Meleager of Skopas
Encyclopedia
The Meleager of Skopas is a lost bronze sculpture of the Greek hero Meleager
– host of the Calydonian boar hunt
– that is associated in modern times with the fourth century BCE architect and sculptor Skopas of Paros
. The sculpture escaped mention in any classical writer. It is judged to have been a late work in the sculptor's career, but it is known only through a number of copies that vary in quality and in fidelity to the original, which show it to have been one of the famous sculptures of Antiquity
: "the popularity of the Meleager during Roman times was certainly great," notes Brunilde Sismondo Ridgway
, who reports Andrew F. Stewart's count of 13 statues, 4 torsos, 19 heads (which are similar enough to the Ludovisi Ares
to raise confusions) busts and herms
, a variant with changed stance and attributes, and 11 versions adapted for a portrait or a deity. Six or seven of the accepted copies are accompanied by a dog, 12 wear a chlamys
, 3, clinching the sculptural type's identification with Meleager, are accompanied by a boar's head trophy, as in the Vatican Meleager (illustration, right). Ms Ridgeway accounts for the sculpture's popularity in part "by the appeal that hunting figures had for the Romans, through their heroizing connotations
."
A torso in the Fogg Art Museum
, Harvard University, is rated among the superior copies, if it is indeed a Meleager. "There are other marble Meleagers," wrote Cornelius Vermeule in 1967, "one or two reaching the level of the Fogg statue but most of them documents of stonecutting devoid of the restless inner life that must have been imparted by the master to the original." Several unfinished copies found in Athens suggest that the city was a center for reproductions for the Roman market.
It is not known whether Skopas' original was carried out for the heroon
at Calydon
where Meleager was venerated and whether the original was carried off as a cultural trophy by one of the Romans "of taste and means".
The lifesize standing Meleager from Palazzo Fusconi-Pighini (illustration, right), sometimes identified in the 16th and 17th centuries as an Adonis
, who was a victim of a boar rather than its master, was recorded in 1546 among the most beautiful in Rome, not excluding the antiquities of the Cortile del Belvedere
; it was in the house of the doctor to three popes, Francesco Fusconi from Norcia, whose Roman palazzo faced Palazzo Farnese. The sculpture, which was engraved in all the anthologies of antiquities, was copied by Pierre Lepautre
for Louis XIV
at Marly
. The original remained with Fusconi's eventual Pighini heirs until early in 1770, when it was purchased by Pope Clement XIV
as one of the founding pieces for his new museum in the Vatican. It was among the select group of sculptures triumphantly removed by Napoleon to Paris, under terms of the Treaty of Tolentino
(1797) but returned after Napoleon's fall.
A variant, discovered in 1838, has been conserved in the Antikensammlung Berlin
since 1844. Another early Roman full-size marble copy is at the Art Institute of Chicago
.
Ms Ridgeway remarks critically on the slenderness of the connection with Skopas, which is based on the subject of the east pediment of the Temple of Athena Alea at Tegea
, in which Skopas was the architect, but not, as Ms Ridgeway observes, accounted directly responsible for the pediment sculptures in any classical reference: "from a a narrative pedimental composition in Arkadia
— related, moreover, to local families and legends— to a single free-standing sculpture, perhaps in Kalydon (a tomb monument to the hero, as suggested by Stewart?) is quite a leap of the imagination."
Meleager
In Greek mythology, Meleager was a hero venerated in his temenos at Calydon in Aetolia. He was already famed as the host of the Calydonian boar hunt in the epic tradition that was reworked by Homer....
– host of the Calydonian boar hunt
Calydonian Boar
The Calydonian Boar is one of the monsters of Greek mythology that had to be overcome by heroes of the Olympian age. Sent by Artemis to ravage the region of Calydon in Aetolia because its king failed to honor her in his rites to the gods, it was killed in the Calydonian Hunt, in which many male...
– that is associated in modern times with the fourth century BCE architect and sculptor Skopas of Paros
Scopas
Scopas or Skopas was an Ancient Greek sculptor and architect, born on the island of Paros. Scopas worked with Praxiteles, and he sculpted parts of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, especially the reliefs. He led the building of the new temple of Athena Alea at Tegea...
. The sculpture escaped mention in any classical writer. It is judged to have been a late work in the sculptor's career, but it is known only through a number of copies that vary in quality and in fidelity to the original, which show it to have been one of the famous sculptures of Antiquity
Ancient history
Ancient history is the study of the written past from the beginning of recorded human history to the Early Middle Ages. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, with Cuneiform script, the oldest discovered form of coherent writing, from the protoliterate period around the 30th century BC...
: "the popularity of the Meleager during Roman times was certainly great," notes Brunilde Sismondo Ridgway
Brunilde Sismondo Ridgway
Brunilde Sismondo Ridgway, born in 1929 in Chieti , is an art historian and specialist in ancient Greek sculpture.-Life:The daughter of an Italian officer, she spent her childhood in Ethiopia, where her father is stationed. After World War II, she studied classics at the University of Messina,...
, who reports Andrew F. Stewart's count of 13 statues, 4 torsos, 19 heads (which are similar enough to the Ludovisi Ares
Ludovisi Ares
The Ludovisi Ares is an Antonine Roman marble sculpture of Mars, a fine 2nd-century copy of a late 4th-century BCE Greek original, associated with Scopas or Lysippus: thus the Roman god of war receives his Greek name, Ares....
to raise confusions) busts and herms
Herma
A Herma, commonly in English herm is a sculpture with a head, and perhaps a torso, above a plain, usually squared lower section, on which male genitals may also be carved at the appropriate height...
