DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.973#0044
36 CATALOGUE OF SCULPTUBE.
us to reject the testimony of Pausanias (v., 10, 7) for
the figures at Olympia, and we have also the fact
that recumbent Biver-god types became common some-
what later. Furtwaengler proposes instead the Attic
hero of agriculture, Buzyges, not elsewhere recognized
in art.
The figure appears not to have suffered much
since Carrey drew it. The body, half reclined, rests
on the left arm, over which is the end of an himation,
which falls behind the back in undulating lines, and is
drawn up to the right knee. As the head and most
of the right arm are wanting, their action must be a
matter of conjecture; the general motion of the figure
seems to indicate the moment of sudden transition from
repose to action, and would be consistent with the sup-
position that the head was turned towards the central
group, and that the Biver-god was in the act of rising.
In that case his right hand may have been drawing
forward the end of his cloak over his right knee.
This figure has been long and deservedly celebrated for
the perfection of its anatomy. In the front of the body,
the flexibility of the abdominal muscles is finely contrasted
with the strong framework of the ribs. The supple elastic
character of the skin is here rendered with the same
mastery as in the horse's head of the eastern pediment.
At the back some of the surface has retained its original
polish. In the lines of the drapery, the sculptor has suc-
ceeded in suggesting the idea of rippling water without
having recourse to direct or conventional imitation. The
ground on which the figure reclines is a rock. The loft
hand rested on the bed of the pediment. A drawing by
Pars made in 1765 (engraved Stuart, iL, chap. I., pi. 9),
shows part of the right forearm and the four fingers of the
left hand overlapping the edge of the pediment. In the
original drawing, however, this appears to be conjectural.
us to reject the testimony of Pausanias (v., 10, 7) for
the figures at Olympia, and we have also the fact
that recumbent Biver-god types became common some-
what later. Furtwaengler proposes instead the Attic
hero of agriculture, Buzyges, not elsewhere recognized
in art.
The figure appears not to have suffered much
since Carrey drew it. The body, half reclined, rests
on the left arm, over which is the end of an himation,
which falls behind the back in undulating lines, and is
drawn up to the right knee. As the head and most
of the right arm are wanting, their action must be a
matter of conjecture; the general motion of the figure
seems to indicate the moment of sudden transition from
repose to action, and would be consistent with the sup-
position that the head was turned towards the central
group, and that the Biver-god was in the act of rising.
In that case his right hand may have been drawing
forward the end of his cloak over his right knee.
This figure has been long and deservedly celebrated for
the perfection of its anatomy. In the front of the body,
the flexibility of the abdominal muscles is finely contrasted
with the strong framework of the ribs. The supple elastic
character of the skin is here rendered with the same
mastery as in the horse's head of the eastern pediment.
At the back some of the surface has retained its original
polish. In the lines of the drapery, the sculptor has suc-
ceeded in suggesting the idea of rippling water without
having recourse to direct or conventional imitation. The
ground on which the figure reclines is a rock. The loft
hand rested on the bed of the pediment. A drawing by
Pars made in 1765 (engraved Stuart, iL, chap. I., pi. 9),
shows part of the right forearm and the four fingers of the
left hand overlapping the edge of the pediment. In the
original drawing, however, this appears to be conjectural.