Curated by Jens M. Daehner and Kenneth Lapatin

TextsLudovica Sebregondi

TranslationStephen Tobin

FLORENCE PaLazzO StROzzi14 MarCH–21 June 2015

Power and Pathos

Bronze sculPture of the hellenistic world

During the Hellenistic period – from the death of alexander the Great in 323 BCe until the establishment of the roman empire in 31 BCe – the medium of bronze drove artistic experimentation and innovation in Greece and elsewhere across the Mediterranean. Sculptors broke free from the Classical canon, replacing idealized forms with realistic renderings of physical and emotional states. Surpassing marble with its tensile strength, reflective effects, and ability to hold the finest detail, bronze was employed for dynamic compositions, dazzling displays of the nude body, and graphic expressions of age and character.

Cast from alloys of copper, tin, lead, and other elements, bronze statues were produced in the thousands throughout the Hellenistic world. They were concentrated in public spaces and outdoor settings: honorific portraits of rulers and citizens populated city squares, and images of gods, heroes, and humans crowded sanctuaries. Few, however, survive, and those that do are customarily displayed in museums as isolated masterpieces.

This unprecedented exhibition – organised in conjunction with the Soprintendenza archeologica della Toscana, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los angeles, and the national Gallery of art in Washington, DC – brings together about fifty of the most significant bronzes and presents them in their larger contexts. Several closely related works are displayed here side by side for the first time.

Complementing and expanding this exploration of ancient bronzes at Palazzo Strozzi, the Museo archeologico nazionale of Florence presents the exhibition Great Small Bronzes. Greek, Roman and Etruscan Masterpieces (March 21–June 21), featuring the extraordinary collection of small-scale bronze sculptures assembled by the Medici and Lorrain families over the course of three centuries.

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M e d i t e r r a n e a n S e a

B l a c k S e a

T y r r h e n i a n S e a

A d r i a t i c S e a

A e g e a n S e a

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StatuE BaSE SigNEd By LySiPPOSend of fourth–beginning of third century BCeblue-grey limestoneCorinth, 37th ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical antiquities

This base for a statue (unearthed in ancient Corinth in 1901) still bears an inscription which, when completed, reads “Lysippos made this” and the holes for the feet of a bronze figure. It is displayed here to evoke the many Hellenistic bronze statues now lost and the difficulty in reconstructing the original function of those that have survived out of context. The right leg extended forward while the left stood back to rest on the base. The figure may have been a life size male nude.

PORtRait StatuE OF auLE MEtELi (aRRiNgatORE)Late second century BCebronze Florence, Museo archeologico nazionale

This statue was found in Sanguineto on Lake Trasimene in 1566 and promptly entered Cosimo I de’ Medici’s collection. The attire is roman but the inscription on the toga’s hem is etruscan. The votive statue, portraying aule of the Meteli gens (a leading family in Cortona), the son of Vel and Vesi, and dedicated to the god Tece Sans (“Tece the Father”), was perhaps offered by the Chisuli community. The right hand is held out and is open in the gesture known as silentium manu facere, which preceded public prayer.

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The conquests of alexander the Great (ruled 336–323 BCe) transformed ancient politics and culture, vastly expanding the geographical borders of the Greek world as far as India and diminishing individual city-states’ autonomy. alexander’s early death left his domain in the hands of his generals, the Diadochoi, who sought to emulate his charismatic style and adopted the representational models created for him. Many of these are the work of Lysippos of Sikyon, the most famous sculptor of the time, who seems to have worked solely in bronze, transforming earlier, Classical athletic types into vigorous new images of the powerful ruler. Portraying both men and women, ruler portraiture emerged as a distinctive genre in the Hellenistic age, and bronze was its primary medium.The Diadochoi, like alexander, typically commissioned their own portraits, but these statues were often also erected by disempowered cities seeking or acknowledging favour. The fragmentary condition of most of the surviving examples, however, makes the certain identification of the individuals difficult.

