Le cento statue (romane antiche) più belle -- dall'A alla Z.

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Le cento statue (romane antiche) più belle -- dall'A alla Z.

1. "AGRIPPINA", statua, Campidoglio, also listed as "Poppea" and "Livia".
Non-nude.
2. ALESSANDRO, testa, Uffizi, Firenze. Qua 'testa' only, it should not
really count as "most beautiful". We ascribe 'most beautiful' to a whole
body, rather. The expression cannot be 'sublime', either, in that it's too
expressionistic?
3. AMORE E PSICHE, sculptoric group, Campidoglio. The idea that a 'group'
is 'beautiful' is somewhat controversial. Note that strictly, this is
perhaps "two" statues, even if the 'symplegma' is tight enough.
4. L'ANTINOO del Belvedere -- referred to by Hogarth in "The analysis of
beauty" as illustration of his theory about the 'line of beauty' and 'the
line of grace'. There is a paradox in the approach by Hogarth, some authors
feel. And Haskell and Penny in general do not quote Hogarth in full.
5. L'ANTINOO del Campidoglio. There is a need to identify this as
"Antinoo", since if it is Achille that is heroic, then it is Antinoo that is
beautiuful ("kallos" applies to the proper name, as an entity). There was indeed,
this lord in England who, Haskell/Penny report, would NOT allow a statue
enter his collection unless a proper name is given to him. Similarly, when
the duke of Florence presented CELLLINI with a statue for restoration,
Cellini replied, "I'll make an eagle to attach to him, and we'll call him
"Ganimede".
6. Il rilievo d'ANTINOO, Villa Albani, Torlonia. -- The idea of a
'rilievo' being 'beautiful' is understandable, but I don't think 'primary' in the
Graeco-roman view of things? Of course, there are levels of 'relief', with
the idea of a statue 'a tutto tondo' being 'in full relief'. Note also that
another entry here (the CURZIO in the Villa Borghese, that Napoleon failed
to buy, was originally 'a tutto tondo' and turned into a high relief).
7. L'APOLLINO de' Medici, Tribuna, Uffizi.
8. L'APOLLO pizio del Belvedere. This is held to be the "most beautiful".
The point about scale is an interesting one. I would think, alla a few
theorists of sculpture in the Renaissance that 'over-sized' statues are a no-no
when it comes to canons of beauty. This theorist ("Della scultura")
allowed colossal statues to be fine for supra-human entities. I think Alberti
also objected to the use of over-life-size statuary. In the case of the "Apollo
del Belvedere" the obvious fact that he represents "Apollo pizio"
(complete with bow and arrow) invites the point about RESTORATION -- and it was
ANTICO (the Italian sculptor that went by that name) who went on to produce
reproductions of the Apollo Belvedere complete with those two items that make
him "pizio".
9. L'APOLLO saurottono, ora: Louvre.
10. L'ARISTIDE, Napoli.
11. AUGUSTO o Germanico nudo eroico, il giocatore di morra, ora: Louvre.
12. BALBO padre/figlio, cavallo, Napoli. Apparently two versions of the
'son', rather.
13. BRUTO, testa, palazzo dei Conservatori. Again, we assume that a
'testa' is beautiful if it belongs to a beautiful body. In some cases,
Haskell/Penny do agree that it is not just the 'aesthetic' dimension that counts, but
a whole lot of other dimensions: 'historic interest', etc. This touches on
the very nature of 'art' as understood by the Greeks vs. the Romans -- the
(bad) cliché being that the Romans are uncapable of 'art for art's sake'.
14. IL CAMILLO, palazzo dei Conservatori. Also listed as "La Zingara",
since, not being in 'heroic nudity', it was taken as a female.
15. CARACALLA, testa, Napoli. Again, a testa is beautiful if the body is
beautiful. His 'frowning' expression meant to express a message.
16. CASTORE E POLLUCE, Piazza del Quirinale. Also listed as "Achille". A
group is beautiful iff each member of it is beautiful. In this case, it's
four statues, strictly, and apparently, it was the horses which were deemed
as "far more beautiful" than the corresponding "tamers". What I love about
this is that it is public statuary, and it exceeds the idea of a
'museum-piece'.
17. CASTORE E POLLUCE, ora, Prado, Madrid. Also listed as "Oreste e
Pilade". Again: a group (not just symplegma) is beautiful if each body is
beautiful.
18. CAVALLI di San Marco, Venezia. The realm of non-human beauty is still
a different _animal_, no?
19. I due CENTAURI di Furietti, Campidoglio. Again, being a 'centaur' (and
a group, on top) diverges from the canon of individual _human_
(male/female) beauty. Confusion is less obvious when we compare a 'centaur' (NOTABLY
non-human) with a satiro/fauno.
