Delphi Complete Works of Pliny the Elder

by Pliny the Elder

  But that which is by far the most worthy of our admiration, is the colossal statue of the Sun, which stood formerly at Rhodes, and was the work of Chares the Lindian, a pupil of the above-named Lysippus; no less than seventy cubits in height. This statue fifty-six years after it was erected, was thrown down by an earthquake; but even as it lies, it excites our wonder and admiration. Few men can clasp the thumb in their arms, and its fingers are larger than most statues. Where the limbs are broken asunder, vast caverns are seen yawning in the interior. Within it, too, are to be seen large masses of rock, by the weight of which the artist steadied it while erecting it. It is said that it was twelve years before this statue was completed, and that three hundred talents were expended upon it; a sum raised from the engines of warfare which had been abandoned by King Demetrius, when tired of the long-protracted siege of Rhodes. In the same city there are other colossal statues, one hundred in number; but though smaller than the one already mentioned, wherever erected, they would, any one of them, have ennobled the place. In addition to these, there are five colossal statues of the gods, which were made by Bryaxis.

  Colossal statues used also to be made in Italy. At all events, we see the Tuscan Apollo, in the library of the Temple of Augustus, fifty feet in height from the toe; and it is a question whether it is more remarkable for the quality of the metal, or for the beauty of the workmanship. Spurius Carvilius also erected the statue of Jupiter which is seen in the Capitol, after he had conquered the Samnites, who fought in obedience to a most solemn oath; it being formed out of their breast-plates, greaves, and helmets, and of such large dimensions that it may be seen from the statue of Jupiter Latiaris. He made his own statue, which is at the feet of the other one, out of the filings of the metal. There are also, in the Capitol, two heads which are very much admired, and which were dedicated by the Consul P. Lentulus, one of them executed by the above-mentioned Chares, the other by Decius; but this last is so greatly excelled by the former, as to have all the appearance of being the work of one of the poorest of artists.

  But all these gigantic statues of this kind have been surpassed in our own age by that of Mercury, made by Zenodotus for the city of the Arverni in Gaul, which was ten years in being completed, and the making of which cost four hundred thousand sesterces. Having given sufficient proof there of his artistic skill, he was sent for by Nero to Rome, where he made a colossal statue intended to represent that prince, one hundred and ten feet in height. In consequence, however, of the public detestation of Nero’s crimes, this statue was consecrated to the Sun. We used to admire in his studio, not only the accurate likeness in the model of clay, but in the small sketches also, which served as the first foundation of the work. This statue proves that the art of fusing [precious] brass was then lost, for Nero was prepared to furnish the requisite gold and silver, and Zenodotus was inferior to none of the ancients, either as a designer or as an engraver. At the time that he was working at the statue for the Arverni, he copied for Dubius Avitus, the then governor of the province, two drinking-cups, chased by the hand of Calamis, which had been highly prized by Germanicus Cæsar, and had been given by him to his preceptor Cassius Silanus, the uncle of Avitus; and this with such exactness, that they could scarcely be distinguished from the originals. The greater, then, the superiority of Zenodotus, the more certainly it may be concluded that the secret of fusing [precious] brass is lost.

  (8.) Persons who possess what are called Corinthian bronzes, are generally so much enamoured of them, as to carry them about with them from place to place; Hortensius, the orator, for instance, who possessed a Sphinx, which he had made Verres give him, when accused. It was to this figure that Cicero alluded, in an altercation which took place at the trial: when, upon Hortensius saying that he could not understand enigmas, Cicero made answer that he ought to understand them, as he had got a Sphinx at home. The Emperor Nero, also, used to carry about with him the figure of an Amazon, of which I shall speak further hereafter; and, shortly before this, C. Cestius, a person of consular rank, had possessed a figure, which he carried with him even in battle. The tent, too, of Alexander the Great was usually supported, it is said, by statues, two of which are consecrated before the Temple of Mars Ultor, and a similar number before the Palace.

  Detailed table of contents

  CHAP. 19.

  AN ACCOUNT OF THE MOST CELEBRATED WORKS IN BRASS, AND OF THE ARTISTS, 366 IN NUMBER.

