Dioscorides (stone cutter)
Dioscorides ( ancient Greek Διοσκουρίδης ) was an ancient Greek stone cutter . He is considered the outstanding stone cutter of the late Roman Republic and the early Imperial Era .
Life and accomplishments
Based on the signature (right) on a work by one of his sons with the addition Aigeaios , one can assume that Dioscurides came from the Cilician Aigeai . Aigeai was an ancient center of stone cutting and until 63 BC. Under the rule of the Seleucids . Then the Romans conquered Cilicia under Gnaeus Pompeius and incorporated it as a province into the Roman Empire. In the course of this development, at least probably before the middle of the century, Dioscurides came to Rome. Whether he was already working as a stone cutter in Aigeai must remain speculation, as well as whether he learned his craft there. Signed pieces are not known from the pre-Roman times, unless the portrait of a Hellenistic ruler, which only exists in three modern copies, comes from there. There is no evidence that Dioscurides came to Rome as a slave; It is more likely that he voluntarily moved to Rome, where he opened his own workshop and carried out a significant number of orders for the Roman upper class.
This workshop, headed by Dioscurides, must have been very successful. He employed several employees, including his sons Eutyches , Herophilos and Hyllos as well as the students Agathopus , Saturneinos and Epitynchanos . In Augustan times he was head ( praepositus ) of the imperial workshop. The importance of Dioscurides becomes clear through several references. For example, there is an unusually large number of traditional gems with his signature. However, it is particularly striking in view of the contract awarded to him to create the seal with the portrait of Augustus for the ruler (between 28 and 17 BC), which has not survived , which has even been handed down by Pliny and Suetonius . The chronological arrangement of the works is based on a development from a Hellenistic image composition to a much calmer, classical image composition. Dioscurides is one of the founders of the Augustan-classicist gem style, alongside Solon .
In addition to three pieces that are modern copies based on probably real ancient models, there are also many other modern creations that are not based on the ancient models, but make use of the well-known name of Dioscurides. However, various unsigned antique pieces are also attributed to him or at least to his workshop on the basis of stylistic comparisons. Contrary to what is repeatedly claimed, the Gemma Augustea is very likely not one of them. Since this is dated around the year 10 AD, one must assume that Dioscurides was no longer active at this time and very likely already died. Nevertheless, it stands clearly in the tradition of the works of the Dioscurides workshop. The Great Cameo of France ( Grand Camée de France ) and the “Drunky Bacchus ”, highly valued by Johann Joachim Winckelmann, are also included in the workshop.
The motifs consist mainly of portraits and mythological scenes. Dioscurides had a particular preference for the representation of columns. What was unusual was that he had mastered both gems and cameos . His work is very carefully designed, but not overly detailed.
List of works
Today, 12 signed works by Dioscurides are known:
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literature
- Otto Rossbach : Dioscurides 16 . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume V, 1, Stuttgart 1903, column 1143.
- Andreas Rumpf : Dioscurides 9th In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 2, Stuttgart 1967, column 92.
- Simone Michel : Dioscurides [8]. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 3, Metzler, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-476-01473-8 , Sp. 672.
- Wolf-Rüdiger Megow : Dioscurides (IV). In: Rainer Vollkommer (editor): Künstlerlexikon der Antike . Over 3800 artists from three millennia. Nikol, Hamburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-937872-53-7 , pp. 182-183.
Web links
Remarks
- ↑ Pliny: Naturalis historia. 37, 8
- ^ Suetonius: Augustus. 50
- ↑ Kunsthistorisches Museum , Vienna
- ↑ Erika Zwierlein-Diehl : Glass pastes in the Martin-von-Wagner-Museum of the University of Würzburg . tape I . Prestel-Verlag, Munich 1986, ISBN 3-7913-0744-4 , pp. 282 .
- ↑ Erika Zwierlein-Diehl : Glass pastes in the Martin-von-Wagner-Museum of the University of Würzburg . tape I . Prestel-Verlag, Munich 1986, ISBN 3-7913-0744-4 , pp. 101-102 .
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SURNAME | Dioscurides |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Dioskourides; Διοσκουρίδης (ancient Greek); Dioscurides; Dioscurides |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | ancient Greek stone cutter |
DATE OF BIRTH | 1st century BC Chr. |
DATE OF DEATH | 1st century BC Chr. |