DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14144#0698
662
PORTRAIT SCULPTURE.
strange sadness of the face call forth that not unpleasing sympathy
with which we regard the ' beaux chagrins,' the ' sweet sorrows ' of
youth, which we know will pass away like clouds in April. The look
of Antinous is one of an almost sullen despair; it betrays a morbid
condition of the mind, and produces an undefined, incongruous, and
almost painful impression upon us.
The colossal statue of Antinous-Bacchus in the Vatican, referred
to above, was discovered in Palestrina (or Hadrian's Villa ?) in the
beginning of last century by Gavin Hamilton, and has been lately
removed from the Lateran. The garment, probably of bronze, which
wrapt the middle of the body, was missing, and was restored in
marble by Pierre. The pine-cone on the crown of the head, and
the thyrsus in the left hand, are also restorations. In his character of
Bacchus he wears the long locks appropriate to the God, and the ivy
crown, which the artist has elaborated with the greatest care and
skill. In some respects the Bacchus-type seems to be peculiarly
suited for the ideal representation of the deified Antinous, who, like
the God, was young and beautiful, pleasure-loving and luxurious, yet
subject to melancholy. But how different is the romantic dreamy
sadness—
' Sad as night for very wantonness1—
which is only one form of youthful enjoyment, in the face of Bacchus
from the dark hopeless brooding of this victim of a gloomy supersti-
tion !
The Statue of Antinous in the Capitol. The designation given
to this statue, from the likeness which it bears to other heads
of the same hero, might perhaps be disputed on account of the
short curly hair, and the manner in which the iris of the eye is
marked. But he probably appears here in the character of Mercury
(fig. 266).
The Bust of Antinous in the Louvre, known by the name of
Moudragone, a Villa in I'Yascati, is perhaps the finest of the many
heads of the beautiful Bithynian. The hair is arranged under a
fillet or taenia in a manner which is not unknown in Greek works,
and it is evident, from the holes round the head, that a metal
PORTRAIT SCULPTURE.
strange sadness of the face call forth that not unpleasing sympathy
with which we regard the ' beaux chagrins,' the ' sweet sorrows ' of
youth, which we know will pass away like clouds in April. The look
of Antinous is one of an almost sullen despair; it betrays a morbid
condition of the mind, and produces an undefined, incongruous, and
almost painful impression upon us.
The colossal statue of Antinous-Bacchus in the Vatican, referred
to above, was discovered in Palestrina (or Hadrian's Villa ?) in the
beginning of last century by Gavin Hamilton, and has been lately
removed from the Lateran. The garment, probably of bronze, which
wrapt the middle of the body, was missing, and was restored in
marble by Pierre. The pine-cone on the crown of the head, and
the thyrsus in the left hand, are also restorations. In his character of
Bacchus he wears the long locks appropriate to the God, and the ivy
crown, which the artist has elaborated with the greatest care and
skill. In some respects the Bacchus-type seems to be peculiarly
suited for the ideal representation of the deified Antinous, who, like
the God, was young and beautiful, pleasure-loving and luxurious, yet
subject to melancholy. But how different is the romantic dreamy
sadness—
' Sad as night for very wantonness1—
which is only one form of youthful enjoyment, in the face of Bacchus
from the dark hopeless brooding of this victim of a gloomy supersti-
tion !
The Statue of Antinous in the Capitol. The designation given
to this statue, from the likeness which it bears to other heads
of the same hero, might perhaps be disputed on account of the
short curly hair, and the manner in which the iris of the eye is
marked. But he probably appears here in the character of Mercury
(fig. 266).
The Bust of Antinous in the Louvre, known by the name of
Moudragone, a Villa in I'Yascati, is perhaps the finest of the many
heads of the beautiful Bithynian. The hair is arranged under a
fillet or taenia in a manner which is not unknown in Greek works,
and it is evident, from the holes round the head, that a metal