A History of Art for Beginners and Students: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture — John Shaqi
A History of Art for Beginners and Students: Painting, Sculpture, ArchitectureWaters, Clara Erskine Clement
History
A History of Art for Beginners and Students: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture
Waters, Clara Erskine Clement
Art -- History
Before leaving this subject of existing sculptures from the fifth
century B.C., I will speak of the two groups which belonged to the
temple of Minerva in AEgina, and are now in the Glyptothek at Munich. The
city of AEgina was the principal city of the island of AEgina, which was
in the gulf of the same name, near the south-west coast of Greece. This
city was at the height of its prosperity about 475 B.C., at which time a
beautiful temple was built, of which many columns are still standing,
though much of it has fallen down. In 1811 some English and German
architects visited this place, and the marbles they obtained are the
most remarkable works which still exist from so early a period.
Thorwaldsen, the Danish sculptor, restored these reliefs, and the King
of Bavaria bought them.
Upon the western pediment there were eleven figures which represented an
episode in the Trojan war; it was the struggle of Ajax, Ulysses, and
other Greek warriors to obtain the dead body of Achilles, which was held
by the Trojans. The story is that the goddess Thetis had dipped her son
Achilles in the river Styx for the purpose of making him invulnerable,
or safe from wounds by weapons. But as she held him by the ankles they
were not wetted, and so he could be wounded in them. During the siege of
Troy Apollo guided the arrow of Paris to this spot, and the great leader
of the Greeks was killed. It is believed that the warrior in this
picture who is about to send his arrow is Paris. In the central or
highest part of the pediment the goddess Minerva stands and tries to
cover the fallen body of Achilles with her shield. These figures are on
the side where the space grows narrower. You can judge of what the
action and spirit of the whole must be when these smaller figures have
so much. We are sure that the arrow will shoot out with such force as
must carry death to its victim, and the second warrior, who braces
himself on his feet and knee, will thrust his lance with equal power
(Fig. 20).
There are traces of color and of metal ornaments upon these AEginetan
statues; the weapons, helmets, shields, and quivers were red or blue;
the eyes, hair, and lips were painted, and there are marks upon the
garments of the goddess that show that she must have had bronze
ornaments. There was a famous sculptor of AEgina named Callon, who lived
about the time that this temple was built; and though it is not known to
be so, yet many critics and scholars believe that he may have been the
sculptor of these works, because they resemble the written descriptions
of his statues and reliefs.
[Illustration: FIG. 20.--_Figures from the Pediment of the Temple of
Minerva, at AEgina._]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account