20. La CERES Mattei, galleria dei candelabri, Vaticano.
21. Il CINCINNATO, ora Louvre. Interesting iconography. Of course,
archeologists don't really care if this is "Cincinatto" and a few art historians
just care for the posture, too, in this case, his binding the sandal. But we
should focus on 'names' of statues, elsewhere.
22. La CLEOPATRA, galleria delle statue, Vaticano -- so-called of course.
The whole question of "naming" this or that statue is quite a lovely sport.
23. Il COMMODO com' Ercole, galleria Chiaramonti, Vaticano, heroic nude
-- ideal portraiture. A very ROMAN thing.
24. CURTIO MARZIO, rilievo, Villa Borghese. A rilievo is 'beautiful' in a
different 'use' than a statue "a tutto tondo" is beautiful. Haskell/Penny
indicate that the old Roman iconographical status of CURTIO relates to a
rather minor anecdote concerning Scipione Borghese visiting an area in
Trastevere on horseback and getting the epithet of 'our new Curtio Marzio' --
next thing he was having the relief decorating his villa.
25. Metaphorically, the province of "DACIA", Palazzo dei Conservatori.
26. Le DANZANTI borghesiani, oggi: Louvre. Vide the point about a
'rilievo' being 'beautiful'.
27. La DIANA d’Efeso, ora: Louvre.
28. La DIANA di Gabii, ora Louvre
29. L'ERCOLE bronzeo del foro Boario, Palazzo dei Conservatori. A
beautiful thing, and one wonders about 'religion'. The Greeks, they say,
understood the nature of 'abstract art' (art for art's sake) -- but I doubt if this
was unqualified: many of the statues were to have a role in religion, no?
(It's different if it's a funerary statue of a dead athlete, say -- or the
Doruphoros, or the Diadem-holder. In this case, the source seems to be
'ritual' as this comes from the circular temple for Ercole near Isola Tiberina.
Perhaps we would need a more detailed description of the role of statuary in
the CULT, rather than as per late appreciation as a museum piece (and
perhaps I can see a point in protestant Luther's claim that no cult should be
BASED on simulacra -- he went on to forbid them, alla Old Testament).
30. L'ERCOLE farnesino, Napoli -- 'statua di uomo muscoloso' as a flickr
caption read. I was recently studying the iconography of MILONE di CROTONE
and it's a good thing this MILONE was devoured by a lion (or wolf) in that we
need to distinguish one muscular man from another muscular man SOME WAY.
Of course the iconography of ERCOLE (the muscular man par excellence and as
such analysed by Hogarth in "The analysis of beauty") is pretty complex,
and I especially love those 'attributes' like bits of lion skin, that help us
to identify otherwise 'bare' torsos (vide "Torso del Belvedere"). The
'iconography' of a muscular hero like ERCOLE should be distinguished from the
iconography of a mere boxer, though.
31. L'ERCOLE che scoppia ANTEO, palazzo Pitti, Firenze. Again, a group is
beautiful if each body is beautiful. In this case, being a 'symplegma', it
is difficult to judge. Still I think it was a beautiful idea by Bandinelli
to have a similar group of Ercole (with Caco) out there in the Piazza della
Signoria, in Firenze. (The iconography of ERCOLE is political in some
cases, notably FIRENZE).
32. Il torso d'ERCOLE, del Belvedere, Vaticano. Also listed as AIACE,
MARSIA. Some people say it's mainly the _face_ that is beautiful. (A book is
dedicated to prove that the torso is AIACE's). It was a specially favourite
with Buonarroti, we know.
33. L'ERMAFRODITO sul mattarazzo di BERNINI, ora: Louvre. KEYWORD: not
male nude, not female nude. Cfr. Clark, "The Nude". An interesting case for
students of "MASCULINITY studies". There are some 'ignoble' symplegmata of
Ermafrodito and Satiro, too.
34. L'ETTORE, discobolo di Nettuno, Villa Borghese, oggi: Louvre.
Haskell/Penny note a source that identifies this as "ETTORE" who would be
otherwise unrepresented in the list of 100 items.
35. Il FAUNO Barberini, ora: Monaco, glittoteca. A fauno is not a human,
but some authors think that what makes this a faun are 'later additions'.
36. Il FAUNO con crotali, Tribuna, Firenze.
37. Il FAUNO danzante, Napoli.
38. Il FAUNO-satiro in riposo, di Lanuvio. Campidoglio. Hawthorne was
obsessed with this.
39. Il FAUNO con capretto da Santa Maria in Vollicella, Parione, ora:
Prado,
Madrid.