FORMuLaS OF POwER

StatuEttE OF aLExaNdER thE gREat ON hORSEBaCkFirst century BCebronze, with silver inlaysnaples, Museo archeologico nazionale

This statuette was discovered in Herculaneum in 1761. alexander the Great’s conquests had an impact on art, introducing new portrait types and more dynamic groups. alexander, a royal diadem in his hair, is shown here on horseback, perhaps on alexander’s steed Bucephalus himself. This may be a miniature copy of the central figure in a bronze group by Lysippos from the sanctuary of Zeus at Dion commemorating the battle against the Persians on the river Granicus in 334 BCe, or else a roman adaptation of a Hellenistic prototype.

hORSE hEad (“MEdiCi RiCCaRdi” hORSE)Second half of the fourth century BCebronzeFlorence, Museo archeologico nazionale

This head, an original Greek work which can be dated to between the late Classical and early Hellenistic periods and is part of a life size equestrian statue, is a rare example of an ancient bronze.Most such items are now lost after being melted down for metal in the Middle ages. The statue is known to have formed part of Lorenzo the Magnificent’s collection in the garden of Palazzo Medici in Florence, though it may formerly have belonged to Cosimo the elder as Donatello, who was in charge of antiquities for the Medici family, appears to have studied it.

The restoration of the Horse Head (“Medici Riccardi” Horse) from the Museo archeologico nazionale in Florence was made possible through the generous support of the Friends of Florence Foundation.

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hEad OF a MaN with kauSiaThird century BCebronze, faïence or alabasterPothia, archaeological Museum of Kalymnos

Discovered off Kalymnos in the aegean in 1997, this head is part of a Hellenistic portrait statue. The kausia – a distinctive mark of Macedonian identity – was a broad leather or cloth hat protecting the wearer from the heat and cold, which began to be depicted in art in the Hellenistic era after alexander the Great’s conquests. The sitter’s pronounced features, the twist of his head and his intensely expressive gaze all add a distinctly psychological depth to this portrait.

PORtRait OF a diadOCh (dEMEtRiOS POLiORkEtES?) 310–290 BCebronzeMadrid, Museo nacional del Prado

Both the head’s monumental dimensions (suggesting a statue 3.5 metres high) and its pronounced features point to this being a portrait. an original Greek bronze, it may depict Demetrios Poliorketes (c. 336–283 BCe) when he was proclaimed king of the athenians, together with his father antigonos I, at the age of about thirty in 307 BCe. This is the first time that the title, Diadoch (successor) reserved for alexander’s general, was used.

PORtRait OF aRSiNOë iii Late third century–early second century BCebronzeMantua, Museo Civico di Palazzo Te

Probably unearthed in egypt, this head was given by the collector Giuseppe acerbi to the city of Mantua in 1840. The sitter has been identified as arsinoe III Philopator (217–204 BCe), queen of egypt and the wife of Ptolemy IV. The identification is borne out by a comparison with the portrait of the queen found on coins. This portrait, remarkable for its sober realism, is an honest record of the queen’s real features, toning down only her most striking profile.

StatuE OF a MaNSecond century BCeBronzeBrindisi, Museo archeologico Provinciale “F. ribezzo”

Found in the sea off Brindisi in 1992, these two fragments are all that remains of the statue. The face combines realistic features with elements of pathos, and the pose is typical of sculpture of the mid-Hellenistic period. Lacking a diadem, this may well have been a 2nd century BCe roman commander, perhaps Lucius emilius Paullus who led rome to victory over the forces of Perseus of Macedon in Pidna in 168 BCe. The statue may have been earmarked for melting down because it was found in the wreck of a Venetian ship carrying booty from Constantinople after the sack of 1204.

Si sulis, viverra? Vali, Catus orentiliena, sa consu-les ne publis ia ati sendeps, Cateriam inprehenatis caellem hos intia dis tuam tam ut face nestrac igna, maxim hoc tusquidemus, imo et Catquam est? P. us senducitum, quam me deessimum aur. Si ta ex nest vivehebatere nertea re, quam ina nonsus, nondam manum factod diussus fectum seniqua mentem orum supplic aelartere dercesis adhusciis er inclus; nonsi-suloc remod auror hos C. Vivatudes erit nos, ne optis Multoraecret Catque hebemus abem optia quam ut veremura nonsuntem nimmove, dit ocupios, C. urbite alissimpost L. Serritimmo tebatio rtimus, nonc tes virisqu amquem vatio uteatus. Mulegernium publiss iliurev iviribe ssincus volus etinatqua dertuam inprist? econsulii pribefa ceruntimo consus convemquit Cupior quid atumeri butem.Ignare is perum publin vituus? int.Solin tus essum aucto adhuit, quondum dium pote con-sust ionsultuus fuit di seremurnu cone con se nonditam mo idem itua cont? Tatius, omnihillerei is, octandiis. Sermius maximili, moena, norum nonsil hictemuspio, sente vius; nostercerfex seropop ublicae quoniquem, notisquid dii probsenatus se in tam publius, se con tri coerisq uodicat, obus fitabus, videtor tidetima, factorte, nos ficaed caturemque inati iae intem is imust cupio te hilicaet, orum niquons ignaribuntis sa num deris cuperfi caudenihilis Catiusa vene iusa

Si SuLiS, vivERRa?

