Greek Sculpture

Greek Nike of Samothrace (winged victory) c. 200-190 B.C. Marble height 8' The Louvre, Paris

Panathenaic amphora, ca. 530 b. c Panathenaic amphora, ca. 530 b.c.; Archaic Attributed to the Euphiletos Painter Greek, Attic Terracotta H. 24 1/2 in. (62.23 cm) This Panathenaic amphora would have been filled with oil from the sacred olive groves in Attica, and would have been awarded as a prize to some worthy victor in one of the Panathenaic games held in Athens every four years. With its typically fat body and small neck and foot, the prize vase is, perhaps, the best example of a vase shape made to serve an official function. Each Panathenaic amphora was made according to a standardized shape and capacity of one metretes (approximately 42 quarts), and was decorated in black-figure technique. The principle decoration is always in the panels of the body of the amphora, with an armed Athena typically on the front and an illustration of the featured competition on the back. Foot races, the earliest competitions of the Olympic games, were undertaken over varying distances. The stadion, probably the original race, was a fast sprint over one length of the track (over 200 meters), while the diaulos and the dolichos, both introduced somewhat later, covered distances of approximately 400 meters and 1,400 to 3,800 meters, respectively. The painter of this vessel has neatly fit five sprinters—five men and a youth—into the panel of the pot. Notice the wealth of incised lines depicting musculature, a preoccupation of Greek artists for centuries to come. Orders for Panathenaic amphorae were placed with leading artists of the time. On the basis of style, this vessel has been attributed to the Euphiletos Painter. An inscription on the front of the amphora gives not only the official designation of the vase as a prize, but also the signature of the potter, Nikias, a rare occurrence on pots of this shape. Related

Roman Sculpture

Capitoline Museums, Rome Roman Constantine the Great Early 4th Century A.D. Marble Height 8‘ Capitoline Museums, Rome

Originally, the head belonged to a colossal statue which stood in the Basilica of Constatntine

Rome, Statue of the Emperor Octavian Augustus, first quarter of the 1st century CE, height 185 cm, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia. The emperor is represented here as Jupiter, the supreme God of the Roman pantheon, and this statue is a typical example of Roman sculpture from the time of the Empire. The composition was adapted from the celebrated sculpture of Zeus by Phidias, which allowed the placing of the appropriate attributes in Augustus's hands: a Nike and a sceptre. The sculptor preserved the emperor's portrait features, but idealized them to create a formal cult statue.  

Sculptural portrait of Philip the Arab C. mid-3rd century Marble; h 72.3 cm This emperor was called Philip the Arab for his Arabian origin. He seized power in 244, having by bribery and cunning set the legions against his predecessor. Yet cruelty and perfidy were combined with courage and resolution in Philip's character. This bust is a brilliant example of Roman portrait sculpture, with its accurate presentation of psychological characteristics and its expressiveness. The generalized, somewhat rough and heavy features of the face are energetically executed. The master used sparse, simple means in creating this portrait. The hair and beard surface are worked with short incisions. Avoiding those methods of treating marble which produced purely external, showy effects, the author nonetheless managed to create a hearty portrait of the 'emperor-soldier' which reveals all the force of his personality.

Jug signed by Ennion, first half of 1st century a. d Jug signed by Ennion, first half of 1st century a.d.; Julio-Claudian Roman; Found on Cyprus Mold-blown glass H. 7 1/4 in. (18.4 cm) Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917 (17.194.226) Many craftsmen of mold-carved glass decoration active in the first century A.D. distinguished themselves by putting their names on the molds and identifying the source of the object's manufacture. The most famous and gifted of these craftsmen is Ennion, who came from the coastal city of Sidon in modern Lebanon, and whose workshop is thought to have been situated there. However, Ennion vessels have also been found in Greece, Spain, and Gaul, as well as at numerous sites in Italy, and so it is very likely that his molds, as well as finished glasses, were traded throughout the Mediterranean. The quality and popularity of Ennion's products and, more particularly, his molds probably explains why they are signed. Ennion's products are distinguished by the fine detail and precision of their relief decoration that imitates designs found especially on contemporary silver tableware. Scholars have therefore suggested that Ennion trained as a silversmith and adapted the skills of embossing and chasing metal to the making of glass molds. This jug is decorated with an acanthus pattern along the shoulder that is typical of Ennion's workshop, and a rectangular placard with the inscription E N N I O N E P O I E I , or "Ennion Made Me." Other mold-blown vessels that bear similar Greek inscriptions identify their makers as Iason (29.100.82; 59.11.3), Neikais, Meges, and Aristeas, whose names typically appear with the Greek word E P O I E I or E P O I H S E N , "Made me" or "Made it." While all of these craftsmen probably worked in the Syro-Palestinian region, where mold-blowing first developed, Aristeas signed himself as "the Cypriot," indicating that not all of them were locals. The habit of adding names to vessels in this way soon disappeared, and from the mid-first century onward most mold-blown glass was produced anonymously, like free-blown vessels. The one major exception occurs in the production of certain types of storage bottle (17.194.219), which carry distinguishing stamps on their bases. These stamps, often with names in Latin, are seen as trademarks that guarantee the contents or signify the place of origin, and not as a form of advertisement for the glassmaker.

GREEK IDEALIZED FIGURE REAL ROMAN LEADER