40. Il FAUNO con flauto traverso, ora: Louvre.
41. Il FAUNO in rosso antico, Campidoglio.
42. La FLORA del Campidoglio.
43. La FLORA farnesina, Napoli.
44. Il GIACINTO discobolo Lancellotti, Villa alla Palombara, Palazzo
Massimo, Roma. Haskell/Penny write that there is this tendency to think that
each statue must represent a specific individual. Call me an Occamist
(anti-Platonic) but I agree. So, I go with wiki in that this is GIACINTO (Smith).
And it is the line of beauty/grace alla Hogarth in the 'disegno' that
counts. The head is a later addition.
45. La GIUNO di Cesi, Campidoglio.
46. L'IDOLINO di Pesaro, palazzo della Crocetta, Firenze. Winckelmann
judged this "not to be Italian", since Pesaro was a Greek colony at the time.
It was a wedding gift for de' Medici.
47. Il LAOCOONTE e il suo figlio (older son is later addition), cortile
del Belvedere, Vaticano. A group is beautiful if the figures are beautiful.
The older son is described by a critic, rightly, as a "little man", having
all the wrong proportions. When it comes to 'hellenistic' (so-mis-called)
statuary of 'groups' it's the narrative that may be described as
'beautiful' (or 'sublime') even if many criticise the lack of concern on the part of
Laocoonte (as expressed in his face and attitude) towards his sons.
48. LEONE che attacca cavallo, giardino del palazzo nuovo,.Campidoglio.
Not a human, and thus a different canon of 'beauty'. Plus, a group: so it's
the question of what makes this horse beautiful, and what makes this lion
beautiful -- for we are analysing "Achille is beautiful" -- "A statue of
Achille is beautiful". Achille-qua-human is beautiful. A pig (porcellino di
Calidonia) qua pig is beautiful. It's 'beautiful-qua' that we are interested
in.
49. I due LEONI Medici, loggia dei lanzi, Firenze. Again, a group, and not
human, on top. The material counts: in general, it is agreed that the "most
beautifuul" statues (I agree) have to be bronze, not stone -- "sculptor"
is a misnomer.
50. La LIVIA Mattei, braccio nuovo, Vaticano
51. I LOTTATORI, Tribuna, Uffizi. A symplegma (a noble one, not a
pornographic one) -- the group is beautiful if each body is beautiful. Cfr. Plato
on 'beautiful' form. The heads were held NOT to apply to the group. One
expects a different sort of expression for someone engaged in wrestling like
this.
52. La LUPA del Campidoglio, Conservatori. Not human. The (beautiful?)
babies are later addition. Haskell/Penny note that the lupa may indeed the
episode of the babies (if it ever occurred).
53. L'imperatore MARC’AURELIO sul cavallo, Campidoglio. A group: a
beautiful horse, a beautiful male. Not heroic nudity. And oversize. Haskell/Penny
note that it was misidentification that saved this: he was thought to be
Costantino, rather than that old pagan, Marc'Aurelio. What I like about it is
that it was never UNBURIED.
54. I rilievi di MARC’AURELIO nel Campidoglio. A rilievo is beautiful in a
different way from a body -- it's more of a 'decorative' (minor art) thing.
Plus, this is a GROUP of rilievi -- and it's the beauty of the narration
(allegedly, to MARC'AURELIO, who performed those deeds) that counts. It's
too political.
55. Il MARFORIO del Campidoglio -- a 'talking' statue -- one should study
the 'conversational implicatures' between this and PASQUINO.
56. Il MARSIA, Uffizi, Firenze. Part of a bigger 'group' ('narrative').
This must be 'sublime' for 'beautiful' should not apply to something
_violent_.
57. Il MARTE in riposo, detto Ludovisi, palazzo Altemps, Roma. Too much
in ripose, in my view. Not just leaning, but comfortably seated. Said to be
"Marte innamorato", though.
58. MARZIO, also listed as "il nudo della spina", Palazzo dei Conservatori.
Not a _heroic_ nude, alas. Again, the story behind this -- constructed
deliberately -- is meant to draw appreciation other than 'aesthetic' from
this.
59. Il MELEAGRO del Belvedere.
60. Il MERCURIO de' Medici, Uffizi
61. Il MERCURIO in riposo, Napoli -- from Pompei.
62. MILOCO, Tribuna, Firenze. Also listed as "L'arrotino". Not 'heroic'
(keyword: heroic nudity). Again, the story constructed behind this, to
justify feelings other than 'aesthetic pleasure'.
