The ways in which Hellenistic rulers used sculpture to represent themselves
Overview
1. Sculpture as visual media to promote kingly qualities
2. King could place them in prominent places
3. Disembodied originals, or roman copies, the portrait bust was a later Roman invention
4. Statuettes and the few surviving bronzes help to show what the full figure may have looked like
5. Armoured statues had a militaristic meaning not favoured by the divinising kings
6. Nude statues might have an “elevating air” since kings weren’t accustomed to be naked in public
Alexander’s representation in sculpture and its influence on those who followed him
1. The statues, being publicly visible, would have an important influence on all, for example, the Statues of Ptolemy II and Arisone I at Olympia and the Sacred Way at Delphi
2. Alexander provided the basic model for Hellenistic kingship, being the first
3. His followers wanted to imitate his success by imitating his imagery
4. Beardlessness was a new style introduced by Alexander, again, it was imitated
5. Dynamism, this could achieved through the tilt of the head (see Plutarch)
6. Thick ‘royal’ hair; the anastole , which again, was a very Alexandrian trait. For example, the Erbach Alexander draw on images of a young Heracles, but it is the anastole which defines it as an Alexander
7. A variable degree of divinization
8. Even influenced non-Hellenic ‘rulers’, see Plutarch, Pompey 2.1, who is described as having "a slight anastole in his hair", and with "a fluidity around the eyes"
"When Lysippos first modelled a portrait of Alexander with his face turned upward toward the sky, just as Alexander himself was accustomed to gaze, turning his neck gently to one side, someone inscribed, not inappropriately, the following epigram:
The bronze statue seems to proclaim, looking at
Zeus: I place the earth under my sway; you,
O Zeus, keep Olympos.
For this reason, Alexander decreed that only Lysippos should make his portrait. For only Lysippos, it seems, brought out his real character in the bronze and gave form to his essential excellence. For others, in their eagerness to imitate the turn of his neck and the expressive, liquid glance of his eyes, failed to preserve his manly leonine quality."
Plutarch, De Alexandri Magni Fortuna aut Virtute 2.2.3
Distinctive or unusual features and the reasons for them
1. Tilted head- dynamic
2. Contrapposto stance (where the statue's weight is shifted more onto one leg/ foot that the other)- tension, strength
3. Equestrian- militaristic, symbolic, a common feature in th early period of Hellenistic rulers
4. Hunter rulers/ militaristic rulers- again symbolic of a ruler's authority, power, and dominance over nature
5. Shaven- youthfulness, with allusions to Achilles or Alexander
Realism over idealism?
6. Diadem- the sign of a king, a ribbon tied around the back of the hair (the Hellenistic equivalent of a crown)
7. Horns, of goats and of Zeus Ammon (bull's)
8. Oak wreath of Zeus of Dodona; there was a prophetic oracle and sacred oak at Dodona
9. Elephant scalp- representative of African campaigns
10. Lion scalp
Variations in the style of sculpture between regions and over time
“Tisicrates, also a native of Sicyon, was a pupil of Euthycrates [son of Lysippos], 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.”
(Pliny N.H. 34.19.67) ·
Points of Conclusion: Hellenistic rulers used sculpture as political propaganda; to influence the way in which they were seen. This could be achieved with subtlety, but sometimes was glaringly obvious.
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Plutarch
Pliny
Secondary Sources
Lawrence, A. Greek Sculpture in Ptolemaic Egypt. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology. 11, 179-190 (1925)
Lehmann, P. A New Portrait of Demetrios Poliorketes. The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal. 8, 107-116 (1980)
Pollitt, J. 1986. Art in the Hellenistic Age. Cambridge
Ridgway, B. 2001. Hellenistic Sculpture I, The Styles of ca. 331- 200 BC. Wisconsin
Smith, R. 1991. Hellenistic Sculpture. London
Smith, R. Three Hellenistic Rulers at the Getty. The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal. 14, 59- 78 (1986)
Stanwick, P. A Royal Ptolemaic Bust in Alexandria. Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt. 29, 131-141 (1992)
1. Sculpture as visual media to promote kingly qualities
2. King could place them in prominent places
3. Disembodied originals, or roman copies, the portrait bust was a later Roman invention
4. Statuettes and the few surviving bronzes help to show what the full figure may have looked like
5. Armoured statues had a militaristic meaning not favoured by the divinising kings
6. Nude statues might have an “elevating air” since kings weren’t accustomed to be naked in public
Alexander’s representation in sculpture and its influence on those who followed him
1. The statues, being publicly visible, would have an important influence on all, for example, the Statues of Ptolemy II and Arisone I at Olympia and the Sacred Way at Delphi
2. Alexander provided the basic model for Hellenistic kingship, being the first
3. His followers wanted to imitate his success by imitating his imagery
4. Beardlessness was a new style introduced by Alexander, again, it was imitated
5. Dynamism, this could achieved through the tilt of the head (see Plutarch)
6. Thick ‘royal’ hair; the anastole , which again, was a very Alexandrian trait. For example, the Erbach Alexander draw on images of a young Heracles, but it is the anastole which defines it as an Alexander
7. A variable degree of divinization
8. Even influenced non-Hellenic ‘rulers’, see Plutarch, Pompey 2.1, who is described as having "a slight anastole in his hair", and with "a fluidity around the eyes"
"When Lysippos first modelled a portrait of Alexander with his face turned upward toward the sky, just as Alexander himself was accustomed to gaze, turning his neck gently to one side, someone inscribed, not inappropriately, the following epigram:
The bronze statue seems to proclaim, looking at
Zeus: I place the earth under my sway; you,
O Zeus, keep Olympos.
