Portrait of Pericles with a Corinthian helmet
The image of Pericles with a Corinthian helmet is part of a statue of the Athenian statesman and military leader and is preserved in four marble copies from the Roman Empire.
The portrait
The Roman copies of the portrait of Pericles go back to a bronze statue created by the sculptor Kresilas . This life-size statue was probably erected on the Acropolis of Athens a little before or shortly after the death of the politician . Pausanias saw the statue directly behind the Propylaea , in the entrance area of the Acropolis. Since this statue has not been handed down and only a few details are known about it, not only is the allocation unclear, but the details of the statue are only based on assumptions and analogies. Pericles was not shown in his physiognomic individuality, but as an ideal image of the long-time strategist . It is uncertain whether he was shown naked, clothed or in full military outfit. Remains of the base with a consecration inscription have been handed down . In addition, a hole in the base indicates that the statue was holding a lance with its left hand. The slight turn of the head shows that the statue had a standing and free leg .
Pericles is depicted as a mature man wearing a Corinthian helmet . The helmet symbolizes his military function as a strategist. The Berlin copy was executed with particular care. The short-curled temple hair oozes out from under the helmet that has been pushed up. All parts of the beard are well-groomed. The full beard shows many small and well-ordered curls. The eyes are surrounded by wide, even lids and brows. The full lips are slightly parted. As in two of the other three copies, locks of hair can be seen behind the eye holes of the helmet. The hair near the holes located high above is interpreted as an indication of the long head shape, which was also mockingly targeted in the Attic comedy ("squill head"). This anomaly is said to have been the reason why Pericles was always shown wearing a Corinthian helmet, as this was supposed to conceal the high head. The addition of the curls can therefore be seen as the addition of an educated sculptor.
With this portrait of Pericles, Kresilas created a kind of model for Attic democracy . Nevertheless, the portrait also took into account the civil ideal of Athens, which was based on the equality of all, and corresponded to the ideals of the time with the deliberate, calm facial expression. This gave up the realistic tendencies of Athenian art that were found in the portrait of Themistocles . The portrait was far more individual in its presentation. The facial expression is serious, the face does not show any emotions. Nevertheless, the representation corresponds to the traditional personality of Pericles, who was described as very self-controlled. Pericles could be identified by means of two inscriptions belonging to the portraits in the Vatican Museums and the British Museum .
Copy directory
- Berlin, Antikensammlung inventory number Sk 1530 (K 127), found on Lesbos , acquired from an art dealer in 1901, height 0.54 m
- London, British Museum Inventory number GR 1805.7-3.91 (Cat.Sculpture 549) ( Perikles Townley ), found in the Villa Hadriana , height 0.48 m, inscription Perikles
- Rome, Museo Barracco inventory number 96, acquired in 1884 from the Augusto Castellani collection , height 0.40 m
- Vatican, Vatican Museums , Museo Pio-Clementino Inventory number 269, found in the Villa of Brutus near Tivoli , height 1.83 m, inscription: Pericles, son of Xanthippus, Athenian
literature
- Tonio Hölscher : The installation of the image of Perikles and its meaning . In: Würzburger Jahrbuch for. Antiquity Science 1, 1975, pp. 187-208 ( digitized version ).
- Beth Cohen : Pericles' Portrait and the Riace Bronzes . In: Hesperia 60, 1991, pp. 465-502 ( digitized version ).
- Max Kunze : Portrait of Pericles with a Corinthian helmet. In: The antique collection in the Pergamon Museum and in Charlottenburg . Zabern, Mainz 1992, ISBN 3-8053-1187-7 , p. 152f.
- Ralf Krumeich : Portraits of Greek rulers and statesmen in the 5th century BC Chr. 1997, pp. 114-125.
- The Greek classic. Idea or reality . Exhibition catalog Berlin, Bonn 2002. Zabern, Mainz 2002, ISBN 3-8053-2854-0 , pp. 232-233.
- Michael Siebler : Greek Art. Taschen, Cologne u. a. 2007, ISBN 978-3-8228-5447-1 , pp. 76-77.
Web links
Remarks
- ↑ Max Kunze speaks for shortly afterwards, Michael Siebler for around 430 BC. Chr. From.
- ^ Pausanias 1:25 , 1.
- ↑ Kunze is sure of the bare representation, Siebler considers both possibilities to be possible.
- ↑ See Martha Weber: The Corinthian helmet without a bush as a strategist's helmet . In: Thetis 9, 2009, pp. 49-60.
Coordinates: 52 ° 31 '15 " N , 13 ° 23' 47" E