DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5253#0582
546 THE HELLENISTIC AGE OF SCULPTURE.
.sixty statues were broken down to give place to golden ones erected to the
new ruler, Demetrios Poliorketes, is, doubtless, largely a fabrication; while
the spirit of subjection it implies finds a natural explanation in the straits to
which Athens was then reduced, confronted no longer by Persian barbarians
as of old, but by her neighbors, the highly civilized powers of the day,—foes
far more subtle and formidable. Her glory was, however, no doubt, fast pass-
ing away; for, after Alexander, the city was, as it were, kept alive by the great
rival rulers.I0"7 We are told that there was activity in painting in Athens,
down to the time of the Roman dominion ; and, although sculptors' names arc-
only preserved to us from the opening years of the period, still it is evident that
the traditions of sculpture were kept up, since, after the conquest by Rome,
Athens sent thither many sculptors, whose works, however, appear to have
been of secondary importance.
Among the masters active in Athens at the opening of the Hellenistic age,
were Scopas' younger associates ; and there can be no doubt that the prime of
Praxiteles' sons and scholars fell also at this time. These latter, Kephisodotos
and Timarchos by name, appear to have worked much in common; their names
being found together, not only in several recently discovered inscriptions, but also
in several ancient authors. Of these brothers, Kephisodotos was probably the
more important; it being said expressly of him alone, that he was " heir to his
father's art."'°7s Their prime is placed by Pliny about 296 B.C. (Olymp. 121):
but their activity must have commenced during the latter part of the fourth
century, perhaps about the time of Alexander's death, and have lasted until
284 B.C. ; it being said that Kephisodotos executed the portrait of a poetess
Moiro, who lived as late as 284 B.C.I0?9 According to an inscription discovered
in Athens, they executed a statue to their uncle Theoxenides, as well as a
portrait-statue of some unknown person, the fragmentary inscribed pedestal of
which has been discovered near the Erechtheion.loSo Another inscription on a
pedestal recently discovered in the ruins of the Theatre of Uionysos at Athens,
informs us that on it stood a portrait-statue of Menander (342-293 B.C.), whose
stinging lines won for him the first rank among the poets of the new comedy.
Gladly would we associate this very pedestal, and these masters, with an
admirable seated Menander in Greek marble, now in the Vatican; the size
of which, however, exceeding by several centimeters the Athenian pedestal,
prevents such a possibility.IoSl Moreover, the evidence is that the Vatican
Menander was originally executed not alone, but as a companion figure to that
of Poseidippos, who still sits beside him, as he has clone through the centuries
during which both these ancient Greek poets, transformed into Christian saints,
received worship in St. Lorenzo in Panisperna. Although we cannot, then,
trace to Praxiteles' sons the Vatican Menander and its companion, yet they, no
doubt, well represent that realistic portraiture which was rapidly developed
after the time of Alexander, and of which many other fine specimens are pre-
.sixty statues were broken down to give place to golden ones erected to the
new ruler, Demetrios Poliorketes, is, doubtless, largely a fabrication; while
the spirit of subjection it implies finds a natural explanation in the straits to
which Athens was then reduced, confronted no longer by Persian barbarians
as of old, but by her neighbors, the highly civilized powers of the day,—foes
far more subtle and formidable. Her glory was, however, no doubt, fast pass-
ing away; for, after Alexander, the city was, as it were, kept alive by the great
rival rulers.I0"7 We are told that there was activity in painting in Athens,
down to the time of the Roman dominion ; and, although sculptors' names arc-
only preserved to us from the opening years of the period, still it is evident that
the traditions of sculpture were kept up, since, after the conquest by Rome,
Athens sent thither many sculptors, whose works, however, appear to have
been of secondary importance.
Among the masters active in Athens at the opening of the Hellenistic age,
were Scopas' younger associates ; and there can be no doubt that the prime of
Praxiteles' sons and scholars fell also at this time. These latter, Kephisodotos
and Timarchos by name, appear to have worked much in common; their names
being found together, not only in several recently discovered inscriptions, but also
in several ancient authors. Of these brothers, Kephisodotos was probably the
more important; it being said expressly of him alone, that he was " heir to his
father's art."'°7s Their prime is placed by Pliny about 296 B.C. (Olymp. 121):
but their activity must have commenced during the latter part of the fourth
century, perhaps about the time of Alexander's death, and have lasted until
284 B.C. ; it being said that Kephisodotos executed the portrait of a poetess
Moiro, who lived as late as 284 B.C.I0?9 According to an inscription discovered
in Athens, they executed a statue to their uncle Theoxenides, as well as a
portrait-statue of some unknown person, the fragmentary inscribed pedestal of
which has been discovered near the Erechtheion.loSo Another inscription on a
pedestal recently discovered in the ruins of the Theatre of Uionysos at Athens,
informs us that on it stood a portrait-statue of Menander (342-293 B.C.), whose
stinging lines won for him the first rank among the poets of the new comedy.
Gladly would we associate this very pedestal, and these masters, with an
admirable seated Menander in Greek marble, now in the Vatican; the size
of which, however, exceeding by several centimeters the Athenian pedestal,
prevents such a possibility.IoSl Moreover, the evidence is that the Vatican
Menander was originally executed not alone, but as a companion figure to that
of Poseidippos, who still sits beside him, as he has clone through the centuries
during which both these ancient Greek poets, transformed into Christian saints,
received worship in St. Lorenzo in Panisperna. Although we cannot, then,
trace to Praxiteles' sons the Vatican Menander and its companion, yet they, no
doubt, well represent that realistic portraiture which was rapidly developed
after the time of Alexander, and of which many other fine specimens are pre-