DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5253#0637
CHAPTER XXX11.
SCULPTURE IX RHODES, SICILY, AND THE ORIENT.
Political State of Rhodes. — Its Colossus. — Patronage of Art. — Artists. — Laocoon.— The Myth.—
Its Rendering in Art. — The Original Pose. — Emphasis of Physical Pain. — Resemblance to
Pergamon Giant.— Its Date. — Art in Sicily. — In Egypt. — Mesopotamia and Syria. — Tomb of
Antiochos on Nemrud Dagh. — Greek Sculpture in India.
The island-republic of Rhodes, by reason of its position in the line of the
great commercial routes of antiquity, and its wise neutral policy during the
stormy time after Alexander, had attained to great prosperity by the close of
the fourth century B.C. But, provoked by the seizure of their traders with
Egypt, the Rhodians finally allied themselves with the latter country against
Uemetrios Poliorketes, and resisted his siege of their city so bravely, that, after
the lapse of a year, he withdrew his forces, 303 or 304 B.C., leaving behind his
ponderous engines of war. This deliverance from a threatening foreign yoke,
the Rhodians commemorated by the erection of statues to all who had aided
them ; but, most of all, by a bronze colossus to their god Helios, one hundred
and fifty feet high, and, on account of its great size, considered one of the
seven wonders of the world. This colossus, the work of a native sculptor,
Chares of Lindos, a scholar of the great Lysippos, is said to have required
twelve years for its completion; the expenses amounting to four hundred and
seventy thousand dollars, or, according to another story, to two million five
hundred thousand dollars, being defrayed by the sale of Demetrios' engines of
war."73 It probably stood complete before 280 B.C., and for sixty-six years
towered, a prominent feature, above the harbor, until prostrated by an earth-
quake. The fingers alone, we are told by Pliny, were larger than most stat-
ues ; and few could, with their arms, encompass the thumb. As the colossus
lay prostrate, great caverns yawned from among the broken members, within
which gigantic rocks were to be seen, put there as ballast. In the seventh
century of our era, the bronze was bought by a speculator, who is said to have
required nine hundred and eighty camel-loads to remove it."74 Enormous
blocks, one lying above the other, at the end of the mole of Rhodes, where
now stands the solitary Tower of St. Nicholas, are thought by Professor
Newton to be a part of its pedestal.""5 Incredible stories, which arose as
late as 1480 A.D., make this colossus bestride the harbor, and ships pass in
f>oo
SCULPTURE IX RHODES, SICILY, AND THE ORIENT.
Political State of Rhodes. — Its Colossus. — Patronage of Art. — Artists. — Laocoon.— The Myth.—
Its Rendering in Art. — The Original Pose. — Emphasis of Physical Pain. — Resemblance to
Pergamon Giant.— Its Date. — Art in Sicily. — In Egypt. — Mesopotamia and Syria. — Tomb of
Antiochos on Nemrud Dagh. — Greek Sculpture in India.
The island-republic of Rhodes, by reason of its position in the line of the
great commercial routes of antiquity, and its wise neutral policy during the
stormy time after Alexander, had attained to great prosperity by the close of
the fourth century B.C. But, provoked by the seizure of their traders with
Egypt, the Rhodians finally allied themselves with the latter country against
Uemetrios Poliorketes, and resisted his siege of their city so bravely, that, after
the lapse of a year, he withdrew his forces, 303 or 304 B.C., leaving behind his
ponderous engines of war. This deliverance from a threatening foreign yoke,
the Rhodians commemorated by the erection of statues to all who had aided
them ; but, most of all, by a bronze colossus to their god Helios, one hundred
and fifty feet high, and, on account of its great size, considered one of the
seven wonders of the world. This colossus, the work of a native sculptor,
Chares of Lindos, a scholar of the great Lysippos, is said to have required
twelve years for its completion; the expenses amounting to four hundred and
seventy thousand dollars, or, according to another story, to two million five
hundred thousand dollars, being defrayed by the sale of Demetrios' engines of
war."73 It probably stood complete before 280 B.C., and for sixty-six years
towered, a prominent feature, above the harbor, until prostrated by an earth-
quake. The fingers alone, we are told by Pliny, were larger than most stat-
ues ; and few could, with their arms, encompass the thumb. As the colossus
lay prostrate, great caverns yawned from among the broken members, within
which gigantic rocks were to be seen, put there as ballast. In the seventh
century of our era, the bronze was bought by a speculator, who is said to have
required nine hundred and eighty camel-loads to remove it."74 Enormous
blocks, one lying above the other, at the end of the mole of Rhodes, where
now stands the solitary Tower of St. Nicholas, are thought by Professor
Newton to be a part of its pedestal.""5 Incredible stories, which arose as
late as 1480 A.D., make this colossus bestride the harbor, and ships pass in
f>oo