, a variant with changed stance and attributes, and 11 versions adapted for a portrait or a deity. Six or seven of the accepted copies are accompanied by a dog, 12 wear a chlamys
Chlamys
The chlamys was an ancient Greek piece of clothing, a type of cloak....
, 3, clinching the sculptural type's identification with Meleager, are accompanied by a boar's head trophy, as in the Vatican Meleager (illustration, right). Ms Ridgeway accounts for the sculpture's popularity in part "by the appeal that hunting figures had for the Romans, through their heroizing connotations
Greek hero cult
Hero cults were one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion. In Homeric Greek, "hero" refers to a man who was fighting on either side during the Trojan War...
."
Fogg Art Museum
The Fogg Museum, opened to the public in 1896, is the oldest of Harvard University's art museums. The Fogg joins the Busch-Reisinger Museum and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum as part of the Harvard Art Museums....
, Harvard University, is rated among the superior copies, if it is indeed a Meleager. "There are other marble Meleagers," wrote Cornelius Vermeule in 1967, "one or two reaching the level of the Fogg statue but most of them documents of stonecutting devoid of the restless inner life that must have been imparted by the master to the original." Several unfinished copies found in Athens suggest that the city was a center for reproductions for the Roman market.
It is not known whether Skopas' original was carried out for the heroon
Heroon
A heroon , also called heroum, was a shrine dedicated to an ancient Greek or Roman hero and used for the commemoration or cult worship of the hero. It was often erected over his supposed tomb or cenotaph....
at Calydon
Calydon
Calydon was an ancient Greek city in Aetolia, situated on the west bank of the river Evenus. According to Greek mythology, the city took its name from its founder Calydon, son of Aetolus. Close to the city stood Mount Zygos, the slopes of which provided the setting for the hunt of the Calydonian...
where Meleager was venerated and whether the original was carried off as a cultural trophy by one of the Romans "of taste and means".
The lifesize standing Meleager from Palazzo Fusconi-Pighini (illustration, right), sometimes identified in the 16th and 17th centuries as an Adonis
Adonis
Adonis , in Greek mythology, the god of beauty and desire, is a figure with Northwest Semitic antecedents, where he is a central figure in various mystery religions. The Greek , Adōnis is a variation of the Semitic word Adonai, "lord", which is also one of the names used to refer to God in the Old...
, who was a victim of a boar rather than its master, was recorded in 1546 among the most beautiful in Rome, not excluding the antiquities of the Cortile del Belvedere
Cortile del Belvedere
The Cortile del Belvedere, the Belvedere courtyard, designed by Donato Bramante from 1506 onwards, was a major architectural work of the High Renaissance at the Vatican Palace in Rome; its concept and details reverberating in courtyard design, formalized piazzas and garden plans throughout Western...
; it was in the house of the doctor to three popes, Francesco Fusconi from Norcia, whose Roman palazzo faced Palazzo Farnese. The sculpture, which was engraved in all the anthologies of antiquities, was copied by Pierre Lepautre
Pierre Lepautre (1659-1744)
Pierre Lepautre was a French sculptor, a member of a prolific family of artists in many media, who were active in the 17th and 18th centuries....
for Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
at Marly
Marly
-France:* Marly, in the Moselle département* Marly, in the Nord département* Marly-Gomont, in the Aisne département* Marly-la-Ville, in the Val-d'Oise département...
. The original remained with Fusconi's eventual Pighini heirs until early in 1770, when it was purchased by Pope Clement XIV
Pope Clement XIV
Pope Clement XIV , born Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli, was Pope from 1769 to 1774. At the time of his election, he was the only Franciscan friar in the College of Cardinals.-Early life:...
as one of the founding pieces for his new museum in the Vatican. It was among the select group of sculptures triumphantly removed by Napoleon to Paris, under terms of the Treaty of Tolentino
Treaty of Tolentino
The Treaty of Tolentino was signed after nine months of negotiations between France and the Papal States on February 19, 1797. It was part of the events following the invasion of Italy in the early stages of the French Revolutionary Wars...
(1797) but returned after Napoleon's fall.
A variant, discovered in 1838, has been conserved in the Antikensammlung Berlin
Antikensammlung Berlin
The Antikensammlung Berlin is one of the most important collections of classical art in the world, now held in the Altes Museum and Pergamon Museum in Berlin, Germany. It contains thousands of ancient archaeological artefacts from the ancient Greek, Roman, Etruscan and Cypriot civilizations...
since 1844. Another early Roman full-size marble copy is at the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
.
Ms Ridgeway remarks critically on the slenderness of the connection with Skopas, which is based on the subject of the east pediment of the Temple of Athena Alea at Tegea
Tegea
Tegea was a settlement in ancient Greece, and it is also a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Tripoli, of which it is a municipal unit. Its seat was the village Stadio....
, in which Skopas was the architect, but not, as Ms Ridgeway observes, accounted directly responsible for the pediment sculptures in any classical reference: "from a a narrative pedimental composition in Arkadia
Arcadia
Arcadia is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Peloponnese. It is situated in the central and eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. It takes its name from the mythological character Arcas. In Greek mythology, it was the home of the god Pan...
— related, moreover, to local families and legends— to a single free-standing sculpture, perhaps in Kalydon (a tomb monument to the hero, as suggested by Stewart?) is quite a leap of the imagination."