Thursday, June 16, 2016

Marble Sculpture from the Roman Empire

Farnese Mercury
1st century AD
Roman marble sculpture
British Museum

In the 1860s representatives of the British Museum bought a group of antique marbles that had spent the previous few centuries ornamenting the interior of Palazzo Farnese in Rome. The Mercury above was among these, one of several similar Roman interpretations of a lost Greek original. This Mercury and the Dionysus below both exhibit a smooth finish and perfection of detail that signals heavy restoration. Those who performed and approved the work in the 17th and 18th centuries would no doubt have been astonished to learn how unfavorably their efforts would be regarded by scholars of later centuries.    

Dionysus
2nd century AD
Roman marble sculpture
British Museum
 
Torso of a goddess
1st century AD after a Greek original of the 4th-5th century BC
Roman marble sculpture
British Museum

Torso of a centaur
ca. 1st-2nd century AD
Roman marble sculpture in rosso antico
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Head of Dionysus
2nd century AD after a Greek original of the 2nd century BC
Roman marble sculpture
British Museum

Head of an athlete
ca. 1st century BC-1st century AD after a Greek original of 470-460 BC
Roman marble sculpture
British Museum

Bust of the Emperor Hadrian
ca. AD 117-138
Roman marble sculpture
British Museum

Head of a goddess
ca. 30 BC-AD 100 after a Greek original of 350 BC
Roman marble sculpture
British Museum

Head of an athlete
2nd century BC
Roman marble sculpture
British Museum

Head of a woman
2nd century AD
Roman marble sculpture
British Museum

Head of a hoplite
2nd century AD after Greek bronze original
Roman marble sculpture
British Museum

Head of Athena
AD 140-150 after a Greek original of the 4th century BC
Roman marble sculpture
British Museum

Colossal head of the Emperor Trajan
2nd century AD
Roman marble sculpture
British Museum

Colossal head of the Emperor Trajan
2nd century AD
Roman marble sculpture
British Museum

"There are today only a small number of extant works, primarily portraits, made of gold, silver, or bronze. There were considerably more of these in antiquity.  In fact, marble works survive in disproportionate numbers because marble was less valuable than metal, and the gold, silver, and bronze statues were melted down so that their material could be reused.  It is thus important to keep in mind that what we have today is not an accurate reflection of what there was in antiquity."  Diana E.E. Kleiner / Roman Sculpture (Yale University Press, 1992)