Delphi Complete Works of Pliny the Elder

by Pliny the Elder

  When speaking of the statuaries, we have already given the period at which Praxiteles flourished; an artist, who, in the glory which he acquired by his works in marble, surpassed even himself. There are some works of his in the Ceramicus at Athens; but, superior to all the statues, not only of Praxiteles, but of any other artist that ever existed, is his Cnidian Venus; for the inspection of which, many persons before now have purposely undertaken a voyage to Cnidos. The artist made two statues of the goddess, and offered them both for sale: one of them was represented with drapery, and for this reason was preferred by the people of Cos, who had the choice; the second was offered them at the same price, but, on the grounds of propriety and modesty, they thought fit to choose the other. Upon this, the Cnidians purchased the rejected statue, and immensely superior has it always been held in general estimation. At a later period, King Nicomedes wished to purchase this statue of the Cnidians, and made them an offer to pay off the whole of their public debt, which was very large. They preferred, however, to submit to any extremity rather than part with it; and with good reason, for by this statue Praxiteles has perpetuated the glory of Cnidos. The little temple in which it, is placed is open on all sides, so that the beauties of the statue admit of being seen from every point of view; an arrangement which was favoured by the goddess herself, it is generally believed. Indeed, from whatever point it is viewed, its execution is equally worthy of admiration. A certain individual, it is said, became enamoured of this statue, and, concealing himself in the temple during the night, gratified his lustful passion upon it, traces of which are to be seen in a stain left upon the marble.

  There are also at Cnidos some other statues in marble, the productions of illustrious artists; a Father Liber by Bryaxis, another by Scopas, and a Minerva by the same hand: indeed, there is no greater proof of the supreme excellence of the Venus of Praxiteles than the fact that, amid such productions as these, it is the only one that we generally find noticed. By Praxiteles, too, there is a Cupid, a statue which occasioned one of the charges brought by Cicero against Verres, and for the sake of seeing which persons used to visit Thespiæ: at the present day, it is to be seen in the Schools of Octavia. By the same artist there is also another Cupid, without drapery, at Parium, a colony of the Propontis; equal to the Cnidian Venus in the fineness of its execution, and said to have been the object of a similar outrage. For one Alcetas, a Rhodian, becoming deeply enamoured of it, left upon the marble similar traces of the violence of his passion.

  At Rome there are, by Praxiteles, a Flora, a Triptolemus, and a Ceres, in the Gardens of Servilius; statues of Good Success and Good Fortune, in the Capitol; as also some Mænades, and figures known as Thyiades and Caryatides; some Sileni, to be seen in the memorial buildings of Asinius Pollio, and statues of Apollo and Neptune.

  Cephisodotus, the son of Praxiteles, inherited his father’s talent. There is, by him, at Pergamus, a splendid Group of Wrestlers, a work that has been highly praised, and in which the fingers have all the appearance of being impressed upon real flesh rather than upon marble. At Rome there are by him, a Latona, in the Temple of the Palatium; a Venus, in the buildings that are memorials of Asinius Pollio; and an Æsculapius, and a Diana, in the Temple of Juno situate within the Porticos of Octavia.

  Scopas rivals these artists in fame: there are by him, a Venus and a Pothos, statues which are venerated at Samothrace with the most august ceremonials. He was also the sculptor of the Palatine Apollo; a Vesta seated, in the Gardens of Servilius, and represented with two Bends around her, a work that has been highly praised; two similar Bends, to be seen upon the buildings of Asinius Pollio; and some figures of Canephori in the same place. But the most highly esteemed of all his works, are those in the Temple erected by Cneius Domitius, in the Flaminian Circus; a figure of Neptune himself, a Thetis and Achilles, Nereids seated upon dolphins, cetaceous fishes, and sea-horses, Tritons, the train of Phor- cus, whales, and numerous other sea-monsters, all by the same hand; an admirable piece of workmanship, even if it had taken a whole life to complete it. In addition to the works by him already mentioned, and others of the existence of which we are ignorant, there is still to be seen a colossal Mars of his, seated, in the Temple erected by Brutus Callæcus, also in the Flaminian Circus; as also, a naked Venus, of anterior date to that by Praxiteles, and a production that would be quite sufficient to establish the renown of any other place.

