Showing papers on "Mural published in 1989"

Polygnotos's Iliupersis: A New Reconstruction

Abstract: The length and detail of Pausanias's description of Polygnotos's paintings of the Iliupersis and the Nekyia in the Lesche of the Knidians at Delphi have long attracted the attention of scholars, and Carl Robert's reconstructions and drawings of both paintings have been widely reproduced. Robert, however, departed significantly from much of Pausanias's account, creating difficulties in the use of his drawings as reconstructions. A new reconstruction and drawing of the Iliupersis are proposed, based upon a more literal interpretation of Pausanias's text and close attention to his use of prepositions and other terms indicating spatial relationships between elements on the surface of the painting. The reconstruction also considers the question of the dimensions of the Lesche and the scale of the figures in the painting in order to arrive at a more accurate rendering. The resulting reconstruction suggests that Polygnotos's Iliupersis was spread over three walls, forming three self-contained compositions which have been labeled the sea scene, the altar scene, and the land scene. An analysis of the placement of the figures reveals Polygnotos's expressive use of contrast and juxtaposition in his composition. Interwoven themes of the actions and fates of the Greeks and Trojans, and combinations of references to past, present, and future events within the painting, also illuminate the relationship between Early Classical monumental painting and the tragedy of Aeschylus. In the absence of any surviving fragments of monumental painting from Classical Greece, Pausanias's lengthy description of Polygnotos's two paintings in the Lesche of the Knidians at Delphi, the Iliupersis and the Nekyia, has long tempted artists and scholars to try to imagine what these murals looked like.' Of the numerous visual interpretations of Pausanias's text, Carl Robert's 1893 reconstruction drawing of the painting has been the most widely accepted and reproduced (fig. 1).2 In the 19th and early 20th centuries, however, scholars such as Robert tended to distrust the text of Pausanias and emended it, sometimes radically, in order to have it conform with their conceptions of how the painting should have looked.3 Since that time, as Christian Habicht has shown, numerous archaeological excavations have proven the general accuracy of Pausanias's writings and scholars now once again treat the text more like a faithful record of the painting.4 These later scholars, however, have been explicitly unwilling to attempt new graphic reconstructions of the lost mural; rather, they use the text to supplement and verify the reflections of monumental paintings found on vases such as the Niobid krater in the Louvre.5 This article proposes a new reconstruction of the composition of the Iliupersis from the Lesche murals, following Pausanias's text as literally as is possible and trusting the accuracy of what is, after all, the only existing eyewitness description of the elements of the painting. * This paper and I owe a great deal to several scholars and teachers. Emily Vermeule first suggested the Iliupersis as a topic to me, and has encouraged me to pursue my admittedly rough first sketch and draft further. Jerome J. Pollitt and Susan Matheson provided very helpful comments, suggestions, and encouragement at many points, as did Sarah Morris, who also gave me an opportunity to present the material at an advanced state. Finally, I would like to thank Miranda Marvin, who first interested an ignorant graduate student in Greek art and literature. ' In this article I have used the text found in the Loeb edition of Pausanias, Description of Greece (London 1924). For an English translation of the entire text I have relied primarily on that found in J.J. Pollitt, The Art of Greece 1400-31 B.C. Sources and Documents (Englewood Cliffs 1965) and secondarily on the translation by W.H.S. Jones and H.A. Ormerod in the Loeb edition. 2 C. Robert, Die Iliupersis des Polygnot (HallWPr 17, Halle 1893). Earlier reconstructions of the paintings are found in L. Faedo, "Breve racconto di una caccia infruttuosa: Polignoto a Delfi," Ricerche di Storia dell'Arte 30 (1986) 5-15. Faedo maintains that the great variation found among these different reconstructions, along with problems of interpreting the text, demonstrates the futility of a reconstruction. 3 Robert (supra n. 2) 28-66 did this numerous times, as a cursory examination of his reconstruction reveals. Some of these differences will be noted in the discussion of the present reconstruction. C. Habicht, Pausanias' Guide to Ancient Greece (Berkeley 1985) 165-75 records the negative critiques of Pausanias, especially the attacks of WilamowitzMoellendorff and Robert. 4 Habicht (supra n. 3) 28-63. For more recent discussions see M. Swindler, Ancient Painting (New Haven 1929) 195-224; and M. Robertson, A History of Greek Art (Cambridge 1975) 240-70. s Name vase of the Niobid Painter, Louvre G341, AR V2 601. There has been a general reluctance in this century to attempt new pictorial reconstructions of other ancient paintings on the basis of written descriptions. Recently, there have been some reconstructions proposed for several Early Classical paintings through the analysis and comparison of repeated subject matter and motifs found in vases, mosaics, murals, and relief sculptures. See F.S. Kleiner, "The Kalydonian Hunt: A Reconstruction of a Painting from the Circle of Polygnotos," AntK 15 (1972) 7-19 and S. Woodford, "More Light on Old Walls: The Theseus of the Centauromachy in the Theseion," JHS 94 (1974) 158-65. 203 American Journal of Archaeology 93 (1989) This content downloaded from 207.46.13.105 on Wed, 25 May 2016 06:01:56 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms h 4~:i~ i~ ;~IA.AXN ~ fiL * TT "__ / Vli ' _ _ Fig. 1. Reconstruction of the Iliupersis by Robert. (After Robert, Die Iliupersis des Polygnot) Raft of Ship of Menelaos Helen City Acheron Sea Scene Wall Aias Altar A Itar Altars Scene Nekyia Iliupersis Kassandra

An Aesthetics of Collaboration

Abstract: Within the field of public artworks, there are some of us who identify ourselves as “community artists.” The self-chosen emphasis on “community-based,” rather than merely “public” work, reflects a series of choices about how the artist conceives of public space, of the nature of the artist, and the locus of creativity and authenticity of works of art.In 1986 my partner, Jon Pounds, and I were approached about the possibility of doing a mural for the Mifflin Street Community Cooperative, in Madison, Wisconsin. My first reaction was to wonder aloud if the Co-op had any idea of how expensive and time-consuming a cooperative mural could be in 1988. The “Hey, l've-got-an-idea—let's-get-a-lot-of-teens-together-and-paint-a-mural-on-Saturday” spirit has made it difficult to explain the complexity, commitment, and costs that are required of artists and community in creating more sophisticated community murals. Yet Norm Stockwell, a Co-op staffer, assured us of the Co-op's interest and level of support, and so we b...

Titian and His Drawings: With Reference to Giorgione and Some Close Contemporaries

Abstract: A leading authority on the work of Titian gathers the graphic works by the artist and his circle--lavishly illustrated here in 225 halftones and 25 color plates--and provides a comprehensive account of their relationship to his career as a whole. Harold Wethey begins with an introductory survey of Titian's life and art and goes on to explore the complex questions of authenticity that result from the association of Titian's early work with that of Giorgione and others. Wethey then discusses Titian's graphic oeuvre in separate chapters on portraiture, preparatory studies, nude studies, and landscapes, with one chapter devoted to Titian's preparatory drawing for the famous lost mural The Battle of Spoleto. Following these text chapters is an extensive catalogue raisonne in three parts, which distinguishes the 51 drawings attributed to Titian from those by other identifiable masters and from those by anonymous artists. Also included is a useful chronological list of the artist's graphic work.