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,[218] who executed the 281 Jupiter at Olympia, in ivory and gold, but who also made figures in bronze as well. He flourished in the eighty-third Olympiad, about the year of our City, 300. In the ninetieth Olympiad there were Polycletus, Phradmon, Myron, Pythagoras, Scopas, and Perellus. In the hundred and fourth Olympiad, flourished Praxiteles[219] and Euphranor; in the hundred and thirteenth, Lysippus of Sicyon, who was the contemporary of Alexander the Great, his brother Lysistratus, and Silanion, who was remarkable2 for having acquired great celebrity3 without any instructor4: Zeuxis was his pupil.
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 dedicated5 in the Temple of Diana at Ephesus, it was agreed, in order to ascertain6 which was the best, that it should be left to the judgment7 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.
Besides the Olympian Jupiter, which no one has ever equalled, Phidias also executed in ivory the erect8 statue of Minerva, which is in the Parthenon at Athens. He also made in bronze, beside the Amazon above mentioned, a Minerva, of such exquisite9 beauty, that it received its name from its fine proportions. He also made the Cliduchus, and another Minerva, which Paulus ?milius dedicated at Rome in the Temple of Fortune of the present day. Also the two statues, draped with the pallium, which Catulus erected11 in the same temple; and a nude12 colossal13 statue.
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Polycletus of Sicyon,[220] the pupil of Agelades, executed the Diadumenos, the statue of an effeminate youth, and remarkable for having cost one hundred talents; also the statue of a youth full of manly14 vigor15, and called the spear-bearer. In this he made what the artists have called the Model statue, 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 exhausted16 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 dice17; as also of two naked boys playing at dice, and known as the Astragalizontes; they are now in the atrium of the Emperor Titus, and it is generally considered, that there can be no work more perfect than this. He also executed a Mercury, which was formerly18 at Lysimachia; a Hercules seizing his arms, which is now at Rome. Polycletus is generally considered as having attained19 the highest excellence20 in statuary, and as having perfected the art, which Phidias invented. A discovery which was entirely21 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 Eleuther?,[221] who was also the pupil of Agelades, was rendered more particularly famous by his statue of a heifer, celebrated in many well-known lines. He also made 283 the figure of a dog, a Discobolus, a Perseus, the wood-sawyers, a Satyr admiring a flute22, and a Minerva, the Delphic Pentathletes,[222] the Pancratiast?,[223] and a Hercules, which is at the Circus Maximus, in the house of Pompey. Erinna of Teios makes allusion23 in her poems to a monument which he erected to a cricket and a locust24. He also executed the Apollo, which, after being taken from the Ephesians by the Triumvir Antonius, was restored by the Emperor Augustus, from a warning received in a dream. Myron appears to have been the first to give a varied25 development to his art, having made a greater number of designs than Polycletus, and shown more attention to symmetry. And yet, though he was very accurate in the proportions of his figures, he has neglected to give much expression.
Pythagoras of Rhegium, in Italy, excelled him in the figure of the Pancratiast which is now at Delphi. 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 lame26 man by him: persons, when looking at it, seem to feel the very pain of his wound. He was the first artist who gave expression to the sinews and the veins27, 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, and one of an aged28 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 distinguished29.
Lysippus was most prolific30 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 284 in front of his Warm Baths, and which wonderfully pleased the Emperor Tiberius. This prince, although in the beginning of his reign31 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 resolutely32 opposed to this, that at the theatre they clamorously demanded the Apoxyomenos to be replaced; and the prince, notwithstanding his attachment33 to it, was obliged to restore it.
Lysippus is also celebrated for his statue of the intoxicated34 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.[224] The Emperor Nero was so delighted with his statue of the infant Alexander, that he had it gilt35: this addition, however, to its value, so detracted from its artistic36 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 Heph?stion, 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 consecrated37 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 graceful38 285 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 attentively39 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 peculiar40 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, B?das, and, more particularly, Euthycrates; though this last-named artist rivalled his father in precision rather than in elegance41, and preferred scrupulous42 correctness to gracefulness43. Nothing can be more expressive44 than his Hercules at Delphi, his Alexander, his Hunter at Thespi?, and his Equestrian45 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.