  An almost innumerable multitude of artists have been rendered famous by their statues and figures of smaller size. Before all others is Phidias, the Athenian, who executed the Jupiter at Olympia, in ivory and gold, but who also made figures in brass as well. He flourished in the eighty-third Olympiad, about the year of our City, 300. To the same age belong also his rivals Alcamenes, Critias, Nesiotes, and Hegias. Afterwards, in the eighty-seventh Olympiad, there were Agelades, Callon, and Gorgias the Laconian. In the ninetieth Olympiad there were Polycletus, Phradmon, Myron, Pythagoras, Scopas, and Perellus. Of these, Polycletus had for pupils, Argius, Asopodorus, Alexis, Aristides, Phrynon, Dinon, Athenodorus, and Demeas the Clitorian: Lycius, too, was the pupil of Myron. In the ninety-fifth Olympiad flourished Naucsydes, Dinomenes, Canachus, and Patroclus. In the hundred and second Olympiad there were Polycles, Cephisodotus, Leochares, and Hypatodorus. In the hundred and fourth Olympiad, flourished Praxiteles and Euphranor; in the hundred and seventh, Aëtion and Therimachus; in the hundred and thirteenth, Lysippus, who was the contemporary of Alexander the Great, his brother Lysistratus, Sthennis, Euphron, Eucles, Sostratus, Ion, and Silanion, who was remarkable for having acquired great celebrity without any instructor: Zeuxis was his pupil. In the hundred and twenty-first Olympiad were Eutychides, Euthycrates, Laïppus, Cephisodotus, Timarchus, and Pyromachus.

  The practice of this art then ceased for some time, but revived in the hundred and fifty-sixth Olympiad, when there were some artists, who, though far inferior to those already mentioned, were still highly esteemed; Antæus, Callistratus, Polycles, Athenæus, Callixenus, Pythocles, Pythias, and Timocles.

  The ages of the most celebrated artists being thus distinguished, I shall cursorily review the more eminent of them, the greater part being mentioned in a desultory manner. The most celebrated of these artists, though born at different epochs, have joined in a trial of skill in the Amazons which they have respectively made. When these statues were dedicated in the Temple of Diana at Ephesus, it was agreed, in order to ascertain which was the best, that it should be left to the judgment of the artists themselves who were then present: upon which, it was evident that that was the best, which all the artists agreed in considering as the next best to his own. Accordingly, the first rank was assigned to Polycletus, the second to Phidias, the third to Cresilas, the fourth to Cydon, and the fifth to Phradmon.

  Phidias, besides the Olympian Jupiter, which no one has ever equalled, also executed in ivory the erect statue of Minerva, which is in the Parthenon at Athens. He also made in brass, beside the Amazon above mentioned, a Minerva, of such exquisite beauty, that it received its name from its fine proportions. He also made the Cliduchus, and another Minerva, which Paulus Æmilius dedicated at Rome in the Temple of Fortune of the passing day. Also the two statues, draped with the pallium, which Catulus erected in the same temple; and a nude colossal statue. Phidias is deservedly considered to have discovered and developed the toreutic art.

  Polycletus of Sicyon, the pupil of Agelades, executed the Diadumenos, the statue of an effeminate youth, and remarkable for having cost one hundred talents; as also the statue of a youth full of manly vigour, and called the Doryphoros. He also made what the artists have called the Model statue, and from which, as from a sort of standard, they study the lineaments: so that he, of all men, is thought in one work of art to have exhausted all the resources of art. He also made statues of a man using the body-scraper, and of a naked man challenging to play at dice; as also of two naked boys playing at dice, and known as the Astragalizontes; they are now in the atrium of the Emperor Ti
tus, and it is generally considered, that there can be no work more perfect than this. He also executed a Mercury, which was formerly at Lysimachia; a Hercules Ageter, seizing his arms, which is now at Rome; and an Artemon, which has received the name of Periphoretos. Polycletus is generally considered as having attained the highest excellence in statuary, and as having perfected the toreutic art, which Phidias invented. A discovery which was entirely his own, was the art of placing statues on one leg. It is remarked, however, by Varro, that his statues are all square-built, and made very much after the same model.

