Unit 3: Project 3: Study of Free-standing Sculptures

I took the opportunity during my visit to the Museum of Classical Archaeology in Cambridge to complete Project 3. I had a look around the museum before picking a few sculptures that demonstrated a wide range of people, poses and clothing. This is my first time making sketches in a museum and it was a wonderful experience to actually draw ancient figures.

Seated Roman Woman

This is a sculpture of a Roman woman seating in a chair. She appears to be sad with her hands clasped on her lap and her feet crossing. It is as though she is thinking or waiting for something. I was quite amazed at the details of her clothes. The folds of the drapery is well-formed and you can see the outline and shape of her breasts under her think dress. Even the recess of the sleeve under her right arm is carved in to represent realism.

Satyr playing a Footclapper

This is a sculpture of Satyr. He seemed quite happy, playing a musical instrument with his feet. His pose is very animated, with his right arm raised and left arm holding a staff and his neck bent forward and face looked downwards. The sculpture is very dynamic and he looks like he is dancing. The musculature of his body, arms and legs are well depicted and looked anatomically correct.

Baby Boy with Egyptian Goose

This is a sculpture of a baby boy with his pet, an Egyptian goose. He seems to be pressing his right palm on the body of the goose. The goose looks distressed. Is the baby playing with his pet gently or is he hurting it? The baby boy is sculpted with baby fat on his cheeks and thighs. His pose is also animated, holding his right palm forwards like he was distracted by something in front and above him and not paying attention to his goose. The goose appears to be trapped by the boy's palm and is twisting its neck trying to get up. I think someone should come and remove the goose from this naughty baby.

Sculpture from the Temple of Athena Aphaia on the Greek island of Aegina

This is a sculpture of a fighting Greek soldier. He is lying on his side, trying to support his body with right arm and legs. He could be trying to get up after he had fallen over during battle. He is wearing a Greek soldier helmet and a shield on his left forearm. This is a very complex pose and a viewer has to go around the sculpture to appreciate the whole body. Again the muscles of the figure is depicted anatomically correct and idealistic in nature.

Medici Venus (Roman copy)

When I drew this sculpture, it looked very familiar. This is one of the most famous Greek poses. Venus is nude and is trying to use her hands to cover herself. Her figure is sculpted curvaceously, trying to show her as a sensuous Goddess. This pose has been used in many paintings: Eve in Massacio's Expulsion of Eden (c.1427) and Venus in Botticelli's The Birth of Venus (c.1485).

Reflections

This project compels me to look at sculptures in a more detailed manner. There are many ideas and questions that arise when I spend more time looking and think about what I see, which otherwise would not appear if I were to look at them in a glance and go to the next sculpture without thinking in depth.

Unit 3: Annotation: Bust of ‘Clytie’

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

       This is a life-sized portrait bust of a lady. The sculpture encompasses the head and neck, upper torso, shoulders and upper arms. She appears to be a beautiful young lady with classical idealistic qualities. The features of the face are depicted realistically and proportionately with no distortion.

       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 18^th 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 19^th century and there were evidence of encrustation in the underside of the leaves but the surface may have been reworked in the 18^th 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)