  At Rome, it is true, it is quite lost sight of amid such a vast multitude of similar works of art: and then besides, the inattention to these matters that is induced by such vast numbers of duties and so many items of business, quite precludes the generality of persons from devoting their thoughts to the subject. For, in fact, the admiration that is due to this art, not only demands an abundance of leisure, but requires that profound silence should reign upon the spot. Hence it is, that the artist is now forgotten, who executed the statue of Venus that was dedicated by the Emperor Vespasianus in his Temple of Peace, a work well worthy of the high repute of ancient times. With reference, too, to the Dying Children of Niobe, in the Temple of the Sosian Apollo, there is an equal degree of uncertainty, whether it is the work of Scopas or of Praxiteles. So, too, as to the Father Janus, a work that was brought from Egypt and dedicated in his Temple by Augustus, it is a question by which of these two artists it was made: at the present day, however, it is quite hidden from us by the quantity of gold that covers it. The same question, too, arises with reference to the Cupid brandishing a Thunderbolt, now to be seen in the Curia of Octavia: the only thing, in fact, that is affirmed with any degree of certainty respecting it, is, that it is a likeness of Alcibiades, who was the handsomest man of his day. There are, too, in the Schools of Octavia, many other highly attractive works, the authors of which are now unknown: four Satyrs, for example, one of which carries in his arms a Father Liber, robed in the palla; another similarly supports the Goddess Libera; a third is pacifying a child who is crying; and a fourth is giving a child some water to drink, from a cup; two Zephyrs also, who agitate their flowing drapery with their breath. No less is the uncertainty that prevails as to the authors of the statues now to be seen in the Septa; an Olympus and Pan, and a Charon and Achilles; and yet their high reputation has caused them to be deemed valuable enough for their keepers to be made answerable for their safety at the cost of their lives.

  Scopas had for rivals and contemporaries, Bryaxis, Timotheus, and Leochares, artists whom we are bound to mention together, from the fact that they worked together at the Mausoleum; such being the name of the tomb that was erected by his wife Artemisia in honour of Mausolus, a petty king of Caria, who died in the second year of the hundred and seventh Olympiad. It was through the exertions of these artists more particularly, that this work came to be reckoned one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The circumference of this building is, in all, four hundred and forty feet, and the breadth from north to south sixty-three, the two fronts being not so wide in extent. It is twenty-five cubits in height, and is surrounded with six-and-thirty columns, the outer circumference being known as the “Pteron.” The east side was sculptured by Scopas, the north by Bryaxis, the south by Timotheus, and the west by Leochares; but, before their task was completed, Queen Artemisia died. They did not leave their work, however, until it was finished, considering that it was at once a memorial of their own fame and of the sculptor’s art: and, to this day even, it is undecided which of them has excelled. A fifth artist also took part in the work; for above the Pteron there is a pyramid erected, equal in height to the building below, and formed of four and twenty steps, which gradually taper upwards towards the summit; a platform, crowned with a representation of a four-horse chariot by Pythis. This addition makes the total height of the work one hundred and forty feet.

  There is at Rome, by Timotheus, a Diana, in the Temple of Apollo in the Palatium, the head of which has been replaced by Avianius Evander. A Hercules, too, by Menestratus, is greatly admired; and there is a Hecate of his at Ephesus, in the Temple of Dian
a there, behind the sanctuary. The keepers of the temple recommend persons, when viewing it, to be careful of their eyes, so remarkably radiant is the marble. No less esteemed, too, are the statues of the Graces, in the Propylæum at Athens; the workmanship of Socrates the sculptor, a different person from the painter of that name, though identical with him in the opinion of some. As to Myron, who is so highly praised for his works in bronze, there is by him at Smyrna, An Old Woman Intoxicated, a work that is held in high estimation.