63. La MINERVA Giustiniana, braccio nuovo, Vaticano
64. Il NARCISO di Pompei, ora: Napoli
65. Il centauro NESSO con Amore, ora: Louvre. Again: a centaur, while a
'male' is not human (that's why 'nudo virile' should perhaps be preferred to
'nudo maschile').
66. IL NILO, Braccio nuovo, Vaticano, personified as a nude male.
67. La NIOBE e NIOBIDI, Uffizi, Firenze. A BIG group. A group is beautiful
if each body in the group is beautiful. This is a rather 'free' group,
though, and at the Uffizi they were never sure as to how to organise it (it
was displayed in a better way in the Medici villa in Roma -- where the group
awoke 'aesthetic' feelings in those who saw it).
68. La NINFA Latona, ora: Louvre.
69. IL MIRMILLONE morente della Villa Ludovisi, Campidoglio. There is
more than an 'aesthetic' level when we derive feelings of compassion for a
'noble death' and so on.
70. PAETO ed ARRIA, Palazzo Altemps, Roma. A group is beautiful if both
figures are beautiful. The story of Arria associated with this to bring in
elements other than 'aesthetic pleasure' to the appreciation of this male
nude and accompanying spouse. The male figure held to represent the 'ideal
proportions', Haskell/Penny note.
71. La PALLADE di Velletri, oggi, Louvre.
72. PAN ed Apollo, palazzo Massimo, Roma. Symplegma. A group is beautiful
if the figures are beautiful. Haskell/Penny note that a lot of
reproductions of this group came out as just the "Apollo" sans the Pan. A nice item
for 'garden decoration' as Haskell/Penny suggest (unlike, say "Laocoon" or
"Torso del Belvedere").
73. PAPIRIO, gruppo, Palazzo Massimo. A group is beautiful if each body is
beautiful. The female figure was often misinterpreted as male. Roman
authors preferred to view this as an event in Roman history, rather than Greek,
too, and the anecdote is meant to add 'comicality' to 'aesthetic' pleasure
in the appreciation of this OBVIOUSLY Greek group of figures ("What were
they discussing in the Senate, son?")
74. PASQUINO, e PATROCLO e Menelao, pazza Navona, Roma, loggia dei lanzi,
palazzo Pitti, Firenze. It's a face that is beautiful, some say. A group
is beautiful is each body is beautiful. This shows the geniality of later
Italian 'sculptors' or those involved in restoration, since I think the
display of Patroclo may count (to some) as 'sublime'. I like too the fact that,
as far as the Loggia dei Lanzi is concerned, is more than a mere
'museum-piece'.
75. POMPEI, palazzo Spada, Roma.
76. Il PORCELLINO di CALEDONIA, Uffizi. Non-human canon of beauty.
Beautiful qua porcellino, rather.
77. Le due SATIRI della Valle, Campidoglio. A group is beautiful if each
body is beautiful. Being symmetrical, they did very well as garden/cortile
ornamentation. Is statuary meant for garden (say) decoration less abstract
than, say, "Apollo del Belvedere"? (Some would think so).
78. Le due SCHIAVI farnesini, Napoli. Non-heroic. In this case, the fact
that they are TWO cannot be because they were meant as 'decorative'.
79. Il SENECA, ora Louvre.
80. Il gruppo di SILENO e Bacco, oggi: Louvre. So, two statues, rather.
"Infant Bacco" to be specific.
81. Il fiume TEVERE personificato, ora: Louvre -- as a male nude.
82. Il gruppo di DIRCE, ossia, il TORO FARNESINO, Napoli. A group. A group
is beautiful if each body (excluding perhaps the bull) is beautiful -- or
rather think of 'beautiful-qua-bull'. The group has been criticised in
that, while the individual statues may be 'nice', qua group it is
HELLENISTICALLY speaking, 'a bit too much' (for garden decoration).
83. Il VASO borghesiano, Louvre. An abstract form like a 'vaso' is
beautiful in a different way from a 'body'.
84. Il VASO de' Medici, Uffizi. It's the rilievo that is beautiful, as
rilievi can be -- i.e. narrative and telling a 'beautiful' story.
85. La VENERE callipigia, Napoli.
86. La VENERE del Campidoglio.
87. La VENERE celeste, Uffizi, Firenze.
88. La VENERE de’ Medici, Tribuna, Uffizi.
89. La VENERE di Milo, ora, Louvre.
90. La VENERE felice, Belvedere, Vaticano.
91. La VENERE nella cochiglia, nel bagno, Uffizi, Firenze
92. La VENERE pudica, Vaticano.
93. La VENERE vincitrice, Uffizi, Firenze
94. La VITTORIA ALATA di Samotracia, ora: Louvre.
95. ZINGARA, ora: Louvre
96.
97.
98.
99.
100.