“Invitation to the Dance” Greek Hellenistic (Greco-Roman Period) 19th. Century reconstruction by Prof. Wilhelm Klein, of Karlova University 19th. century., & Furtwänglers reconstruction of “Athena Lemnia”.
Dancing Satyr Torso Fragment 26 x 15 3/8 in. (66.04 x 39.05 cm), Ist. Century AD, From the "Invitation To The Dance" (pic17), Minneapolis Institute of Art Museum
- Dancing Satyr Torso Fragment 26 x 15 3/8 in. (66.04 x 39.05 cm) 1st. Century AD, From the “Invitation To The Dance” (pic17) Minneapolis Institute Museum
Entry for July 7 2009 
Invitation to the Dance, plaster collection Munich, Germany
Invitation to the Dance, - Munich Plaster Cast Collection
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“Dancing Faun” Hellenistic Greek under Roman rule copy after Hellenistic Greek bronze. Arms, Head, added by Michelangelo’s studio, Ufizzi Museum, Florence Italy.
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{Another varient of the Satyr – The reconstruction of Wilhelm Klein has raised arms with extended free fingers in a snapping motion, that would be holding added finger cymbols probably of bronze. The correct additions of the reconstruction by Kleine are more articulated, spindly in geometry of the shape as the rest of the figure, as well as a more articulated defined and expressive face. I assume much of this sculpture are additions added from the period this was found in Rome.} – Bloger, PBP
| Dancing satyr from the group “Invitation to the dance”. Roman copy (1st-2nd century CE) of a hellenistic original (2nd century BC) known by coins of Cyzicus (Asia Minor) and numerous copies (such as Louvre Ma 528). Found in Rome in 1630, it was heavily restored: a large part of the arms and legs, the cymbals and the tree trunk are modern. It seems that the satyr originally was beating time, snapping fingers in rythm and using a kind of Greek castanets with his foot. |
| H. 143 cm (4 ft. 8 ¼ in.) |
| Department of Greek, Etruscan and Roman antiquities, Denon, ground floor, room 17 |
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The Farnese Hercules, engraved by Hendrick Goltzius, 1591. Two onlookers give scale.
Farnese Hercules,ca.1592 (published and dated 1617)
Hendrick Goltzius (Netherlandish,1558–1617)
Engraving; 16 7/16 x 11 15/16 in. (41.8 x 30.4 cm)
It was Goltzius’ poor health as well as his desire to see the treasures of Rome that inspired him to travel to Italy in 1590–91. Supposedly, the famed Dutch printmaker traveled incognito in order to avoid social obligations that might distract from his real purpose, which was sketching and studying antique sculptures. The ancient Roman statue known as the Farnese Hercules had been discovered in the Baths of Caracalla in Rome in 1546, and installed in a courtyard of the Farnese family’s palace on the banks of the Tiber, where it was one of the highlights of the Roman tour for visiting scholars, connoisseurs, and artists. When Goltzius drew the statue, the legs he saw were substitutions that had been made by Guglielmo della Porta in 1560—although the ancient legs had been found soon after the rest of the statue, Michelangelo convinced the Farnese that the modern ones were just as good. The two figures looking up at the massive statue in the lower right corner of the engraving have never been satisfactorily identified. Perhaps, as was suggested by the eighteenth-century Dutch artist and collector Cornelis Ploos van Amstel, they are a self-portrait and a portrait of the artist’s stepson Jacob Matham, who was also an engraver. The Farnese Hercules shows to excellent advantage the virtuosic technique that Goltzius had developed, in which the swelling and tapering line pioneered by Cornelis Cort is exaggerated to the point that it becomes a focus of interest in itself. As the line winds around the forms, expanding and contracting, it gives great sculptural force to the curves and bulges of the hero’s body. The engraving by Goltzius, unusual for its viewpoint and its inclusion of observers, was one of a long series that had spread the fame of the statue, including one by Jacob Bos (41.72[2.63]) that provides the more common front view of the Hercules.
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Farnese Hercules - Munich Plaster Cast Museum
“Farnese Hercules” Hellensitic Greek copy after a Hellenistic Greek bronze, copy made in the early third century CE by Glykon of an original of Lysippos or one of his circle, of the fourth century BCE., made for the Baths of Caracalla in Rome (dedicated in 216 CE), where it was recovered in 1546., Museo Archeologico Nazionale.
