I chose the portrait bust of ‘Clytie’ to annotate because it is a beautiful bust, yet many questions are unanswered as to her identity and the function of this bust. One can make many postulations about it and try to find evidence to support them, and this is one of the roles of art history.
 |
| Bust of 'Clytie' (AD 40-50) [marble] Ht: 57.0cm, British Museum |
The bust is made of marble and appears white. The stand have a different marbling pattern compared to the lady and probably is not made from the same stock of stone as the bust and may not be made at the same time. There are some brownish discoloration and the upper neck and at the statue’s back (not seen here).
Her wavy hair is neatly coifed, parted centre with some long strands lying on her shoulders. Her head is turned slightly to the right and her gaze is directed downwards. Her expression is serene and sad at the same time. She is wearing loose drapery that has been intricately carved to denote folds. The left shoulder and breast are exposed and this makes the lady appear sensuous and erotic. The sculpture ends at the lower level of her breasts with a calyx of leaves or petals surrounding her body.
The face and skin of the lady appear smooth but these are contrasted with finely-detailed and textured areas of the hair and folds of the clothing. Although, the figure had an upright posture, the leaves appeared to be moving outwards from the centre with their convex curving.
The turning of the head to one side and the downward gaze and the asymmetrically placed clothing as well as the curving of the leaves make the bust appear three dimensional, dynamic and alive and leads the viewer’s eye to move around the figure. This was possible with the inclusion of the upper torso to contrast with pivoting of the head on the neck.
Who is this lady? The identity of the lady in the bust has been widely debated with no clear consensus. It is widely known as Clytie, a mythical nymph that was turned into a sunflower by Helios when she mourned that her love for Apollo which was not requited. The calyx of flora supported this as they represent that Clytie emerges from the sunflower.
Another postulation was that this lady is Agrippina the Elder, daughter of Marcus Agrippa and grand-daughter of Emperor Augustus. The hairstyle of centre parting and a singular wavy strand at the sides of the neck reaching the shoulder is similar to that of the statue of Agrippina the Elder that is in the Musei Capitolini in Rome and also the brass coin issued by Caligula with a portrait of Agrippina, although the strands of hair on the sides of the neck were thicker ad longer in the Musei Capitolini bust.
Other theories include Isis, Antonia Minor who is the mother of Emperor Claudius and a Roman lady of that period portrayed as Ariadne.
Some had said the statue is of 18th century origin. The British Museum believed that it is a genuine Roman sculpture because it is made of Parian marble that was only reopened in the 19th century and there were evidence of encrustation in the underside of the leaves but the surface may have been reworked in the 18th century to show a more sensuous woman.
What is the purpose of this statue? It could be commissioned by a lady in a wealthy family so that she can display it in her home. Or if this is really an imperial portrait, it could be made from a prototype and distributed through Rome for the public to admire. Or its purpose had changed in that it had been reworked at a later time to suit the taste of that period.
Bibliography
Pollitt, J.J. (1993) ‘Rome: The Republic and Early Empire’. in The Oxford history of classical art. ed by Boardman, J. New York: Oxford University Press, 217-295.
Department: Greek and Roman Antiquities, (n.d.) Marble bust of ‘Clytie’ [online] British Museum website. Available from www.britishmuseum.org [Accessed on 28 February 2011]
Musei Capitolini. (n.d.) Portrait of Agrippina the Elder [online] Musei Capitolini website. Available from http://en.museicapitolini.org [Accessed on 28 February 2011)
No comments:
Post a Comment