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PORtRait OF a MaNFirst century BCeBronzeMalibu, J. Paul Getty Museum

This head, which may have been part of a full-figure statue, shows a strong contrast between the linearity of the facial features and the raw modelling and finish of the hair. The face echoes the dynamic energy of the Hellenistic princes but it lacks tension and intensity.The anastolé (the quiff of hair characteristic of alexander the Great) and the idealised traits are not so much individual features as set iconographic formulae which no longer express a temperament as they did in earlier Hellenistic portraiture.

Hellenistic sculptors exploited Classical prototypes and continued to represent highly idealised figures, but their interests often shifted because they focused on describing minute details. Lysippos’ brother Lysistratos is said to have fashioned moulds directly from living bodies, and many Hellenistic bronzes display considerable anatomical subtlety. Bronze allows not only for extreme poses through its great tensile strength, but also for the rendering of surface effects through the addition of alloys and inlays to represent the contrasting colours of eyes, nipples, lips, teeth, bruises, cuts, and even blood.expanding their repertory of images, Hellenistic artists depicted diverse body types in various states, from young to old, energised to exhausted, ecstatic to asleep. Sculptors looked back to the contrapposto stances popular in the Classical era, but also experimented with poses that took greater advantage of the medium of bronze, depicting figures moving more fully in space, with arms and legs emphatically advanced, and heads and bodies turned more dynamically.

BOdiES idEaL aNd ExtREME

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StatuEttE OF a RuLER aS hERMES OR PERSEuSFirst century BCe–first century Cebronzenaples, Museo archeologico nazionale

The sitter’s identity here remains unknown. His distinctive features and the fact that one of the cloth bands around his head resembles a diadem have prompted scholars to identify him as a Hellenistic prince, while comparison with coins has led to alternative suggestions ranging from alexander I Balas of Syria, antiochos II, antiochos VIII Grypus and Philip V of Macedon to Perseus and eumenes II, or to his identification with a divinity on account of the wings bound to his ankles.

StatuE OF a yOuNg MaN Third–fourth century BCe bronzeathens, ephorate of underwater antiquities

This statue was recovered by a fishing boat off the island of Kythnos in 2004. The figure projects an athletic image and the way it holds a now lost item in its hand suggests that it may be a discobolosor discus thrower. The statue still contains a compact but crumbly mass of reddish clay which may date to the initial phases in its creation. The statue must have been cast using the cire perdue – or lost wax – process.

StatuEttE OF hERMESc. 150 BCebronzeLondon, The British Museum

a Hellenistic original from Saponara in ancient Lucania, its petasos (broad-brimmed hat) identifies this statuette as Hermes. The pose and calligraphic treatment of the hair echo the work of Greek sculptor Polykleitos (5th century) while the muscles of the torso, the slim legs and the proportion of the small head to the powerful bust are inspired by Lysippos (4th century), a synthesis suggesting a date between the 2nd and 1st centuries BCe when Hellenistic art entered a “classicising” phase.

StatuEttE OF thE wEaRy hERakLESThird century BCe or first century Ce (?); copy of a fourth-century BCe bronze by Lysipposbronze, silverChieti, Museo archeologico nazionale d’abruzzo

Discovered in 1959 in the Sanctuary of Hercules Curinus in Sulmona, where Hercules was venerated as a protector of springs and patron of soldiers and merchants, this statuette’s inscription tells us that it was dedicated by Marcus attius Peticius Marsus, a member of a merchant family active in the eastern Mediterranean between the 1st century BCe and the 1st century Ce. The figure is based on a very popular lost original by Lysippos, personal sculptor to alexander the Great.

