. But neither of them can give more
than the feeblest conception of Polycleitos' Diadumenos, which, according to
Pliny, was a youth of gentle form {mollitcr juvenis), and so highly prized in
antiquity, as, at one time, to have brought a hundred talents ($117,750), an
immense sum for a single figure, either in ancient or modern times.?20
Fig. 177. A Copy of Polycleitos' Diadumenos. British
Museum. (Restored. J