Praxiteles, who excelled more particularly in marble, and thence acquired his chief celebrity, also executed some very beautiful works in bronze, the Rape10 of Proserpine, a Father Liber, a figure of Drunkenness, and the celebrated Satyr. He also made the youthful Apollo, known as the “Sauroctonos” (Lizard46-killer), because he is aiming an arrow at a lizard which is stealing towards him.
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 deficient47 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 286 greatly inferior in his human figures, it is as well to remark that his Alcmena is equal to any that was ever produced.
Lycius was the son and pupil of Myron: he made a figure representing a boy blowing a nearly extinguished fire, well worthy48 of his master, as also figures of the Argonauts. Leochares made a bronze representing the eagle carrying off Ganymede:[225] the eagle has all the appearance of being sensible of the importance of his burden, and for whom he is carrying it, being careful not to injure the youth with his talons49, even through the garments.
Theodorus of Samos,[226] who constructed the Labyrinth50 at Crete, cast his own statue in bronze, which was greatly admired not only for its resemblance, but for the extreme delicacy51 of the work. In the right hand he holds a file, and with three fingers of the left, a little model of a four-horse chariot, which has since been transferred to Pr?neste: it is so extremely minute, that the whole piece, both chariot and charioteer, may be covered by the wings of a fly, which he also made with it.
The most celebrated of all the works, of which I have here spoken, were dedicated, some time ago, by the Emperor Vespasianus in the Temple of Peace, and other public buildings of his. They had before been forcibly carried off by Nero, brought to Rome, and placed by him in the reception-rooms of his Golden Palace. There is one other famous statue, the author unknown, which should not be omitted here,—that of Hercules clothed in the poisoned tunic52; it stands near the Rostra, and the countenance53 is stern and expressive of his last agonies, caused by that dress. There are three inscriptions54 on it; the first of which states that it had formed part of the spoil obtained by Lucullus the general, in his war 287 against Mithridates; the second, that his son, while still a minor55, dedicated it in accordance with a decree of the Senate; the third, that Septimius Sabinus, the curule ?dile, had it restored to the public from the hands of a private individual. So vast has been the rivalry56 caused by this statue, and so high the value set upon it.
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1
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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celebrity
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| n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望 | |
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instructor
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| n.指导者，教员，教练 | |
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dedicated
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| adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的 | |
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ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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rape
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| n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸 | |
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ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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nude
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| adj.裸体的；n.裸体者，裸体艺术品 | |
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colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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vigor
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| n.活力，精力，元气 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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dice
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| n.骰子；vt.把（食物）切成小方块，冒险 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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excellence
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| n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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flute
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| n.长笛；v.吹笛 | |
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allusion
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| n.暗示，间接提示 | |
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locust
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| n.蝗虫；洋槐，刺槐 | |
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varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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lame
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| adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的 | |
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veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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prolific
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| adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的 | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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resolutely
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| adj.坚决地，果断地 | |
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attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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intoxicated
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| 喝醉的，极其兴奋的 | |
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gilt
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| adj.镀金的；n.金边证券 | |
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artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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consecrated
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| adj.神圣的，被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣，给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 )；奉献 | |
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38
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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elegance
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| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
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scrupulous
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| adj.审慎的，小心翼翼的，完全的，纯粹的 | |
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gracefulness
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expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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equestrian
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| adj.骑马的；n.马术 | |
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lizard
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| n.蜥蜴，壁虎 | |
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deficient
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| adj.不足的，不充份的，有缺陷的 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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talons
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| n.（尤指猛禽的）爪( talon的名词复数 )；（如爪般的）手指；爪状物；锁簧尖状突出部 | |
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labyrinth
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| n.迷宫；难解的事物；迷路 | |
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51
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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52
tunic
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| n.束腰外衣 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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54
inscriptions
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| （作者）题词( inscription的名词复数 )； 献词； 碑文； 证劵持有人的登记 | |
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55
minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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rivalry
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| n.竞争，竞赛，对抗 | |
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