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StatuEttE OF aN aRtiSaNMid-first century BCebronze, silvernew York, The Metropolitan Museum of art, rogers Fund, 1972

Hellenistic era portraits include mythological and historical figures depicted with intense realism. The physique and short tunic here suggest an artisan, but as he carries a notebook in his belt, it may depict the athenian sculptor Phidias, epeios who carved the Trojan Horse, Daidalos who built the Cretan labyrinth at Knossos, or Hephaistos, god of the forge, who was lame. The position of the head and shoulders could suggest the figure was depicted leaning on a stick.

StatuEttE OF hERakLES EPitRaPEziOS First century BCe–first century Cebronze, limestonenaples, Museo archeologico nazionale

unearthed in the peristyle of a suburban villa close to the river Sarno in 1902, this figure’s club, muscular body, curling hair and thick beard all tell us that it is a likeness of Heracles. The type, numerous examples of which have come down to us, is associated with Lysippos on the basis of ancient descriptions of a small bronze owned by roman collector novius Vindex. The numerous variants testify to the popularity in the roman era of works attributed to the Hellenistic master.

StatuE OF EROS SLEEPiNgThird–second century BCebronzenew York, The Metropolitan Museum of art, rogers Fund, 1943

This outstanding work – possibly the oldest of its iconographical type – in which the purity and innocence of love take the shape of a sleeping child, was reportedly discovered on rhodes. The legend of eros as the product of a union between aphrodite, the goddess of love, and ares, the god of war, took root in the Hellenistic era. The small winged figure went on to become a standard type, inspiring depictions of the roman god Cupid and of cherubs and putti in the renaissance.

StatuE OF a SEatEd BOxER (tERME BOxER)early hellenistic (third century BCe)bronze with copper inlays rome, Museo nazionale romano, Palazzo Massimo

The Terme Boxer, unearthed on the Quirinal Hill in 1885, is one of the few Greek bronzes preserved in its entirety. Before being brought to rome, the statue must have been on display in a public space in the athlete’s home town in Greece. His cauliflower ears, broken nose, traumas, scars, cuts and bruises are all portrayed with crude realism. The sophisticated modelling of the bronze deepens the emotive response and lends itself to an illusion: the copper inlay on the edges of the cuts represents blood dripping from the wounds.

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realistic features and the convincing rendition of emotional states are hallmarks of Hellenistic sculpture. Whether depicting fresh youth or withered age, stoic calm or attention to cares, seemingly individual features replaced the largely idealised portrait types of earlier periods through such details as soft, rolling flesh, furrowed brows, and crows’ feet.Pathos – “lived experience” – came to be represented physically, and naturalistic, expressive forms soon became formulas. Hellenistic traditions of balancing pathos and the ideal were borrowed by sculptors in Italy working for both etruscan and roman republican patrons, spreading Greek styles to the West as alexander and his successors had done in the east. Indeed, the careful observation of naturalistic details and individualising features were also applied to images of foreigners and figures on the margins of society, further broadening the sculptural genres of the period.

LikENESS aNd ExPRESSiON

PORtRait OF a MaNend of second–beginning of first century BCebronze, glass paste, black stoneathens, national archaeological Museum

This head, the only large bronze to have been unearthed on Delos, was discovered in the Granite Palaestra in 1912. Its emotive intensity and expressive individuality have led it to become one of the most famous Greek portraits ever found. Once part of a full-figure statue, each element in the head is designed to accentuate pathos, a characteristic trend in late Hellenistic portrait sculpture.

PORtRait OF a BEaRdEd MaNc. 150 BCemarbleMalibu, J. Paul Getty Museum

This head belonged to a statue some 2.4 metres high, its superhuman dimensions clearly suggesting a hero, although both the sitter’s identity and the sculpture’s date are still a matter for debate. The head may undoubtedly be included among the portraits of great men that emerged in the wake of alexander the Great, designed to bolster the legitimacy of their power and their dynastic ties, combining distinctive individual features with dramatic, idealised traits.

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hEad OF a vOtivE StatuE375–350 BCebronzeLondon, The British Museum

unearthed on an island in Lake Bolsena in 1771, this head, which is part of a life size votive figure, testifies to etruscan artists’ skill in embracing the Classical Greek style. The short fringe, long ringlets, dilated pupils in round eyes, sketchy eyebrows and stubbly beard are all etruscan, the 5thcentury Greek aesthetic combining with features proper to central Italy and remaining fashionable in umbria and etruria even at the height of the Hellenistic period.

