DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5253#0666
628 THE HELLENISTIC AGE OF SCULPTURE.
to expect. The great beauty of the neglected fragment, without head and arms,
was noticed by the sculptor von Launitz, who restored it. The main restoration
was the head, which is a trifle too large, and placed too much in profile to be in
harmony with the pose of the remainder of the figure. But, in spite of this
discord in the statue, how grandly simple are the lines, set off by the rugged
support under the chair, a vigilant, fierce dog, the worthy guardian of so rare a
flower! The easy and delicate grace of this frail form is brought out in beau-
tiful contrast to the canine attendant. The impression of originality made by
the statue is so strong, that it seems a Greek work of about the age of Alexan-
der, a portrait, perhaps, of one of the ladies of that time. None of the numerous
seated portrait-statues of Roman ladies equal it in simple grandeur of composi-
tion or excellence of execution ; for, although following it in general pose, they
vary unpleasantly from it in the direction of greater elegance and affectation,
as seen, for instance, in the portrait-statue of Livia, also in the Museo Tor-
Ionia. It has been conjectured, that this statue is of Olympias, the mother of
Alexander, guarded by a dog belonging to that breed, most highly prized in
antiquity, coming from the land of the Molossians, of which Olympias was the
heiress. This pleasing theory, which would unite the statue with the one of
this queen, by Leochares, for the Philippeion at Olympia, has not been sup-
ported by the excavations, which have shown that the statues there by this
master were all standing figures; and we are, therefore, obliged to await for
more light on this beautiful figure, and its direct affinities.
Turning to the portrait-heads of the Hellenistic age, one of its fine original
bronzes is doubtless that rare work, now in the British Museum, which was
discovered at a depth of eleven feet under the mosaic pavement of the cella in
the Temple of Apollo at Kyrene in Northern Africa (Fig. 25S).12I'a The eye-
sockets, once, doubtless, filled to imitate life, are now empty; but the marvel-
lous details of hair and beard, and even the intimation of eyelashes, are perfect.
So vigorous and realistic is the conception of this head, and its workmanship so
like that of the athlete's head discovered at Olympia (p. 554), that we may with
safety assign it to the same age., i.e., the third century B.C. Possibly it repre-
sents a king of Numidia, or Mauritania, provinces which bordered upon Greek
Kyrene; for certainly not Greek features are rendered in these thick, protrud-
ing lips and high cheekbones.
But, besides such admirable portraits of living persons, of which the coins
of this age give us as well a stately array, the poets and sages of the past
received similar life-like form. This tendency was, as we already have seen,
probably awakened by the great Lysippos ; but the effort to portray persons
of whom no iconic statues existed must have continued long after him. A
recently discovered inscription at Pergamon shows that its pedestal once sup-
ported a portrait of Sappho's admirer, the lyric poet Alcaios, of centuries
before. Fortunately, among existing monuments, there are a few masterpieces
to expect. The great beauty of the neglected fragment, without head and arms,
was noticed by the sculptor von Launitz, who restored it. The main restoration
was the head, which is a trifle too large, and placed too much in profile to be in
harmony with the pose of the remainder of the figure. But, in spite of this
discord in the statue, how grandly simple are the lines, set off by the rugged
support under the chair, a vigilant, fierce dog, the worthy guardian of so rare a
flower! The easy and delicate grace of this frail form is brought out in beau-
tiful contrast to the canine attendant. The impression of originality made by
the statue is so strong, that it seems a Greek work of about the age of Alexan-
der, a portrait, perhaps, of one of the ladies of that time. None of the numerous
seated portrait-statues of Roman ladies equal it in simple grandeur of composi-
tion or excellence of execution ; for, although following it in general pose, they
vary unpleasantly from it in the direction of greater elegance and affectation,
as seen, for instance, in the portrait-statue of Livia, also in the Museo Tor-
Ionia. It has been conjectured, that this statue is of Olympias, the mother of
Alexander, guarded by a dog belonging to that breed, most highly prized in
antiquity, coming from the land of the Molossians, of which Olympias was the
heiress. This pleasing theory, which would unite the statue with the one of
this queen, by Leochares, for the Philippeion at Olympia, has not been sup-
ported by the excavations, which have shown that the statues there by this
master were all standing figures; and we are, therefore, obliged to await for
more light on this beautiful figure, and its direct affinities.
Turning to the portrait-heads of the Hellenistic age, one of its fine original
bronzes is doubtless that rare work, now in the British Museum, which was
discovered at a depth of eleven feet under the mosaic pavement of the cella in
the Temple of Apollo at Kyrene in Northern Africa (Fig. 25S).12I'a The eye-
sockets, once, doubtless, filled to imitate life, are now empty; but the marvel-
lous details of hair and beard, and even the intimation of eyelashes, are perfect.
So vigorous and realistic is the conception of this head, and its workmanship so
like that of the athlete's head discovered at Olympia (p. 554), that we may with
safety assign it to the same age., i.e., the third century B.C. Possibly it repre-
sents a king of Numidia, or Mauritania, provinces which bordered upon Greek
Kyrene; for certainly not Greek features are rendered in these thick, protrud-
ing lips and high cheekbones.
But, besides such admirable portraits of living persons, of which the coins
of this age give us as well a stately array, the poets and sages of the past
received similar life-like form. This tendency was, as we already have seen,
probably awakened by the great Lysippos ; but the effort to portray persons
of whom no iconic statues existed must have continued long after him. A
recently discovered inscription at Pergamon shows that its pedestal once sup-
ported a portrait of Sappho's admirer, the lyric poet Alcaios, of centuries
before. Fortunately, among existing monuments, there are a few masterpieces