Apollo of Veji
The Apollon von Veji is a painted Etruscan terracotta sculpture from the 6th century BC. It served as an acroterion on the temple building of the Portonaccio sanctuary and probably comes from the studio of the Etruscan artist Vulca . The sculpture is now kept in the Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia in Rome under the number 40702.
discovery
The sculpture of Apollon ( Etruscan Aplu ) was discovered in 1916 by Giulio Quirino Giglioli (1886–1957) in the Etruscan temple sanctuary of Portonaccio. The life-size, 1.80 meter high statue was part of an ensemble of lifelike terracotta sculptures dating from 510 to 490 BC. They were modeled and decorated the ridge beam of the temple dedicated to Merva ( Minerva ) at a height of 12 meters .
The pieces of plastic were Apollo 1916 Giglioli together with the lower part of a Hercules plastic and a fragment of the kerynitischen doe found. A fragment with the lion skin of Hercules enabled the assignment, the torso and a fragment of the head were only discovered in 1944. The sculptures formed a thematic unit that almost certainly represented the dispute between Apollo and Hercules over the possession of the doe with the golden horns, consecrated to Artemis . At the same time, a bust of Hermes was discovered, which is also included in the group, but of which only the head and part of the torso have survived.
description
The statue wears a short, vest-like underdress, which is covered by a cloak ( tunic ). It appears to be advancing to the left, with the right arm angled and pointing away from the body. The left arm points to the ground and possibly held a bow.
execution
The sculpture was not made in one piece, rather the torso, head, arms and legs were made separately from each other. The individual parts were then put together and the plastic burned in one piece. The outside was painted, the hair black, the skin purple-red, and the clothes and coat in two different tones of ocher.
style
The style of sculpture is counted among the “international” Ionic or late Archaic Etruscan style. It underlines movement, characteristic spatial contents are clearly defined, such as the folds of clothing on the body. The artist took the side view into account and therefore made the necessary optical corrections. Through his mastery of the coroplastic art , he achieved a very expressive overall result.
In this, as in other Etruscan works , the influence of Greek art of the time is clearly noticeable.
“The descent from Greek models is obvious, both Ionic and Attic style elements can be clearly recognized. ... But the vehemence of striding and the already animal-like, wild-looking smile are expressions inherent in the Etruscan taste, which remain permeated by primitive elements. "
The Apollon von Veji is a prime example of the union of technical skills and artistic finesse in the Etruscan handicraft, at the basis of which religious inspiration always set the tone. The religious component is omnipresent in both art and the Etruscan mentality.
Restorations
The sculpture was first restored in the 1920s, trying to put the individual parts together as seamlessly as possible. The Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici dell'Etruria meridionale carried out further conservation work on the statue between 2002 and 2004.
literature
- Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli , Antonio Giuliano : Etruschi e Italici prima del dominio di Roma . Edizioni Rizzoli, Milan 1979, p. 161-163 .
- Giovanni Colonna : Il santuario di Portonaccio a Veio . G. Bretschneider, Rome 2002, ISBN 88-7689-209-5 .
- Massimo Pallottino : Etruscologia . U. Hoepli, Milan 1977, p. 291-292 .
- Massimo Pallottino: Civiltà artistica etrusco-italica . Sansoni, Florence 1985.
- Laura Cotta Ramosino: Plinio il Vecchio e la tradizione storica di Roma nella Naturalis historia . Edizioni dell'Orso, Alessandria 2004, ISBN 88-7694-695-0 .
- Nigel Spivey: Etruscan Art . Thames and Hudson, London 1997.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Barbara E. Borg: A Companion to Roman Art . Wiley, 2015, ISBN 978-1-118-88609-0 , pp. 97- .
- ^ Giuliano Bonfante , Larissa Bonfante : The Etruscan Language: An Introduction, Revised Edition . Manchester University Press, 2002, ISBN 978-0-7190-5540-9 , pp. 17th f .
- ^ Horst Woldemar Janson and Anthony F. Janson: History of Art: The Western Tradition . Prentice Hall Professional, 2003, ISBN 978-0-13-182895-7 , pp. 172- .