  Asinius Pollio, a man of a warm and ardent temperament, was determined that the buildings which he erected as memorials of himself should be made as attractive as possible; for here we see groups representing, Nymphs carried off by Centaurs, a work of Arcesilas: the Thespiades, by Cleomenes: Oceanus and Jupiter, by Heniochus: the Appiades, by Stephanus: Hermerotes, by Tauriscus, not the chaser in silver, already mentioned, but a native of Tralles: a Jupiter Hospitalis by Papylus, a pupil of Praxiteles: Zethus and Amphion, with Dirce, the Bull, and the halter, all sculptured from a single block of marble, the work of Apollonius and Tauriscus, and brought to Rome from Rhodes. These two artists made it a sort of rivalry as to their parentage, for they declared that, although Apollodorus was their natural progenitor, Menecrates would appear to have been their father. In the same place, too, there is a Father Liber, by Eutychides, highly praised. Near the Portico of Octavia, there is an Apollo, by Philiscus of Rhodes, placed in the Temple of that God; a Latona and Diana also; the Nine Muses; and another Apollo, without drapery. The Apollo holding the Lyre, in the same temple, was executed by Timarchides. In the Temple of Juno, within the Porticos of Octavia, there is a figure of that goddess, executed by Dionysius, and another by Polycles, as also other statues by Praxiteles. This Polycles, too, in conjunction with Dionysius, the son of Timarchides, made the statue of Jupiter, which is to be seen in the adjoining temple. The figures of Pan and Olympus Wrestling, in the same place, are by Heliodorus; and they are considered to be the next finest group of this nature in all the world. The same artist also executed a Venus at the Bath, and Polycharmus another Venus, in an erect posture.

  By the honourable place which the work of Lysias occupies, we may see in what high esteem it was held by the late Emperor Augustus, who consecrated it in honour of his father Octavius, in the Palatium, placing it on an arch within a small temple, adorned with columns: it is the figure of a four-horse chariot, with an Apollo and Diana, all sculptured from a single block. I find it stated, also, that the Apollo by Calamis, the chaser already mentioned, the Pugilists by Dercylides, and the statue of Callisthenes the historian, by Amphistratus, all of them now in the Gardens of Servilius, are works highly esteemed.

  Beyond these, there are not many sculptors of high repute; for, in the case of several works of very great excellence, the number of artists that have been engaged upon them has proved a considerable obstacle to the fame of each, no individual being able to engross the whole of the credit, and it being impossible to award it in due proportion to the names of the several artists combined. Such is the case with the Laocoön, for example, in the palace of the Emperor Titus, a work that may be looked upon as preferable to any other production of the art of painting or of statuary. It is sculptured from a single block, both the main figure as well as the children, and the serpents with their marvellous folds. This group was made in concert by three most eminent artists, Agesander, Polydorus, and Athenodorus, natives of Rhodes. In similar manner also, the palaces of the Cæsars, in the Palatium, have been filled with most splendid statuary, the work of Craterus, in conjunction with Pythodorus, of Polydeuces with Hermoläus, and of another Pythodorus with Artemon; some of the statues, also, are by Aphrodisius of Tralles, who worked alone. The Pantheon of Agrippa has been decorated by Diogenes of Athens, and the Caryatides, by him, which form the columns of that temple, are looked upon as master-pieces of excellence: the same, too, with the statues that are placed upon the roof, though, in consequence of the height, they have not had an opportunity of being so well appreciated.

  Without glory, and excluded from every temple, is the statue of Hercules, in honour of whom the Carthaginians were accustomed to sacrifice human victims every year: it stands upon the ground before the entrance of the Portico of the Nations. There were erected, too, near the Temple of Felicity, the statues of the Thespian Muses; of one of which, according to Varro, Junius Pisciculus, a Roman of equestrian rank, became enamoured. Pasiteles, too, speaks in terms of high admiration of them, the artist who wrote five Books on the most celebrated works throughout the world. Born upon the Grecian shores of Italy, and presented with the Roman citizenship granted to the cities of those parts, Pasiteles constructed the ivory statue of Jupiter which is now in the Temple of Metellus, on the road to the Campus Martius. It so happened, that being one day at the Docks, where there were some wild beasts from Africa, while he was viewing through the bars of a cage a lion which he was engaged in drawing, a panther made its escape from another cage, to the no small danger of this most careful artist. He executed many other works, it is said, but we do not find the names of them specifically mentioned.