  Myron of Eleutheræ, who was also the pupil of Agelades, was rendered more particularly famous by his statue of a heifer, celebrated in many well-known lines: so true is it, that most men owe their renown more to the genius of others, than to their own. He also made the figure of a dog, a Discobolus, a Perseus, the Pristæ, a Satyr admiring a flute, and a Minerva, the Delphic Pentathletes, the Pancratiastæ, and a Hercules, which is at the Circus Maximus, in the house of Pompeius Magnus. Erinna, in her poems, makes allusion to a monument which he erected to a cricket and a locust. He also executed the Apollo, which, after being taken from the Ephesians by the Triumvir Antonius, was restored by the Emperor Augustus, he having been admonished to do so in a dream. Myron appears to have been the first to give a varied development to the art, having made a greater number of designs than Polycletus, and shewn more attention to symmetry. And yet, though he was very accurate in the proportions of his figures, he has neglected to give expression; besides which, he has not treated the hair and the pubes with any greater attention than is observed in the rude figures of more ancient times.

  Pythagoras of Rhegium, in Italy, excelled him in the figure of the Pancratiast which is now at Delphi, and in which he also surpassed Leontiscus. Pythagoras also executed the statue of Astylos, the runner, which is exhibited at Olympia; that of a Libyan boy holding a tablet, also in the same place; and a nude male figure holding fruit. There is at Syracuse a figure of a lame man by him: persons, when looking at it, seem to feel the very pain of his wound. He also made an Apollo, with the serpent pierced by his arrows; and a Player on the Lyre, known as the Dicæus, from the fact that, when Thebes was taken by Alexander the Great, a fugitive successfully concealed in its bosom a sum of gold. He was the first artist who gave expression to the sinews and the veins, and paid more attention to the hair.

  There was also another Pythagoras, a Samian, who was originally a painter, seven of whose nude figures, in the Temple of Fortune of the passing day, and one of an aged man, are very much admired. He is said to have resembled the last-mentioned artist so much in his features, that they could not be distinguished. Sostratus, it is said, was the pupil of Pythagoras of Rhegium, and his sister’s son.

  According to Duris, Lysippus the Sicyonian was not the pupil of any one, but was originally a worker in brass, and was first prompted to venture upon statuary by an answer that was given by Eupompus the painter; who, upon being asked which of his predecessors he proposed to take for his model, pointed to a crowd of men, and replied that it was Nature herself, and no artist, that he proposed to imitate. As already mentioned, Lysippus was most prolific in his works, and made more statues than any other artist. Among these, is the Man using the Body-scraper, which Marcus Agrippa had erected in front of his Warm Baths, and which wonderfully pleased the Emperor Tiberius. This prince, although in the beginning of his reign he imposed some restraint upon himself, could not resist the temptation, and had this statue removed to his bed-chamber, having substituted another for it at the baths: the people, however, were so resolutely opposed to this, that at the theatre they clamourously demanded the Apoxyomenos to be replaced; and the prince, notwithstanding his attachment to it, was obliged to restore it.

  Lysippus is also celebrated for his statue of the intoxicated Female Flute-player, his dogs and huntsmen, and, more particularly, for his Chariot with the Sun, as represented by the Rhodians. He also executed a numerous series of statues of Alexander the Great, commencing from his childhood. The Emperor Nero was so delighted with his statue of the infant Alexander, that he had it gilt: this addition, however, to its value, so detracted from its artistic beauty that the gold was removed, and in this state it was looked upon as still more precious, though disfigured by the scratches and seams which remained upon it, and in which the gold was still to be seen. He also made the statue of Hephæstion, the friend of Alexander the Great, which some persons attribute to Polycletus, whereas that artist lived nearly a century before his time. Also, the statue of Alexander at the chase, now consecrated at Delphi, the figure of a Satyr, now at Athens, and the Squadron of Alexander, all of whom he represented with the greatest accuracy. This last work of art, after his conquest of Macedonia, Metellus conveyed to Rome. Lysippus also executed chariots of various kinds. He is considered to have contributed very greatly to the art of statuary by expressing the details of the hair, and by making the head smaller than had been done by the ancients, and the body more graceful and less bulky, a method by which his statues were made to appear taller. The Latin language has no appropriate name for that “symmetry,” which he so attentively observed in his new and hitherto untried method of modifying the squareness observable in the ancient statues. Indeed, it was a common saying of his, that other artists made men as they actually were, while he made them as they appeared to be. One peculiar characteristic of his work, is the finish and minuteness which are observed in even the smallest details. Lysippus left three sons, who were also his pupils, and became celebrated as artists, Laippus, Bœdas, and, more particularly, Euthycrates; though this last-named artist rivalled his father in precision rather than in elegance, and preferred scrupulous correctness to gracefulness. Nothing can be more expressive than his Hercules at Delphi, his Alexander, his Hunter at Thespiæ, and his Equestrian Combat. Equally good, too, are his statue of Trophonius, erected in the oracular cave of that divinity, his numerous chariots, his Horse with the Panniers, and his hounds.