Hercules is caught in a rare moment of repose. Leaning on his knobby club which is draped with the pelt of the Nemean Lion, he holds the apples of the Hesperides in his right hand, but conceals them behind his back like a baseball pitcher with a knuckleball. Copies of the Farnese Hercules appeared in 17th and 18th century gardens throughout Europe. At Wilhelmshöhe, near Kassel, a colossal version 8.5 m high produced by Johann Jacob Anthoni, 1713-1717, has become the city’s mascot. André Le Nôtre placed a full-size gilded version against the skyline at the far end of the main vista at Vaux-le-Vicomte. That at Palace of Versailles is a copy by Jean Cornu, 1684-86. In Scotland, a rare copy in lead, of the first half of the 18th century, overlooks the recently restored Hercules Garden at Blair Castle.
The sculpture bears the incised signature of Glykon, in Greek. Glykon, whether working in Rome or Athens, is not otherwise known. Bieber 1961; Robertson 1975. ; The chronicler Ulisse Aldrovandi, 1556. ; Haskell and Penny 1981 p. 229. ; Haskell and Penny.
| The Farnese Hercules | |
A Roman copy, signed by the Athenian Glykon, of a lost bronze statue attributed to Lysippus. It represents the hero of the “twelve labors” in an unusual resting attitude. He has just stolen the golden apples, which he holds in his right hand behind his back, from the garden of the Hesperides. He looks downward, his bearded head reclined on his chest, as he leans his naked, powerfully muscled body on his club covered by the lion skin, on which he lets his left arm fall. This attitude is in sharp contrast with the traditional images of the hero; the Naples Hercules is thoughtful and introspective, and seems almost to have forgotten his exploit, or even to be attempting to hide its tokens. The statue was found in 1546. The missing lower part of its legs was restored by Guglielmo Della Porta, a pupil of Michelangelo. Even after the original legs were found, those by Della Porta were maintained until the end of the 19th century. They are presently on exhibit in this room. Today, scholars concur in attributing the Greek original to Lysippus. Indeed, the style of the work shows typical traits of the time of this celebrated Greek sculptor; furthermore, Hercules seems to have been one of his favorite iconographic subjects. In the Thermae of Caracalla, the Farnese Hercules was a pendant to another colossal statue known as the “Latin Hercules”, presently in the Bourbonic Kings’ residence at Caserta (Reggia di Caserta) |
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Guglielmo della Porta, the son of a sculptor, worked in Milan and Genoa and is first documented in Rome in 1546 in the Vatican. He sculpted a number of busts of the Farnese Pope Paul III and worked his way into the papal hierarchy, securing the commission for the Pope’s tomb.
An antique sarcophagus and other features had been predetermined by the Pope. The bronze effigy of the Pope was cast and chased by 1553 when della Porta turned to the reclining allegorical figures. In 1628 the tomb was transferred and modified by Bernini to become a pendant to his Tomb of Urban VIII. Della Porta’s commanding Pope is depicted alive and seated on a diagonal in an engaging manner, a less formal pose then the benediction adopted by Bernini
North Italian sculptor, part of an Italian family of sculptors, stone masons and architects, active from the 15th century to the 17th. Originally they came from Porlezza on Lake Lugano, but they were active in the masons’ lodges of Milan Cathedral and the Certosa di Pavia from the 1470s. Around 1500, Antonio della Porta set up a workshop in Genoa, where he collaborated with, among others, his nephew Pace Gagini of the Gagini family of sculptors and stone masons, producing sculpture that was exported to France. Guglielmo della Porta moved c. 1537 to Rome, where his descendants continued to work until the early 17th century.
Guglielmo worked first in Genoa and then (from 1537) in Rome, where he succeeded Sebastiano del Piombo at the Papal Mint (1547). He had a prolific and varied career, his work including several papal busts and tombs in various Roman churches, the most important being that of Paul III in St Peter’s (1549-75). He also produced numerous small devotional and pagan statuettes and was known as a restorer and copier of antique works (both activities typical of his age). The major influence on his style was Michelangelo and he had a penchant for reclining figures in the manner of the master’s Day and Night, Dawn and Evening in the Medici Chapel, Florence.
Museums and Public Art Galleries:
Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan ; Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia ; Boy Pulling out a Splinter ; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Sculpture collection online ; Guglielmo della Porta at the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. ; 2 works by Guglielmo della Porta ; Courtauld Institute of Art, London, UK 4 works by or related to the artist ; Drawings from the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan (Undocumented Feature: This site’s images all end in “.sm.jpg”. Right-click on the image and select “Properties” to find the image URL, then enter the URL without the “.sm” into the address bar – you will often find a much larger scan.)
Pictures from Image Archives:
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- There are also some unique reconstructions of statues and sculptures, which were not preserved in their entirety. Their parts have been dispersed to various museums and galleries throughout the world (e.g. the Sculptures Invitation to Dance and Athena and Marsyas). The reconstructions, which were led by Professor W. Klein with the help of J. V. Myslbek and his pupils, are to this day reproduced in special literature from exhibited casts.