  Arcesilaüs, also, is an artist highly extolled by Varro; who states that he had in his possession a Lioness in marble of his, and Winged Cupids playing with it, some holding it with cords, and others making it drink from a horn, the whole sculptured from a single block: he says, also, that the fourteen figures around the Theatre of Pompeius, representing different Nations, are the work of Coponius.

  I find it stated that Canachus, an artist highly praised among the statuaries in bronze, executed some works also in marble. Saurus, too, and Batrachus must not be forgotten, Lacedæmonians by birth, who built the temples enclosed by the Porticos of Octavia. Some are of opinion that these artists were very wealthy men, and that they erected these buildings at their own expense, expecting to be allowed to inscribe their names thereon; but that, this indulgence being refused them, they adopted another method of attaining their object. At all events, there are still to be seen, at the present day, on the spirals of the columns, the figures of a lizard and a frog, emblematical of their names. In the Temple of Jupiter by the same artists, the paintings, as well as all the other ornaments, bear reference to the worship of a goddess. The fact is, that when the temple of Juno was completed, the porters, as it is said, who were entrusted with the carriage of the statues, made an exchange of them; and, on religious grounds, the mistake was left uncorrected, from an impression that it had been by the intervention of the divinities themselves, that this seat of worship had been thus shared between them. Hence it is that we see in the Temple of Juno, also, the ornaments which properly pertain to the worship of Jupiter.

  Some minute works in marble have also gained reputation for their artists: by Myrmecides, there was a four-horse chariot, so small that it could be covered, driver and all, by the wings of a fly; and by Callicrates, some ants, in marble, the feet and other limbs of which were so fine as to escape the sight.

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  CHAP. 5. (6.)

  AT WHAT PERIOD MARBLE WAS FIRST USED IN BUILDINGS.

  This must suffice for the sculptors in marble, and the works that have gained the highest repute; with reference to which subject it occurs to me to remark, that spotted marbles were not then in fashion. In making their statues, these artists used the marble of Thasos also, one of the Cyclades, and of Lesbos, this last being rather more livid than the other. The poet Menander, in fact, who was a very careful enquirer into all matters of luxury, is the first who has spoken, and that but rarely, of variegated marbles, and, indeed, of the employment of marble in general. Columns of this material were at first employed in temples, not on grounds of superior elegance, (for that was not thought of, as yet), but because no material could be found of a more substantial nature. It was under these circumstances, that the Temple of the Olympian Jupiter was commenced at Athens, the columns of which were brought by Sylla to Rome, for the buildings in the Capitol.

  Still, h
owever, there had been a distinction drawn between ordinary stone and marble, in the days of Homer even. The poet speaks in one passage of a person being struck down with a huge mass of marble; but that is all; and when he describes the abodes of royalty adorned with every elegance, besides brass, gold, electrum, and silver, he only mentions ivory. Variegated marbles, in my opinion, were first discovered in the quarries of Chios, when the inhabitants were building the walls of their city; a circumstance which gave rise to a facetious repartee on the part of M. Cicero. It being the practice with them to show these walls to everybody, as something magnificent; “I should admire them much more,” said he, “if you had built them of the stone used at Tibur.” And, by Hercules! the art of painting never would have been held in such esteem, or, indeed, in any esteem at all, if variegated marbles had been held in admiration.

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  CHAP. 6.

  WHO WERE THE FIRST TO CUT MARBLE INTO SLABS, AND AT WHAT PERIOD.

  I am not sure whether the art of cutting marble into slabs, is not an invention for which we are indebted to the people of Caria. The most ancient instance of this practice, so far as I know of, is found in the palace of Mausolus, at Halicarnassus, the walls of which, in brick, are covered with marble of Proconnesus. Mausolus died in the second year of the hundred and seventh Olympiad, being the year of Rome, 403.