Bronzes all too human

This exhibition of Greek bronzes, currently in Los Angeles, will come to Washington DC later this year - and from what one can see, it is not to be missed.

In the NYRB, Ingrid D. Rowland sees a development beyond the 5th century classical Greek reserve in a work like the boxer:

      An Olympic champion in the classical period would never have chosen to show himself in such graphic, painful mortality, but by the time of Mys of Taras, a contemporary of Aristotle (twenty years older than Mys) and Alexander the Great (twenty years younger), signs of vulnerable humanity, like the heroic ruler’s furrowed brow and the boxer’s wounds, had entered the repertory of Greek sculpture.

 She continues:

We may be meant to read this ravaged face in a Sophoclean key, like Herakles in the tragedy Philoktetes:

And first I will tell you of my misfortunes,

Of all that I suffered—and by going through those sufferings

I obtained deathless virtue, as you can see.

And you, know it well, must endure all this,

To create a glorious life from your pain.

Few bronzes have survived from the time, making these all the more precious. These amazing figures suggest the development of a humbler, more generous view of what it means to be human, which the Romans would explore in art, poetry, and drama.

Figures from the National Archive of Monuments

Bull Leaper, Knossos, 1600-1450 BC

The (Hellenic) National Archive of Monuments has digitized selected pieces from its priceless collections and is putting them online. Links to six collections are found below.

From the Prehistoric Collection:

Frying Pan with Image of Boat 2800-2300 BC

From the Sculptures Collection:

Aphrodite, Eros and Pan, 100 BC

National Archaeological Museum - Vase Collection

National Archaeological Museum - Sculptures Collection

National Archaeological Museum - Prehistoric Collection

Pins from Thessaloniki

National Archaeological Museum - Metallurgy Collection

Archaelogical Museum of Thessaloniki

Archaeological Museum of Herakleion

Donatello's David - or Hermes?

We've touched on images of David from later times. Thanks to Jutta for pointing to a WSJ story (subscription might be needed to view) about Donatello's David. Here's part of it:

It's practically impossible to look at Donatello's "David," now on display again after extensive restoration at this city's Museo Nazionale del Bargello, without automatically comparing it to Michelangelo's more famous treatment of the same subject, in the Galleria dell'Accademia half a mile away.

The two great Renaissance sculptures differ most obviously in medium and size: Michelangelo's marble colossus stands 17 feet tall; Donatello's bronze, little more than five feet. Stature is in this case inversely proportional to status. Michelangelo's young shepherd, armed only with his sling, has yet to slay his giant foe. Donatello's sword-wielding hero is already triumphant, resting a foot on Goliath's severed head. It's no coincidence that Donatello's 1443 sculpture was commissioned by the Medici family, then Florence's princes in all but name, while Michelangelo made his 1504 work for the defiant Florentine Republic during a brief hiatus in the Medici ascendancy.

Yet if he meant to celebrate monarchical power, Donatello portrayed it with ambivalence. The face of the decapitated Goliath is unmistakably more peaceful than the pensive visage of his conqueror, who seems to foresee the trials (such as his scandalous love for Bathsheba, and the death of his rebellious son Absalom) that will beset his reign. Another revealing touch appears at the statue's base: the little toe of David's right foot curled up under the toe beside it, a mark of imperfection reminding us that the handsome priest-king is not god but man

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And here's Wikipedia's article on the statue, with its interesting suggestion that this might not be David at all, but Hermes (one has to wonder about that helmet). It seems some Greek tales have Hermes slaying Argos in a way quite reminiscent of David and Goliath:

 To free Io, Zeus had Argus slain by Hermes. Hermes, disguised as a shepherd, first put all of Argus's eyes asleep with spoken charms, then slew him by hitting him with a stone, the first stain of bloodshed among the new generation of gods. ^[8]

Further odd fact:  "There are only three exact replicas of [Michaelangelo's] David. One is at the Ringling Museum in Sarasota, Florida." via Absolute Astronomy.