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- Athena and Marsyas reconstruction, Wilhelm Klein -
- Athena and Marsyas reconstruction, Wilhelm Klein -
- Kopf der der «Athena Lemnia» aus Pozzuoli. Athena Lemnia , in Pozzuoli (close to Naples) In the Temple of Augustus, a second copy of the head -
- Athena Lemnia
Marble sculptures in antique Greece (as well as Rome continueing this precedent) were painted originally colorfully. The colored versions are mostly lost, or have examples only in rudimentary states. Therefore, the antique adoption of the Renaissance, the image of a ” white antiquity “ became the expectation and norm. In Kassel one has tried in a plaster cast to reconstruct the painting of a marble sculpture of Athena Lemnia. Athena Lemnia of Apollon, several Roman copies (Greek sculptors of great ability – for the better versions – working for Roman clients, during the Roman rule of Greece) have survived, as well as also after a lost Greek bronze original of sculptor Phidias which was put up on the Athens Acropolis. The archeologist Adolf Furtwängler reconstructed in 1891 this highly classical statue type from two Roman marble copies (Greek sculptors working during Roman rule) and from Gemmenbildern. The cast follows this version and complements them around lance and helmet. Idealized trains and a restrained movement mark this representation of the maiden goddess, a daughter of the Zeus. She was the protective goddess of Athens
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Rekonstruktion af Athena Lemnia, 1914/1993.
Original af bronze fra 5. århundrede f. Kr. (Staatliche Museen Kassel) Postkort mål: 15 x 10 cm
- Originalerne
Original nr. 1 Dresden. Inventarnr.: Kat. HM 49 / Inv. G 1060 Fundsted/proveniens: Italien, Torso ex Albani 1728 Romersk kopi efter Græsk, klassisk Ca. 440 f.Kr. Marmor Original nr. 2
Museo Civico Archaeologico. Inventarnr.: Kat. HM 49 / Inv. G 1060 Fundsted/proveniens: Italien, Torso ex Albani 1728 Romersk kopi efter Græsk, klassisk Ca. 440 f.Kr. Marmor Rekonstruktion af Athena Lemnia ved Furtwängler med torso i Dresden og Palagi-hovedet i Bologna
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- Adolf Furtwängler
- 30th June In 1853 in Freiburg in the mash region, † at night from 10. October to 11th October In 1907 in Athens) was Classical archeology . Life
After study in Freiburg, Leipzig and Munich as well as the doctorate in 1874 with Heinrich Brunn if he received in 1876 to 1878 a rice scholarship German archaeological institute and took in excavations in Mykene, Olympia (Greece) and Aigina (island) (Ägina) share. After the habilitation postdoctoral qualification in 1879 in Bonn he was active in 1882 in the Antiquarium in Berlin. In 1894 Adolf Furtwängler Professor became for classical archeology in Munich and at the same time manager of the cast collection, 1896 leaders of the Antiquariums in Munich. He counts as one of the most significant German archeologists. He published works about Greek plastic and vase painting. He initiated a modern copy criticism and most investigation. His masterpieces of the Greek plastic is a whole representation to the Greek art of the antiquity which can count still today absolutely as a standard work. It was also translated into several languages. The copy criticism was promoted decisively among other things by Franz Studniczka . His reconstruction attempt of her is also to be mentioned Venus of Milo . Furtwänglers older son was the famous conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler; his grandson Andreas E. Furtwängler if is likewise archeologist and numismatist. Furtwängler was the father-in-law of the philosopher Max Scheler .