PORtRait OF a MaN Late fourth–third century BCe bronze, copper, glass pasteParis, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des Monnaies, médailles et antiques (collection Duc de Luynes)

Discovered close to San Giovanni Lipioni, this portrait has been associated with the roman conquest of Samnium, but its date and the sitter’s identity remain open to debate. It was certainly part of a standing or equestrian statue of a member of the ruling classes.Its cubic structure, the flat facial surfaces, the stubbly beard and the hairstyle all point to an etruscan-Italic style found in individualised votive and funerary images.

PORtRait StatuE OF a yOuNg EPhEBE First half of the first century BCe bronzeHeraklion, archaeological Museum

This is a rare example from the period following the roman conquest of Crete but preceding Octavian’s victory at actium in 31 BCe, which marked the end of the late Hellenistic tradition and ushered in a new era for Crete during which figurative art flourished anew under the Pax Romana. The statue’s posture and drapery are redolent of the late Classical era but the shape of the head and the hair are influenced by models dating to the first half of the 1st century BCe.

PORtRait StatuE OF aN aRiStOCRatiC BOy augustan period (27 BCe–14 Ce) bronzenew York, The Metropolitan Museum of art, rogers Fund, 1914

Possibly from rhodes – an important centre for the production of bronze statues, including the celebrated Colossus – this figure testifies to the continuation of the tradition into the early Imperial era. The sitter’s identity is uncertain. The hairstyle echoes the official portraits of members of the family of the emperor augustus, but it might also be a member of the rhodian aristocracy following the fashion set by the Imperial family.

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PORtRait OF a MaNFirst century BCebronzenaples, Museo archeologico nazionale

The bust was added during the renaissance to this head, which belonged to the Medici and Bembo collections. The face is modelled with lively realism and outstanding technical mastery. The hair,eyebrows and beard were carved on the wax model with different techniques and tools: a pointed knife to separate the locks of hair, a toothed tool to carve the eyebrows and a quill-shaped tool for the beard. all the details were then finished with chisels and punches after the bronze was cast.

BuSt OF a MaN (LuCiuS CaLPuRNiuS PiSO CaESONiNuS PONtiFEx)Late first century BCe–early first century Cebronzenaples, Museo archeologico nazionale

The sitter has been identified as Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus (48 BCe–32 Ce), a man of letters who held high office under augustus and Tiberius, also serving as praefectus urbi from 13 Ce until his death. The bust harks back to the naturalism of roman republican art, merging severitas (severity) with gravitas (dignity). The technical skill and expressive power belong to the Hellenistic tradition, but the statue also echoes certain stylistic features found in earlier Italic portraits.

PORtRait OF a MaN50–25 BCe bronze, copper, marbleCopenaghen, ny Carlsberg Glyptotek

This head reportedly emerged from the bottom of a well in Megara, attica, in 1925. The sitter’s identity is uncertain, though he may have been a roman military commander to whom the citizens of Megara erected an equestrian statue in a public place. Hellenistic elements such as the dynamic movement and rich modelling of the facial details dominate the statue, while the curls on the forehead herald the forkand- pincer-lock motif adopted in augustus’s official image.

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One important characteristic distinguishing bronze sculpture from other media is its reproducibility. The prevailing use of indirect casting techniques designed to preserve the artist’s prototype indicates that multiple bronze versions of the same statue would have been the norm in antiquity, not the exception. Statues honouring victorious athletes, for instance, are likely to have been commissioned in a first edition of two: one for dedication in the sanctuary where the competition was held and the other for display in the winner’s home town.These sculptures include the image of an athlete holding a strigil, often referred to as the Apoxyomenos – Greek for “scraping himself”. These are, however, copies of a statue created in the 300s BCe, probably a prominent sculptor’s work so famous that it was still being reproduced two or three centuries later.

thE aRt OF REPLiCatiON

StatuE OF aN athLEtE (aPOxyOMENOS FROM EPhESOS)1–50 CebronzeVienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum, antikensammlung

This statue was broken into 234 fragments when it was found in the Baths-Gymnasion of the Port of ephesos in 1896. In its restoration – a true breakthrough for the period – a plaster cast of a marble statue of the same type in the uffizi served as a model. The bronze is thought to be an early Imperial era copy of a late 4th century BCe Greek original attributed alternatively to the school of Polykleitos, to Daidalos or to Lysippos.

