Barberian Faun
The Barberinian Faun (also called Barberinischer Satyr ) is a sculpture of a sleepy satyr or faunus in the form of a young, muscular man, which is believed to have been made around 220 BC. Was created. As a mythical being, the figure can be recognized by a pony tail protruding from the lower back.
In science, the origin is disputed, so it is believed that the figure was created in Roman times and is only an image of a Hellenistic sculpture. The term faun would only apply if it were a Roman work of art ( Roman mythology ), because Greek mythology only knows satyrs or silenians (synonyms).
The lying figure, leaning against a rock spur, is naked and shows its male sexual organs openly. The marble , 1.81 meter high sculpture (the often mentioned dimensions of 2.15 meters refer to old additions) was found in the moat of Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome in the 17th century . At that time the right leg, parts of both hands and the head were missing. The Castel Sant'Angelo was defended by the Greeks under Belisarius in 537 against the Goths under Witiges by falling down statues.
Cardinal Maffeo Barberini commissioned the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680) with a restoration , whereby the missing parts were also added. He also changed the figure in the direction of a baroque sense of style and a more sexual orientation. There is no agreement as to whether Bernini or Giuseppe Giorgetti , one of his students, edited the figure. The sculpture was then part of the Barberini's collection in their palace . The figure was named after the Barberini house.
In 1813 Johann Martin von Wagner acquired the figure from the financially distressed Barberini on behalf of Ludwig I and had it transported from Rome across the Alps to Munich . The faun has been exhibited in the Glyptothek in Munich at the request of the king since the 1830s (inv. 218), where it is still one of the main attractions today. In its current state, the figure lacks the fingers of the right hand, the left arm, the left foot and the foremost part of the penis, mainly due to damage during the transport from Rome.
The French Edmé Bouchardon (1698–1762) created his own statue on this model, which has been in the Louvre in Paris since 1892 .
literature
- Hans Walter: Satyrs Dream: A walk through the Greek satyr landscape. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Berlin, 1991, pp. 127–154. ISBN 3-422-06105-3 .