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- Fig 2 Furtwänglers reconstruction of “Athena Lemnia”. Since the outgoing 19-th century the so reconstructed statue is called “Lemnia”, in spite of the doubts expressed over and over again. However, Furtwänglers suggestion still remains plausible whole-secretly: First the stylistic signs of the figure fit timewise excellently to at the middle of the century occupied Weihung of the Athenian colonists of Lemnos, and secondly one knows from the springs that from the ” Athenian emigrants » created Athena was unarmed what probably the helmet taken by the head should make clear. A big number of classical Athena’s statuettes comparable with the reconstruction shows the goddess likewise without helmet on the head and underlines that this type must already have been famous in antiquity because he was quoted so often. With these copies the heads, by the way – correspondently to the head in Bologna – show a thin headband. All these indications support so correspondently the identification of the Dresden-Bologna-Statue with the masterpiece of the Phidias. The cast bought in 1895 of the sculpture hall already corresponds to just two years before published reconstruction suggestion of Furtwängler, that head and body to one single statue type angsshören. From this fact one can understand, what a big meaning the studies of Adolf Furtwängler for the archeology at that time had, and how quick the new research results also became in the Basel sculpture hall rezipiert. In the archaeological research this statue type is demanded as “Athena Lemnia”. Besides, the epithet of the goddess refers offshore Greek island Lemnos on of the coast of today’s Turkey. This lay with a strategically very favorable position; from here one could control in the antiquity the commercial routes to the Black Sea and protect the goods deliveries coming from this region (especially grain). That’s why the island became in the 5-th century B.C. a kind of Athenian colony. Although Lemnos counted as allies of Athens, her policy was strongly influenced by the Athenians. In this sense the transmission of Athenian citizens after this island played an important role. They should represent the interests of own hometown, and guarantee at the same time the loyalty of the local inhabitants. In connection with such a transmission the endowment of Athena-Standbildes on the Acropolis is covered by Athens: Greek author Pausanias reports since about a bronze statue standing with the Propyläen of the Athenian town goddess which received the epithet “Lemnia” on account of the special circumstances of her Weihung. As a creator of this figure famous in the antiquity artist Phidias with whom, among the rest, also the figürliche decoration of the Parthenons was entrusted is delivered.
In 1893 the German archeologist Adolf Furtwängler suggested connecting the marble torso in Dresden with the head in Bologna and recognizing behind it this masterpiece already lost in the late antiquity of the Phidias. Indeed, the headless body issued in the Dresden Albertinum belongs to an Athena-Statue, because about the Peplos carried, with the head of the Gorgo-Medusa are provided Ägis a characteristic sign of this goddess. At that time, however, the women’s head decorated with a headband in the Museo Archeologico of Bologna was still called only “girl’s head”. Furtwängler allowed to join not only both reply parts by means of plaster casts, but complemented with his reconstruction also the arms lacking the torso and attributes (see fig. 2). In the right hand he added the helmet, because the supplemental head gets rid, and in the raised left arm of a lance.
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“Athena Lemnia” – the statue in Dresden and the head in BolognaOriginalDate: Roman marble copy of a Greek original around 440 B.C. CastInv.-Nr .: In 1895-2 (sh 107) Work considerationThe statue unites in the cast a marble head in Bologna with a marble torso in Dresden. The so wiedergewonnene figure shows goddess Athena who carries übergürteten Peplos, the left arm holds upraised and at an object in her lowered rights looks. The work full of quality, in particular in the head with the finely worked on hair waves and the well-balanced features is noteworthy and sends the forming the basis Greek original in the time around 440 B.C. - |
"Invitation to the Dance" Greek Hellenistic (Greco-Roman Period) reconstruction in the 19th. Century by Prof. Wilhelm Klein, of Karlova University (Charles University, Prague)
Venus de Medici - Plaster Munich Collection
Laokoon - Plaster Munich Cast Collection
I don’t know whether I agree or not, but it is definitely refreshing to hear Michelangelo called “a minor talent.”
It does occur to me that there is a formal difference between Michelangelo’s sculpture and the Hellenistic sculpture which sometimes inspired him. Michelangelo’s statures, single figures and groups alike, tend to be very centrifugal. Hellenistic statures are often centripedal, they expand out, rather than drawing in. Rodin called Michelangelo the Last Medieval Sculptor, and, if he was right, this centrifugal quality may be a vestige of the Middle Ages. Your thoughts?
Craig Banholzer
July 12, 2011
Yes, I agree to a degree, though the “Forma Serpentina” concept explained by Michelangelo certainly defines part of the centripedal idea. The earlier sculpture of Michelangelo would relate more to centrifugal method, which relates to Medieval period realism. The shape orientation difference is the main divergence. I explain this concept in an “Apologia , A Brief Vocational Autobiography” found at my site: http://parkerstudiostructuralsculpture.com/site/
bradpsculptor
December 2, 2011
Hello my name is Mary Ann and I love your web and I need to do a dance book from the Greek and Roman and Renaissance ,Ballet period working my way up to modernism and then post modernism I can’t find any real good posters of dancer’s especially from the Greek and Roman and Renaissance period and I have searched and also need to write the history for each period and it must be creative. Would you happen to sell the posters or pictures I’m looking for. I need it for my dance project and part of the final. I have checked art stores and even poster shops with no luck. Do you sell any of these things or would you know of anyone who does on line ? I would be most appreciative for any help you could give as I want the project to be really nice and creative. Sincerely Mary Ann I live in Rochester N.Y. and my direct e mail is maryciazza@frontiernet.net Thank you for your time.
Mary Ann
October 30, 2010