Ludovisian throne
An object owned by the Museo Nazionale Romano is referred to as the Ludovisian throne . The three-sided relief shows the birth of Aphrodite on its main picture .
Origin and dating
The object was found in the Horti Sallustiani . While according to some sources it comes from Greece and can be dated to the first half of the 5th century BC, there are also voices who see it as a modern forgery, possibly from the 18th century. If it is an antique piece, it could be assigned to the temple of Venus Erycina , which was in the Horti Sallustiani. In addition to the Greek, an origin from southern Italy, possibly from Lokroi Epizephyrioi , is also discussed.
The object bears inventory number 8570 of the National Museum, comes from the Ludovisi collection and was once kept in the Villa Ludovisi .
Condition and interpretation
The so-called Ludovisian throne is 144 cm wide, up to 104.1 cm high and 72 cm deep. It is adorned with sculptural works on three sides. The front shows the birth of Venus, with the Venus Anadyomene being lifted out of the water by two women. The two side wings are adorned with seated female figures, one of which can be interpreted as a naked, flute-playing hetaera , the other possibly as a veiled bride who brings an incense offering.
The heavily bumped work of art is made of island marble . The upper part of the front was destroyed when the stone was recovered. The lower corners of all three sides have already been processed beforehand, and there are also strong traces of processing in the area of the figures' hands on the wing sides. The left wing also has a crack. Traces of a patchwork can be seen on the front. You are in the area of the left foot of the left female figure.
In the center of the picture on the front is Aphrodite, seen from the front, who emerges from the waters with an almost bare torso. Her arms are raised as if she were leaning on the shoulders of the helping women. These are clothed, stand stooped and each hold a kind of veil with one hand, which covers the abdomen of the goddess. Aphrodite's head is shown in profile; she looks the left helper in the face. However, the heads of the helping women belong to the destroyed part of the work of art.
The two figures on the side panels are each shown seated on cushions. The right relief with the naked young woman playing a double flute with crossed legs shows a gross anatomical flaw; the right leg does not seem to start in the hip and seems much too long. This representation problem is avoided in the left relief by the fact that the female figure is clothed and also appears to be sitting with her legs closed. Only the right leg is worked out in this figure. The one on the left is apparently just behind it.
Probably the work of art is not the remains of a throne but rather part of an altar. But it could also have bordered a sacrificial pit. Various attempts at interpretation and reconstruction are summarized in Erika Simon . This explains that the old interpretation of the work of art as a divine throne can no longer be upheld, but still meets the character of the work. The covering cloth that the two helpers hold in front of the appearing Aphrodite is part of ancient cult practices, and the shielding of the goddess shows her birth as a divine secret, as a mystery. Simon refers to the covered faces of the mystics at the consecration of the mysteries in Eleusis and to the wooden image of Athena Polias , which was draped with a cloth during the procession for the ablution in the sea. She also sees a connection with the birth of Erichthonios , who was also shielded from his surroundings by cloths. “Of all the reproductions of such cloths,” says Simon, “the one on the Ludovisian throne is one of the most solemn and beautiful [...] We are shaken by the physical presence of the goddess.” According to Simon, the three women on the relief indicate the trinity of Goddesses of fate, the Moiren . According to Pausanias 1, 19, 2, an image of Aphrodite in Athens bore an inscription in which Aphrodite Urania was referred to as the oldest of the so-called Moiren. Simon considers the connection of the Urania with the Moiren to be “mysterious”, but she considers the connection of the motifs on the so-called throne to be coherent: the subjects of birth and death are joined by the motif of the wedding in the form of the incense-offering bride, as well in the Orestie of Aischylos the Moiren of the Eumeniden be summoned to the matchmaking. The flute player, as a hierodule, points out the role of Aphrodite as a giver of pleasure.
It is possible that the so-called Ludovisian throne originally belonged to the Boston relief , which appeared on the art market a year after the Ludovisian throne was discovered. On the one side wing of the Boston work of art, a young man playing hurdy-gurdy can be seen who, according to Simon, is sitting on a wineskin that is only half full. Its counterpart on the other wing is dressed like the Ludovisian throne; it is a powerless old woman. On the middle part, a winged, naked youth, who originally probably held a scale, can be seen between two female figures. Ludwig Curtius , among others , contested the authenticity of the Boston work of art . The main portrayal is interpreted as a scene between Aphrodite and her son Eros, who is supposed to use the scales to determine how long Persephone has to stay in the underworld. The second female figure therefore represents Demeter , mourning her daughter.
Literary mention
The so-called Ludovisian throne is part of the mythological subtext in Max Frisch's novel Homo faber . Walter Faber overhears what a Bavarian priest tells his tour group about the work of art and passes this information on to his daughter and lover Sabeth. She is particularly delighted by the flute player on the side relief. As Faber and Sabeth move back and forth in the room in which the work of art is on display, they find that the changed incidence of light seems to bring the head of a sleeping Erinnye to life as soon as someone looks at the depiction with the birth of the Aphrodite moves closer.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Brief description of the Ludovisian Throne on arachne.uni-koeln.de , accessed on March 24, 2017
- ↑ Sì, quel trono è falso, ne ho avuto la prova coi raggi ultravioletti . In: La Repubblica , May 5, 1988 ( la Repubblica.it )
- ↑ a b c Throne Ludovisi at viamus.uni-goettingen.de , accessed on March 24, 2017
- ↑ Erika Simon: The birth of Aphrodite , de Gruyter 1959, p. 50 ff. And notes
- ↑ Simon 1959, p. 51
- ↑ Simon 1959, p. 55
- ↑ Simon 1959, p. 56 ff.
- ↑ The Boston relief on the website of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston , accessed on March 24, 2017