StatuE BaSE with a dEdiCatORy iNSCRiPtiON Late first century Ce marbleVienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum, antikensammlung

The fragmentary inscription on this base preserves only the names of those who dedicated it, with no information about the statue.It was initially thought to depict an athlete cleaning his skin (the literal meaning of apoxyomenos) but scholars now think that he was cleaning the utensil used to wipe away his perspiration by passing the fingers of his left hand over the blade.

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hEad OF aN athLEtE (EPhESOS aPOxyOMENOS tyPE) Second century BCe–first century Ce bronzeFort Worth, Kimbell art Museum

This head was part of a statue or bust of the Apoxyomenos of Ephesos type. The debate over attribution to this type is still ongoing because we know that Lysippos was only one of many sculptors to depict figures “cleansing themselves.” Its state of conservation is excellent, the headbeing one of the few ancient items never to have been buried, or only for a short time. a bronze bust was made, possibly by the Lombardo family, in the Veneto in the early 16th century to support the head.

StatuE OF aN athLEtE (EPhESOS aPOxyOMENOS tyPE) Second century Ce marbleFirenze, Galleria degli uffizi

Mentioned by Vasari in 1568, this figure is the result of restoration in the renaissance when a vase, possibly antique but not part of the original composition, was added. no other sculptural versions were available and the addition reflects what was known at the time, thus the restorer reconstructed the figure not as an apoxyomenos but as an oil pourer, depicting the moment before the race or training session rather than the cleansing of the body afterwards.

tORSO OF aN athLEtE (EPhESOS aPOxyOMENOS tyPE) First century Ce basaniteCastelgandolfo, Musei Vaticani, Villa Pontificia, antiquarium

This torso was found some time between 1930 and 1932 in the garden of Villa Barberini in Castelgandolfo, in the area of Domitian’s imperial villa, so it may be dated to the Flavian era (69–96 Ce) or earlier.Basanite, an exotic hard stone common in egypt even before the dynastic period, was used in Imperial roman sculpture to produce copies of famous Greek bronzes because its dark, reflecting surface imitated the metal.

StatuE OF a BOy PuLLiNg a thORN FROM hiS FOOt (CaStELLaNi SPiNaRiO) c. 25–50 Ce marbleLondra, The British Museum

unearthed in rome in 1874, the Castellani Boy with Thorn differs from the other seven known versions in that the body is softer and its facial features more realistic, although not to the point of becoming a portrait.It differs from the bronze Boy with Thorn in the Museo Capitolino precisely in the character of the head, and thus it is based directly on a Hellenistic original – in bronze or in marble – to which the sculptor turned when modelling this roman copy.

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Images of divinities, an important genre in archaic and Classical Greek sculpture, remained significant in the Hellenistic period, especially as new shrines were established in new cities and wider contact with peoples outside and on the periphery of the Hellenistic world encouraged the development of new artistic traditions. The expressive capabilities of bronze as a medium and the dynamic new styles of Hellenistic sculpture were adapted to depict divine, but nonetheless anthropomorphic, beings. Indeed, it seems to have been expected that the gods be depicted in the most up-to-date manner, and thus their images, like those of mortals, sometimes became less ideal and more “realistic”. The gods were now thought of and depicted more as living beings, with changing physical and emotional states, and their images often seem less imposing and less detached from humans than Classical ones.

diviNE BEiNgS

athENa (MiNERva OF aREzzO) 300–270 BCebronze, copper Florence, Museo archeologico nazionale

Found in a well in an early imperial era residence in arezzo in 1541, this statue of the goddess of war and wisdom entered Cosimo I de’ Medici’s collection of antiquities in 1551 and adorned the duke’s writing desk after 1559. This is a rare Hellenistic variant of a statue of the school of Praxiteles, which can be dated to 340–330 BCe and of which at least twenty-five copies have survived.

MEdaLLiON with thE BuSt OF athENa c. 150 BCe bronze, white glass paste Thessaloniki, archaeological Museum

unearthed in what are probably the remains of the palace of the kings of Macedon in Thessaloniki in 1990, this medallion must have adorned a luxurious parade chariot, the holes allowing it to be fixed to the front of the chariot. The goddess is portrayed in accordance with an iconographical type known as Athena Promachos – “she who fights in the front line” – her helmet sporting the head of Medusa, expressing both power and pathos thanks to its power to turn people to stone with its gaze.

