The beautiful head of Jupiter found in the cella deserves more than a
passing mention. In order to appreciate its character we may view it
in contrast with the Otricoli Zeus, with which it is closely related.
In both heads we feel the lack of that majestic simplicity, that
ineffable and godlike calm, which rested on the features of the Zeus
of Phidias. Here man has much more obviously made God in his own
image; the face shows less of the ideal, with more of human energy and
passion.
[Illustration: Fig. 21.--Bust of Zeus from Otricoli, now in the
Vatican Museum. After Tafel 130 of the Brunn-Bruckmann Denkmaeler.]
It is not for us to decide whether the Otricoli mask is from the
school of Praxiteles, or shows more of the influence of Lysippus; it
is sufficient here to notice that the type was developed in the second
half of the fourth century B.C., the century after Phidias. The
similarity between these two examples of the type is apparent at first
glance. The shape of the two heads is, in general, the same, and there
is the same profusion of hair and beard, symbolic of power; but the
differences in detail are striking.
In the Otricoli Zeus the peculiar shape of the forehead--prominent in
the middle up to the roots of the hair and retreating at the
sides--seems to suggest, not so much the power of a world-encompassing
and lofty intellect, as absorption in great, unfathomable thoughts. In
the lines of the massive face irresistible force of will is revealed,
and the capability of fierce passion lurks beneath the projecting
lower part of the forehead and uneven eyebrows, threatening like a
thundercloud. But for the moment all is deep repose, and the lids seem
partly closed over eyes that look downwards, as if not concerned with
seeing. The sculptor has conceived of Zeus as the occult power of
nature, alike the origin and law of all things, or as the
personification of the heavens veiled by impenetrable mists.
[Illustration: Fig. 22.--Bust of Jupiter found at Pompeii. Naples
Museum.]
Great force of will is seen also in the face of the Pompeian god; but
it is will dominated by alert and all-embracing mind. The forehead
expands in a broad arch; the eyes, wide open, look out with full
vision under sharply cut brows. Here we have no secret brooding; a
powerful yet clearly defined and comprehensible personality is stamped
upon features carved in bold, free lines. And this personality is not
lost in mystical self-contemplation; the god is following with closest
attention the course of events in some far distant place, affairs that
in the next moment may require his intervention; excitement and
expectancy are seen in the raised upper lip. The ideal of this artist
was the wise and powerful king, whose watchful and all-protecting eye
sees to the furthest limits of his kingdom. Surely this variation of
the Otricoli type must have been conceived in a monarchical period,
the period when the Greek world was ruled by the successors of
Alexander.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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