Ancient Mediterranean + Europe
Course: Ancient Mediterranean + Europe > Unit 6
Lesson 7: Hellenistic- Statue of a Victorious Youth, Getty conversations
- Barberini Faun
- Dying Gaul and Ludovisi Gaul
- The Dying Gaul, reconsidered
- Dying Gaul
- Bronze statue of Eros sleeping
- Winged Victory (Nike) of Samothrace
- Nike (Winged Victory) of Samothrace
- Nike of Samothrace
- Great Altar of Zeus and Athena at Pergamon
- The Pergamon Altar
- Altar at Pergamon
- Apollonius, Seated Boxer
- Seated Boxer
- The Spinario (boy pulling a thorn from his foot)
- Alexander Mosaic from the House of the Faun, Pompeii
- Alexander Mosaic from the House of the Faun, Pompeii
- Alexander Mosaic
- Laocoön and his sons
- Athanadoros, Hagesandros, and Polydoros of Rhodes, Laocoön and his Sons
- Laocoön
Dying Gaul and Ludovisi Gaul
Dying Gaul, 1st or 2nd century C.E. (Roman copy of Third Century B.C.E. Hellenistic bronze commemorating Pergamon's victory over the Gauls likely from the Sanctuary of Athena at Pergamon), marble, 93 cm high (Musei Capitolini, Rome)
and
Gaul killing himself and his wife (The Ludovisi Gaul), 1st or 2nd century C.E. (Roman copy of Third Century B.C.E. Hellenistic bronze commemorating Pergamon's victory over the Gauls likely from the Sanctuary of Athena at Pergamon), marble, 211 cm high (Palazzo Altemps, Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome)
Drs. Beth Harris and Stevene Zucker
. Created by Smarthistory.Want to join the conversation?
- Does anyone know what he has around his neck? Armour? Decoration?(19 votes)
- You might want to take a look at this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torc(41 votes)
- Exactly what is a "Gaul"?(8 votes)
- Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age to Roman era Composed of France, Luxembourg and Belgium. The Gauls were inhabitants of this area and the speakers of the Gaulish language.
Julius Caesar notes the Gaul’s in one of his memoirs the Commentarii de Bello Gallico, known in English as the commentary on the The Gallic Wars.(6 votes)
- who are those other statues in the room?(3 votes)
- Visit here: http://en.museicapitolini.org/percorsi/percorsi_per_sale/palazzo_nuovo/sala_del_gladiatore. Statue of Isis, Statue of Resting Satyr, Statue of Cupid and Psyche, Statue of Wounded Amazon and Statue of “Capitoline Antinous." The website has been translated into English, Spanish and French from the original Italian.(7 votes)
- Why does the statue have such a shiny look?(3 votes)
- From the author:The Dying Gaul is made of marble that has been polished. Marble has several properties that have made it a favorite with artists since Antiquity. It is relatively soft and easy to carve and it can be polished to a high gloss.(7 votes)
- Can a figure be an example of contrapposto if it is not standing (so rather sitting, laying, etc.)?(3 votes)
- The Encyclopedia Britannica Says: "contrapposto, in the visual arts, a sculptural scheme, ... in which the standing human figure is poised such that the weight rests on one leg (called the engaged leg), freeing the other leg, which is bent at the knee."
So the answer is no, because contrapposto by definition is a standing pose. However, contraposto is a naturalistic pose, so you can easily compare a sitting-down statue's naturalism with contrapposto :)(4 votes)
- How do you put a torc on? I understand that they're not supposed to come off, but how do you get them on in the first place, without strangling someone?(3 votes)
- Hi Lauren,
presuming the torc is twisted, my guess would be to not bend the opening horizontally
but bending one end up and the other down. (probably against the twist of the torc)
The ones with a wider opening could be put on by pressing one end in the soft tissue
left or right of the throat, and shove the other end around the neck.(2 votes)
- If a "Gaul" would have been considered a "barbarian" to the Romans (who copied this ancient Greek work) then it makes sense to have called this the "Dying Gaul" as a Roman, but what might the Greeks have referred to this man as?(3 votes)
- The Greeks would have referred to him as "Barbaros" in the tongue of that day (ancient Greek,) which obviously means barbarian as well in English.(2 votes)
- why do some Greek marble sculptures look glazed and shiny, and some look chalky and dusty?
is it because the shiny ones are newer than the chalky ones?(2 votes)- This is a characteristic not only of Greek marble but of any marble and it has different causes. As you point out, marble can be polished to a high gloss. But note that some artists purposefully leave a rough surface or polish only part of a sculpture. Michelangelo did this. See for example his Slaves: http://khan.smarthistory.org/michelangelos-slaves.html
But even polished marble can lose its gleam when exposed to weather. This is particularly true since the industrial revolution since the acids now in the atmosphere harm marble very rapidly. Other man-made causes are also common. Michelangelo's David is a famous example. It is reported that the surface was originally highly polished but because of damage caused by an insurrection, a wax coating, transport, and a cleaning with an acid wash, the gloss is long gone.(5 votes)
- Why are the names of the Roman sculptors who copied Greek bronzes unknown? Are any known? How close is the copy to the original? Are there any existing examples of a copy and an original?(3 votes)
- back up about 3 videos to the Late Classical Lysippos Farnese Hercules, and you'll see the name of the Roman sculptor (Glycon)(1 vote)
- Are the Gauls here referring to the same Gauls in Asterix and Obelix? Sorry for my immaturity but I just had to ask.(2 votes)
- Yes, but this word is sometimes a synonym for "barbarian", meaning non-Romans people.
The statue is also named "the dying galatian", so it's more probably a celt from Turkey.(2 votes)