Anacreon
Title
Anacreon
Date
Roman, ca. 2nd century AD; copy of a Classical work, ca. 430 BC
Artist or Workshop
Attributed to Phidias
Materials
Marble
Height of the work
190 cm tall
Provenience
Italy, Provence of Salerno, Monte Calvo, Sabine Mountains
Current Location
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, Denmark
Description and Significance
Description:
Anacreon is a marble sculpture depicting a full length male figure. The figure is nude, with the exception of drapery covering his shoulders and some of his back as well as the sides of the torso. His musculature is developed, similar to that of an athlete, with defined abdominal muscles and a visible iliac crest. The figure’s arms are slightly raised, but a portion of the figure’s left arm as well as the right hand have been damaged and are missing. His right arm reaches outward and upward toward the head, while the left arm is pointed downward. The positioning of the arms suggests he was playing an instrument or holding a wine cup. He stands in dynamic contrapposto, his right knee bent and his hips tilted. His left leg rests upon a small tree trunk for support, an element that would not have been present in the bronze original. The figure’s head is tilted upward. He has a full beard formed of locks of individual curls, and his hair is similar in texture. The top portion of his head is damaged and is severed off, but much of his thick hair and all of his face is still visible. The figure’s eyes are hollow and his expression is slightly contemplative and pensive, showing little emotion. The face itself is idealized with smooth, polished skin and a narrow nose.
Significance:
Anacreon was a lyric poet whose works would have been heard at symposia. The sculpture alludes to this in the gesture of the figure’s arms that suggests playing an instrument, such as a lyre, or holding a wine cup typical of one used at a symposium. The face is generalized with few identifying features, which is why the sculptor relies on the attribute of a lyric poet (the lyre) in order to convey Anacreon’s character. In addition, it has been suggestion that the dynamic pose of the figure, such as the jaunty tilt of his head and pronounced contrapposto, is representative of intoxication, another illusion to the symposium where his work would have been read. In this sense, the figure’s body illustrates the nature of Anacreon more so than his face, which is idealized and mask-like with few individualizing details or features suggesting close likeness. Scholar J.J. Pollitt proposes that, “It is the poet Anacreon, more than the man Anacreon, that is presented to the viewer.” The figure also takes on the guise of an athlete or heroic figure with the nude, muscular body. While Anacreon was a poet rather than an athlete, his body may have been depicted this way as an attempt to show pride in the accomplishments of the Greeks, a goal in artwork after the end of the Persian Wars. The original display of this work would have been on the Acropolis during the reign of Pericles, and the sculpture was displayed next to a sculpture of Pericles’ father Xanthippus. While there is no inscription on this sculpture identifying the figure as Anacreon, Pausanias, a Greek traveler and geographer, noted that this was a sculpture of Anacreon in his writings when he saw it on the Acropolis originally.
Anacreon is a marble sculpture depicting a full length male figure. The figure is nude, with the exception of drapery covering his shoulders and some of his back as well as the sides of the torso. His musculature is developed, similar to that of an athlete, with defined abdominal muscles and a visible iliac crest. The figure’s arms are slightly raised, but a portion of the figure’s left arm as well as the right hand have been damaged and are missing. His right arm reaches outward and upward toward the head, while the left arm is pointed downward. The positioning of the arms suggests he was playing an instrument or holding a wine cup. He stands in dynamic contrapposto, his right knee bent and his hips tilted. His left leg rests upon a small tree trunk for support, an element that would not have been present in the bronze original. The figure’s head is tilted upward. He has a full beard formed of locks of individual curls, and his hair is similar in texture. The top portion of his head is damaged and is severed off, but much of his thick hair and all of his face is still visible. The figure’s eyes are hollow and his expression is slightly contemplative and pensive, showing little emotion. The face itself is idealized with smooth, polished skin and a narrow nose.
Significance:
Anacreon was a lyric poet whose works would have been heard at symposia. The sculpture alludes to this in the gesture of the figure’s arms that suggests playing an instrument, such as a lyre, or holding a wine cup typical of one used at a symposium. The face is generalized with few identifying features, which is why the sculptor relies on the attribute of a lyric poet (the lyre) in order to convey Anacreon’s character. In addition, it has been suggestion that the dynamic pose of the figure, such as the jaunty tilt of his head and pronounced contrapposto, is representative of intoxication, another illusion to the symposium where his work would have been read. In this sense, the figure’s body illustrates the nature of Anacreon more so than his face, which is idealized and mask-like with few individualizing details or features suggesting close likeness. Scholar J.J. Pollitt proposes that, “It is the poet Anacreon, more than the man Anacreon, that is presented to the viewer.” The figure also takes on the guise of an athlete or heroic figure with the nude, muscular body. While Anacreon was a poet rather than an athlete, his body may have been depicted this way as an attempt to show pride in the accomplishments of the Greeks, a goal in artwork after the end of the Persian Wars. The original display of this work would have been on the Acropolis during the reign of Pericles, and the sculpture was displayed next to a sculpture of Pericles’ father Xanthippus. While there is no inscription on this sculpture identifying the figure as Anacreon, Pausanias, a Greek traveler and geographer, noted that this was a sculpture of Anacreon in his writings when he saw it on the Acropolis originally.
References
"Anacreon. Copenhagen, New Carlsberg Glyptotek (Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek)." History of Ancient Rome. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2017.
Breckenridge, James D. "The Portrait in Greek Art." Likeness; a Conceptual History of Ancient Portraiture. Evanston: Northwestern UP, 1968. 90-93. Print.
Contributor
Megan May
Citation
Attributed to Phidias, “Anacreon,” Digital Portrait "Basket" - ARTH488A "Ancient Mediterranean Portraiture", accessed April 24, 2024, http://classicalchopped.artinterp.org/omeka/items/show/14.
Item Relations
This item has no relations.