Repository: UIHistories Project: Book - Gregory Art Collection Catalog (Gregory) [PAGE 17]

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his son Thumelious, orthe British chief Caractaeus. The face is remarkable for the low forehead. The beard Isshaved off all but the moustache, as Csesar notes was i be case with the ancient Britons. 133. Head of Hem**.—This bust, larger than life, is one of the n most prized specimens of sculpture in the British museum. The type belongs to the period of Praxiteles. This head has been called Dione,tbe mother of Venus, but on no sufficient grounds, as Dione was not a subject of ancient art. 1 3 4 . L'lytie.— This bust, which is in the British museum, was call ed Clytie by Mr. Towuely, the English collector, because it rests in the calyx of a (lower, but there is no assurance '.hat this attribution is correct. At one period this was a favorite style of making female busts. Perhaps this bead is the portrait of some Roman lady. The forehead is low, which Horace says, was thoughtau essential characteristic of a beautiful face. It may be intended for Agrippina, the wife of Claudius. I3r»,—Sappho, the Greek poetess. This is an antique bust in the Louvre museum at Paris. Sappho was a native of the island of Lesbos, and probably flourished in the seventh century B. C. I 3 « . 1'oiingr Greek Girt*—This head is the work of a modern French artist, done in imitation of Greek antiques. 137. fornix fHrt —The work of Donate!lo, a Florentine scalptor, born iii 1888. He m a y b e called one of the restorers of the art of sculpture in Italy. " The whole tendancy of his genius was toward a reproduction of the antique, and his style, though not free from the rudeness of early art, sometimes reminds one of the productions of ancient (Ireece." 138 ,S7. Jerome. -This is a bust probably belonging to the ftfteentb century. 1 3 9 . Juno Ludorisi. — Theoriirtnal of this is in the Villa Ludovisi at Rome. I'his is supposed to be a rsopy by one of the pupils of I'olycletus, of his celebrated statue of .Juno for the temple of Argus. Goethe exclaimed, " it is like a verse of Homer," when he firs! saw this bust " The grand glance of the eye, the voluptuous and yet sharply chiselled lips, and the strong rounded chin, proclaim the austere character of the goddess who could even sway the unrestrained will of Jupiter."—L. 1 4 0 . Pallas t'ellelri. — T\\]* is the bust of the celebrated colossal statue of Minerva In the Louvre museum. The statue was discovered in 17!>7, near Velletri, in th< southern part of Italy. It is supposed that the work was executed in the first century of the christian era, and is a lioraau copy of some famous Greek original. This is the most lieautiful and celebrated of the statue- of the goddess of wisdom. The beauty of the head, so perfectly preserved, is beyond all praise. Her expression is mildly majestic, and some one suggests that s h e " smiles upon mankind.'' • 1 4 1 . Jt'iobe.—This is the head of the statue of Niobe in the group at Florence, in the Utlizi gallery. The group of Niobe and her children is ascribed to Scopas, a contemporary of Praxiteles. It was brought from Asia Minor and placed in a temple of Apollo in Pome. The subject of this group is the .revenge of Apollo and Artemis on the Theban queen,

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Niobe, who had assumed superiority on account of her fourteen children. This was punished by the destruction of her whole family. The figure and face of the mother are full of grandeur. " Wbile in anguish she presses her younger child to her, she turns her proud head upwards, and her eye seeks the avenging goddess with a glance in which dee ppain and loftiness of feeling are intermingle.i. :- She bends before the inevitable with heroic resignation, although thrilling with pain."—L. 14*1. Jt'iobc's Daughter.—Thin also belongs to the group at Florence. It represents the oldest daughter of the hapless Theban mother. The face is full of courage. I 13. EscUtapiUS.—Amiqoe bust of the god of medicine. 1-14. .Iriadne. —This bust is in the Capitoline museum al Pome, and is one of the gems of the collection. The name of this beautiful head has long been a matter of dispute among critics. Winckelmann was the first to relinquish the title of Ariadne, calling it a Leucothea, I-or some time antiquarians spoke of it as the best known representation of Bacchus, but the original name seems to have again become the favorite. " We, however, are inclined to the opinion that it is a head of Bacchus, for the equivocal character of the conformation, wavering between male and female, is in part conformable to the ideal character of Bacchus, and in part belongs to modern restorations."— IP. Ed. notes. The nose, under lip and upper part of the breast are restored. 145. Hcenl of Bacchus.—'Phe original of this bust is in the Capitoline museum. It belongs to the Roman period of art, and

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according lo Wlnckelmann, must have been executed in the second

century A. I). This is one of the most beautiful heads of sciilptuie, and is universally admired by clitics. Although generally known by the appellation of Bacchus, Wlnckelmann seems to regard it as an Antinous, and declares the garland which encircles his head to be of lotus It which at Alexandria were called Antinoeia—as composing the garland peculiar to that hero. " Besides Its beauty, the hair and the execution of it have not their equal in all antiquity, so that one may say this head i-one of the most beautiful things in the world."— IF. 1 4 6 . Infetnt or tionalello.—A child's head, very successfully represented. [For artist see No. 137]. J 4 7. Child's Head.—This is (he work of Lucca della Robbia, an artist of the fifteenth century. Most of his works were executed in terra cotta, and chiefly consist of alio-relievos. I I S . Young .tpollo—The original of this east is found in the British museum. We have no sure evidence as to the age or school to which it can beassigned. It is probably not earlier than the time of Lysippus. On the other hand it presents none of the characteristics of the Gneeo-Roman sculpt'.re. The head is remarkable for the earnest pathos of expression and for its feminine character. It probably belonged to a statue of Apollo Musegetes, or leader of the muses. The hair is treated with singular boldness, and from the expression of the face, it would seem that Hie god were under the influence of strong musical ehiotion.

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