For this reason, Alexander decreed that only Lysippos should make his portrait. For only Lysippos, it seems, brought out his real character in the bronze and gave form to his essential excellence. For others, in their eagerness to imitate the turn of his neck and the expressive, liquid glance of his eyes, failed to preserve his manly leonine quality."
Plutarch, De Alexandri Magni Fortuna aut Virtute 2.2.3
Distinctive or unusual features and the reasons for them
1. Tilted head- dynamic
2. Contrapposto stance (where the statue's weight is shifted more onto one leg/ foot that the other)- tension, strength
3. Equestrian- militaristic, symbolic, a common feature in th early period of Hellenistic rulers
4. Hunter rulers/ militaristic rulers- again symbolic of a ruler's authority, power, and dominance over nature
5. Shaven- youthfulness, with allusions to Achilles or Alexander
Realism over idealism?
6. Diadem- the sign of a king, a ribbon tied around the back of the hair (the Hellenistic equivalent of a crown)
7. Horns, of goats and of Zeus Ammon (bull's)
8. Oak wreath of Zeus of Dodona; there was a prophetic oracle and sacred oak at Dodona
9. Elephant scalp- representative of African campaigns
10. Lion scalp
Variations in the style of sculpture between regions and over time
- · One reason for similarities is the actual copying of previous works, as such a general progression is not overly obvious: but certain changes can be seen
“Tisicrates, also a native of Sicyon, was a pupil of Euthycrates [son of Lysippos], 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.”
(Pliny N.H. 34.19.67) ·
- Different leaders at different times had different images that they wished to promote because of the different circumstances in which they were in, for example, Mithrades VI, against Rome, was promoting Alexander’s image by using the lion-skin cap of Alexander Herakles
- Statuettes in the Athena sanctuary on the north stoa of the acropolis of Pergamon show Herakles liberating Prometheus from the Eagle and are perhaps symbolic of Mithradates VI’s attempts at liberating the Old Hellenistic world from Rome, whereby the sloping forehead on the Herakles figure identifies him as Mithradates
- · Ptolemaic Kings as Egyptian Pharaohs, where Egyptian influence is an obvious factor
- · Early Ptolemies tried to imitate the style of the last native rulers of Dynasty XXX- depictions of Ptolemy II are stylistically close to those of Nectanebo I + II
- · Egyptian sculptures rarely render natural beards
- · Most of Alexandria’s inhabitants weren’t Greek, which explains why various statues are Pharoanic depictions of Hellenic rulers
- · Head of Ptolemy VIII, since it is Pharoanic, it is devoid of dynamic expression, which is a more noticable stylistic differance in Pharoanic statues
Points of Conclusion: Hellenistic rulers used sculpture as political propaganda; to influence the way in which they were seen. This could be achieved with subtlety, but sometimes was glaringly obvious.
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Plutarch
Pliny
Secondary Sources
Lawrence, A. Greek Sculpture in Ptolemaic Egypt. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology. 11, 179-190 (1925)
Lehmann, P. A New Portrait of Demetrios Poliorketes. The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal. 8, 107-116 (1980)
Pollitt, J. 1986. Art in the Hellenistic Age. Cambridge
Ridgway, B. 2001. Hellenistic Sculpture I, The Styles of ca. 331- 200 BC. Wisconsin
Smith, R. 1991. Hellenistic Sculpture. London
Smith, R. Three Hellenistic Rulers at the Getty. The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal. 14, 59- 78 (1986)
Stanwick, P. A Royal Ptolemaic Bust in Alexandria. Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt. 29, 131-141 (1992)