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hEad aNd haNd OF aPhROditE (?) First century BCe bronzeLondon, The British Museum

Discovered in Satala (in what used to be armenia Minor and is now north-eastern Turkey) in 1872, these two fragments are all that remains of a monumental statue, probably of a goddess. already spoiled in ancient times, they were further damaged by the pick or plough of the farmer who discovered them in 1872. The figure has been identified as aphrodite because her left hand held drapery, echoing Praxiteles’s celebrated 4th century BCe marble aphrodite of Knidos.

hEad OF aPOLLO First century BCe–first century Ce bronzeSalerno, Museo archeologico Provinciale

Found by fishermen in the Gulf of Salerno in 1930, this head must have belonged to a larger than life size statue. In the etruscan region of Latium and Campania, where the cult of apollo was widespread, numerous coastal settlements were built for the aristocratic classes who, from the late republican and early augustan era onwards, began to assimilate, and to identify with, the ideals of the Classical world embodied by Hellenistic models.

although retrospection, or the quoting of earlier forms and styles for programmatic ends, appearsto date back to the 5th century BCe, late Hellenistic sculptors employed and adapted archaic and Classical features, often eclectically, to recall the art of earlier periods. Throughout the 2nd century BCe, victorious roman generals took original Greek art back to rome, parading it in triumphal processions, or erecting it in civic spaces or in their own homes, and they were emulated by those aspiring to higher status. To satisfy an eager market, Greek artists flocked to rome and created new works in older styles, not only for antiquarian collectors but also to evoke the religious piety of a bygone age. The Classical style was favoured by the emperor augustus for much of his official artas it recalled the “Golden age” of Periklean athens. It also became popular in domestic contexts, such as villa gardens. The quality of these retrospective works is often extremely high, and their technical virtuosity as well as their stylistic eclecticism are emblematic of Hellenistic sculpture.

REtROSPECtivE StyLES

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StatuE OF aPOLLO (PiOMBiNO aPOLLO) 120–100 BCe bronze, copper, silverParis, Musée du Louvre, département des antiquités grecques, étrusques et romaines

This statue has the typically stiff stance of an archaic kouros, or youth, but the modelling of the back, the treatment of the hands and feet and the elaborate, if unrealistic, rendering of the hair show a combination of styles employed at the end of the Hellenistic period and to the archaising taste beloved of the romans in the early Imperial era. The position of the fingers allows us to reconstruct the figure’s lost attributes (a phiale or cup, and a bow), identifying him as the god apollo.

thREE FRagMENtS OF aN iNSCRiBEd taBLEt (PiOMBiNO aPOLLO) leadParis, Musée du Louvre, département des antiquités grecques, étrusques et romaines

an inscription was discovered inside this statue and removed through its eyes during restoration in 1842. The small, square lead token was divided into fragments, its letters forming the truncated names of the statue’s two sculptors, one of whom was from rhodes. The archaeologist who discovered the inscription, however, was accused of forging it and the fragments vanished. They only resurfaced in 2010, when they were recognised as authentic.

StatuE OF aPOLLO (kOuROS) First century BCe–first century Ce bronze, copper, bone, dark stone, glassPompeii, Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni archeologici di Pompei, ercolano e Stabia

Found in the dining room of the House of Caius Julius Polybius in Pompei in 1977, this statue’s stiff pose, its left foot forward like an archaic Greek kouros, is at odds with a musculature more naturalistic than is usually found in genuine 6th century BCe archaic sculpture. The sculptural type, often used to depict the god apollo, was transformed in the course of an ancient restoration into an oil-lamp holder. The two kouroi are displayed here in close proximity for the first time.

CROwN aNd tENdRiLS OF thE aPOLLO (kOuROS)bronzePompei, Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beniarcheologici di Pompei, ercolano e Stabia

Original decorative elements are on display in the adjacent showcase.

