Mitchell, Lucy M.: A history of ancient sculpture (New York, 1883)

DKCLIXK OF ARTISTIC POWER.

687

falling over the low forehead, in these downcast eyes, and full, luxurious lips,
we see no noble self-control, no high-toned character. This is a surfeited
nature, at one moment the prey of self-indulgence, at the next of moody fan-
cies, and fully in keeping with the accounts of this spoiled imperial favorite.

As well illustrating the dangerously growing tendency of the time to empha-
size the technique, and the use of most obdurate materials, may be mentioned
the centaurs of the Capitol, in dark, hard marble, the work of Aristeas and
Papias of Aphrodisias. Here we see brilliant polish, so that the folds are like
a counterfeit of metal, as around the centaur's raised leg; and it must be

Fig. 289. Portrait of Antinous. Relief found in Hadrian's Villa at Tiuoli. Villa Albanl.

admitted that the sculptors of Hadrian's time in Rome spared no pains in their
work. That the copying of old works increased immensely at this time, is
evident, since even old Egyptian art was brought more than ever under contri-
bution by this monarch, who seems to have had a most comprehensive taste.

With the Antonines (139 A.D., ff.) there are clear signs of the marked sink-
ing of artistic power, especially evident in portraiture. The eyeballs begin to
be rendered with a realistic roundness, which, in time, becomes most disagree-
able, as we see it even in the bronze head of Marcus Aurelius (see Fig. 291),
but especially in the marble heads of Septimius Severus (197-211 A.D.). The
hair is no longer treated in free, bold masses, but with an attempt to give the
individual locks, resulting in heavy marble conglomerates, often looking like
honeycomb. The absurd headdress of ladies, piled up to a most unnatural