DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14144#0677
riLLAR OF ANTONINUS PIUS.
641
to which merely realistic historical sculpture can attain. As far as
design and composition are concerned the artists owe nothing to the
past—they have almost entirely broken with mythology. The whole
composition contains on!)' two mythological figures—those of Selene
and Jupiter ionans—used to indicate niglit and storm. Their sole
object is to pourtray with the greatest possible accuracy the actual
scenes and occurrences of a particular campaign ; and these subjects
are not ideas but facts, which suggest nothing more than can be
seen. Many of the figures and faces, however, are not only correctly
drawn, but of great elegance and beauty, and when compared with
the analogous historical reliefs of Assyria and Egypt, show us how
much Greek schooling had done even for the coarse Roman natures
in respect to knowledge of the human form, and the perception of its
beauty.
The Pillar of Antoninus Pins. Of this column of granite, which
M. Aurelius and Lucius Verus erected in honour of Antoninus Pius,
only the pedestal, which is now in the gardens of the Vatican, has been
preserved. The subject of the reliefs in the front is the Apotheosis
Of the deceased Fmperor and his zvifc, Faustina the elder, who are
borne aloft on the back of a serpent as Genius of Eternity, and
attended by two eagles, the official symbols of deification. On two
sides of the basis the decursio fnnebris is represented. Notwith-
standing the great care, and a certain degree of technical skill, mani-
fested in this work, the effect of the composition as a whole is
Unpleasing and even ridiculous.
The Arch of M. Aurelius was still standing in good preservation
°n the Corso, near the Palazzo Fiano, as late as the year 1622 A.D.,
When it was removed by order of Pope Alexander VII., because it
was an obstruction to the horse races during the Carnival. The
reliefs with which it was adorned are preserved in the Conscrvatori
Museum on the Capitol. They represent the Apotheosis of Faustina,
the infamous wife of Marcus Aurelius, and a sacrifice before her
temple, which is still standing in the Forum. M. Renan, in a lecture
delivered in London (1880) says, ' Dans un bas-relief qui sc voit
encore a Rome au Musce du Capitol, pendant que Faustinc est
enlcvee par une Rcnommee, ['excellent Fmpereur la suit de terre
T T
641
to which merely realistic historical sculpture can attain. As far as
design and composition are concerned the artists owe nothing to the
past—they have almost entirely broken with mythology. The whole
composition contains on!)' two mythological figures—those of Selene
and Jupiter ionans—used to indicate niglit and storm. Their sole
object is to pourtray with the greatest possible accuracy the actual
scenes and occurrences of a particular campaign ; and these subjects
are not ideas but facts, which suggest nothing more than can be
seen. Many of the figures and faces, however, are not only correctly
drawn, but of great elegance and beauty, and when compared with
the analogous historical reliefs of Assyria and Egypt, show us how
much Greek schooling had done even for the coarse Roman natures
in respect to knowledge of the human form, and the perception of its
beauty.
The Pillar of Antoninus Pins. Of this column of granite, which
M. Aurelius and Lucius Verus erected in honour of Antoninus Pius,
only the pedestal, which is now in the gardens of the Vatican, has been
preserved. The subject of the reliefs in the front is the Apotheosis
Of the deceased Fmperor and his zvifc, Faustina the elder, who are
borne aloft on the back of a serpent as Genius of Eternity, and
attended by two eagles, the official symbols of deification. On two
sides of the basis the decursio fnnebris is represented. Notwith-
standing the great care, and a certain degree of technical skill, mani-
fested in this work, the effect of the composition as a whole is
Unpleasing and even ridiculous.
The Arch of M. Aurelius was still standing in good preservation
°n the Corso, near the Palazzo Fiano, as late as the year 1622 A.D.,
When it was removed by order of Pope Alexander VII., because it
was an obstruction to the horse races during the Carnival. The
reliefs with which it was adorned are preserved in the Conscrvatori
Museum on the Capitol. They represent the Apotheosis of Faustina,
the infamous wife of Marcus Aurelius, and a sacrifice before her
temple, which is still standing in the Forum. M. Renan, in a lecture
delivered in London (1880) says, ' Dans un bas-relief qui sc voit
encore a Rome au Musce du Capitol, pendant que Faustinc est
enlcvee par une Rcnommee, ['excellent Fmpereur la suit de terre
T T