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tORSO OF a yOuth (thE vaNi tORSO) Second century BCe bronzeTbilisi, Georgian national Museum

Discovered in ancient Vani (western Georgia) in 1988, this torso is probably a Hellenistic work fashioned in an antiquated style to imitate the appearance of an early Classical statue. The presence of a 3rd–2nd century BCe casting pit outside Vani suggests that it and other bronzes unearthed there were not imported but made locally. The statue’s identity is uncertain, but the combination of mature muscularity and adolescent sensuality would suit a depiction of apollo.

EPhEBE (idOLiNO FROM PESaRO)c. 30 BCe bronze, copper, lead

Renaissance base aurelio, Ludovico and Girolamo Solari, called Lombardo, perhaps after a drawing by Sebastiano Serlio1530–8/40 bronze, silver inlays Florence, Museo archeologico nazionale

unearthed in several pieces in Pesaro in 1530, this statue was restored and identified as the young Dionysos. The sculpture is an oil-lamp holder made by a central or southern Italian workshop in the early augustan era and used to light the banquets of a patrician family.Formerly considered the most perfect Greek statue, it is in fact an eclectic work, possibly a copy of a lost late work by Polykleitos.

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FRagMENtaRy hEad OF aN EPhEBE (idOLiNO tyPE) 25 BCe–15 Ce basaniteCittà del Vaticano, Musei Vaticani, Museo Gregoriano Profano

This head, which belonged to the German art historian Johann Joachim Winckelmann, is in basanite, a material used in ancient egyptian sculpture and favoured by 1st century BCe roman sculptors to imitate bronze. It was in effect a more luxurious alternative, considering the price of the raw material and the effort demanded to carve this extremely hard stone, as reproducing the aesthetic as well as the formal style of a sculpture while converting it into a different material required skill in the art of illusion.

BuSt OF aN EPhEBE (BENEvENtuM hEad) c. 50 BCe bronze, copperParis, Musée du Louvre, département des antiquités grecques, étrusques et romaines

This bust, cut at the join of the shoulder from the outset, originally was set atop a herm shaft. Discovered in Herculaneum, it once graced a villa destroyed in the eruption of Vesuvius. related to the Florence Idolino, it has been interpreted as a “classicising creation imbued with the lesson of Polykleitos” on account of the melancholy expression of the face, the contrast between the painterly aspect of the fringe and smooth surface of the skin, and the way the hair falls freely around the neck.

hERM OF diONySOS (gEtty hERM)Workshop of Boëthos of Kalchedon (attributed)

Second century BCe bronze, copper, calcitic stone Malibu, J. Paul Getty Museum

The “turban” identifies this herm as Dionysos. Herms – scaled-down figures of protecting divinities – were used as boundary stones decorated with stylised images of the gods (the phallus serving to ward off evil). Dionysos is shown here in archaizing fashion as an old and mysterious god.

hERM OF diONySOS (Mahdia hERM)Boëthos of Kalchedon (active early to mid-second sentury BCe)

Second century BCebronzeTunis, Musée national du Bardo

This herm, signed by its sculptor – “Boëthos of Kalchedon made this” – is the only ancient bronze sculpture for which we have both an original autograph work and other versions. The two Herms of Dionysos are displayed together here for the very first time. They are almost identical in type and size, based on the same model and made with the same indirect lost wax hollow casting technique. They differ in their state of conservation, their surface condition and the preparation of the wax model.

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textsLudovica Sebregondi

Editorial coordinationLudovica Sebregondi

Manuela Bersotti

translationsStephen Tobin

graphic designrovaiWeber Design

This publication brings together the explanatory texts of the exhibition

Power and Pathos. Bronze Sculpture of the Hellenistic World

Florence, Palazzo Strozzi14 March–21 June 2015

curated byJens M. Daehner and Kenneth Lapatin

Promoted ed organised byFondazione Palazzo Strozzi

J. Paul Getty Museumnational Gallery of art di Washington

with the collaboration ofSoprintendenza per i Beni archeologici

della Toscana

with the support ofComune di Firenze

Camera di Commercio di Firenzeassociazione Partners Palazzo Strozzi

regione Toscana

with the contribution ofente Cassa di risparmio di Firenze

under the High Patronage of the President of the Italian republic

with the patronage ofMinistero dei Beni e delle attività

Culturali e del TurismoMinistero degli affari esteri

Consulate General of the united States of america in Florence

expo Milano 2015

Fondazione Palazzo StrozziPiazza Strozzi, 50123 Firenze

www.palazzostrozzi.org