  Tisicrates, also a native of Sicyon, was a pupil of Euthycrates, but more nearly approaching the style of Lysippus; so much so, that several of his statues can scarcely be distinguished from those of Lysippus; his aged Theban, for example, his King Demetrius, and his Peucestes, who saved the life of Alexander the Great, and so rendered himself deserving of this honour.

  Artists, who have transmitted these details in their works, bestow wonderful encomiums upon Telephanes, the Phocæan, a statuary but little known, they say, because he lived in Thessaly, where his works remained concealed; according to their account, however, he is quite equal to Polycletus, Myron, and Pythagoras. They more particularly commend his Larissa, his Spintharus, the pentathlete, and his Apollo. Others, however, assign another reason for his being so little known; it being owing, they think, to his having devoted himself to the studios established by Kings Xerxes and Darius.

  Praxiteles, who excelled more particularly in marble, and thence acquired his chief celebrity, also executed some very beautiful works in brass, the Rape of Proserpine, the Catagusa, a Father Liber, a figure of Drunkenness, and the celebrated Satyr, to the Greeks known as “Periboetos.” He also executed the statues, which were formerly before the Temple of Good Fortune, and the Venus, which was destroyed by fire, with the Temple of that goddess, in the reign of Claudius, and was considered equal to his marble statue of Venus, so celebrated throughout the world. He also executed a Stephanusa, a Spilumene, an Œnophorus, and two figures of Harmodius and Aristogiton, who slew the tyrants; which last, having been taken away from Greece by Xerxes, were restored to the Athenians on the conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great. He also made the youthful Apollo, known as the “Sauroctonos,” because he is aiming an arrow at a lizard which is stealing towards him. There are greatly admired, also, two statues of his, expressive of contrary emotions — a Matron in tears, and a Courtesan full of gaiety: this last is supposed to be a likeness of Phryne, and it is said that we can detect in her figure the love of the artist, and in the countenanc
e of the courtesan the promised reward.

  His kindness of heart, too, is witnessed by another figure; for in a chariot and horses which had been executed by Calamis, he himself made the charioteer, in order that the artist, who excelled in the representation of horses, might not be considered deficient in the human figure. This last-mentioned artist has executed other chariots also, some with four horses, and some with two; and in his horses he is always unrivalled. But that it may not be supposed that he was so greatly inferior in his human figures, it is as well to remark that his Alcmena is equal to any that was ever produced.

  Alcamenes, who was a pupil of Phidias, worked in marble and executed a Pentathlete in brass, known as the “Encrinomenos.” Aristides, too, who was the scholar of Polycletus, executed chariots in metal with four and two horses. The Leæna of Amphicrates is highly commended. The courtesan Leæna, who was a skilful performer on the lyre, and had so become acquainted with Harmodius and Aristogiton, submitted to be tortured till she expired, rather than betray their plot for the extermination of the tyrants. The Athenians, being desirous of honouring her memory, without at the same time rendering homage to a courtesan, had her represented under the figure of the animal whose name she bore; and, in order to indicate the cause of the honour thus paid her, ordered the artist to represent the animal without a tongue.

  Bryaxis executed in brass statues of Æsculapius and Seleucus; Bœdas a figure in adoration; Baton, an Apollo and a Juno, which are in the Temple of Concord at Rome.

  Ctesilaüs executed a statue of a man fainting from his wounds, in the expression of which may be seen how little life remains; as also the Olympian Pericles, well worthy of its title: indeed, it is one of the marvellous adjuncts of this art, that it renders men who are already celebrated even more so.