This is the Statue of Diadoumenos (Youth tying a fillet around his head) - 69-96 AD
it's a Flavian Roman copy of a Greek bronze statue by Polykleitos - 430 BC
This sculpture is of a young man tying a fillet around his head after winning an athletic contest. The original bronze statue was probably stood in a sanctuary such as that at Olympia or Delphi, where games were regularly held. It is made of marble and is 73 inches tall. This statue was sculpted very carefully and very detailed. The hair curls, eye lids, and even eye lashes were sculpted out. The sculpture focused heavily on body proportions and muscles.
This is statue is the Torso of a monumental bodhisattva, 5th century in Pakistan, ancient region of Gandhara. Made of Schist and is 64 1/2 inches tall. Originally 10 ft tall. Bodhisattva was said to have reached a state of enlightenment and stayed on earth to guide others in the quest of spiritual perfection.
2. For the first picture, the audience were for the people of Rome or Greek. Mostly for the emperor and higher ups.
For the second picture the audience were probably religious people.
3. The statue of Diadoumenos is bear witnessing to the physical attributes of athletes. Every muscled is sculpted out very detailed.
The torso of Bodhisattva is bear witnessing to a religious man who achieved the state of enlightenment.
4. Both statues are sculpted out paying attention to detail. However, the statue of Diadoumenos focuses more on details and proportions. the torso originally was 10 ft tall, i doubt any humans has been that tall.
5. There is a possibly that artist of the torso of Bodhisattva knew the techniques of the other because this sculpture was done a few hundred years later. But the other way around I don't think so since Greece was far from Pakistan and I don't think they reached that far.
6. Yes I believe so because it was done by so much precision and accurate proportions that it is a great work of art.
7. I believe so too as well because although the proportions were a bit off in terms of height, it is still a great sculpted work of art.
Great choices and reflections on the separate societies. It's important that you include that sizes of the two statues, because I think it speaks to the intended audience. The 10-foot bodhisattva was clearly intended for public worship, while the Greek/Roman olympian could have had a more intimate audience in mind. Though if they were so bent on naturalism, perhaps the Roman statue could have been in a public setting, hard to say... (though they say that as a rule these guys would make the figurative sculpture 10% larger than life for it to appear life-size to the viewer).
ReplyDeleteI would say that both cultures had a very strong sense of how geometric proportions cultivated a peaceful or devotional mindset in the audience. Perhaps the Pakistani artists allowed the anatomy of their devotional subject to get more stylized for the sake of achieving perfect harmony in composition. I mean, check out the radiating lines in the bodhisattva's garment!
Anyway both are amazing works and both should definitely be in our history books.
(A)