Coming down to a somewhat later time, we are compelled by the abundance
of the material to select a few portraits of men as typical, and to pass
over the great majority of them in silence.
A thoroughly typical portrait of an Athenian citizen of the fifth
century is found in the stele of Tynnias, the son of Tynnon (Pl. X).
Tynnias is seated holding a long staff, his garment thrown loosely over
his shoulders but leaving his breast bare. The work is not very careful,
yet it would not be easy to find in art a figure of greater grace and
dignity. This mere mortal would sit undisgraced among the seated gods of
the frieze of the Parthenon. He might almost stand for Zeus, the father
of gods and men, instead of for the father of ordinary Athenian girls
and boys. Only in one point does his humanity come out clearly. The
chair on which he is seated is not such a square high-backed throne as
would suit a deity, or such as commonly appears on tombs, but a
thoroughly domestic chair, such as we see in the domestic interiors of
vases (see Figs. 10 and 69). The back slopes at a comfortable angle,
and the legs diverge so far apart that it could only with great
difficulty be overturned. Since the Chippendale reaction we have
accepted the notion that chairs with bent legs are not artistic, but it
is clear that some skilful Greek sculptors were of another opinion. The
boots of Tynnias also are not the sandals of ordinary Greek art, but
leather boots not unlike ours.
The simple form of this monument with its shallow pediment contrasts
with the more highly developed and elegant stelae of the fourth century;
the rough surface below shows where it was let into a socket. It is in
fact an ordinary roadside tomb; can we wonder that the nation which had
such perfect taste in common things attained so perfect a sense of
beauty in form and dignity in deportment?
To the peaceful Tynnias a striking contrast is offered by the figures of
citizens who fell in battle, and whose graves are a memorial of their
warlike prowess. We give three examples.
First, the tomb of Aristonautes, son of Archenautes (Pl. XI). This is
almost the only example which has come down to us of a complete ναῗδιον
or temple. The letters of the inscription indicate the earlier part of
the fourth century. Aristonautes is represented in the act of charging
the enemy; he wears a conical helmet adorned with ornaments of
gilt-bronze[171], and a cuirass; in his hands were sword or spear and
shield. The relief is so high that the figure is almost in the round, to
which circumstance we must attribute the loss of the left leg, which is
now replaced in plaster. A chlamys lies on the left shoulder. The ground
on which the hero charges is the rocky soil of some battlefield; the
background was painted blue to bring out strongly the manly lines of the
form. This monument comes from the Cerameicus at Athens.
[Illustration:
PLATE XI
_Page 146_
]
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