Giacobbe Giusti, National Archaeological Museum, Athens

Giacobbe Giusti, National Archaeological Museum, Athens

Fresco from the bronze age at Akrotiri, Santorini

Giacobbe Giusti, National Archaeological Museum, Athens

The boxing boys fresco is one of many well preserved frescoes from the island of Thera

 

Giacobbe Giusti, National Archaeological Museum, Athens

The Mask of Agamemnon is a gold funeral mask discovered at the ancient Greek site of Mycenae. The mask, displayed in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, has been described by Cathy Gere as the « Mona Lisa of prehistory ».^[1]

 

Giacobbe Giusti, National Archaeological Museum, Athens

The Antikythera Ephebe

 

Giacobbe Giusti, National Archaeological Museum, Athens

Mycenean gold cups from Grave IV and V

 

Giacobbe Giusti, National Archaeological Museum, Athens

The bronze statue of Zeus or Poseidon, the Artemision Bronze in room 15

 

Giacobbe Giusti, National Archaeological Museum, Athens

Attic vase depicting Chimera

 

Giacobbe Giusti, National Archaeological Museum, Athens

So-called Artemision jockey. Bronze, ca. 140 BC. Recovered from the sea near Cape Artemision in Euboea.

 

Giacobbe Giusti, National Archaeological Museum, Athens

Gold elliptical funeral diadems from Shaft Grave III (Grave Circle A, Mycenae)

 

Giacobbe Giusti, National Archaeological Museum, Athens

The Ninnion Tablet, dated to approximately 370 BC, is a red clay tablet depicting the ancient GreekEleusinian Mysteries (religious rites connected to Greek mythology).

 

Giacobbe Giusti, National Archaeological Museum, Athens

Bust of a statue belonging to a group representing Theseus and the Minotaur, erected on a fountain in Athens near St Demetrios Katéphoris in Plaka. It is a Roman copy of the famous, lost statuary group attibuted to Myron erected on the acropolis that represented Theseus fighting the Minotaur

 

Giacobbe Giusti, National Archaeological Museum, Athens

The Mycenaean Warrior Vase, found by Heinrich Schliemann on the acropolis of Mycenae,

 

National Archaeological Museum

Giacobbe Giusti, National Archaeological Museum, Athens

 

Location within Athens
Established	1829
Location	Patission Street, Athens, Greece
Type	National museum
Public transit access	Victoria station    Omonoia station
Website	www.namuseum.gr

The National Archaeological Museum(Greek: Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο) in Athens houses some of the most important artifacts from a variety of archaeological locations around Greece from prehistory to late antiquity. It is considered one of the greatest museums in the world and contains the richest collection of artifacts from Greek antiquity worldwide.^[1] It is situated in the Exarcheia area in central Athens between Epirus Street, Bouboulinas Street and Tositsas Street while its entrance is on the Patission Street adjacent to the historical building of the Athens Polytechnicuniversity.

History

Giacobbe Giusti, National Archaeological Museum, Athens

The Museum in 1893

The first national archaeological museum in Greece was established by the governor of Greece Ioannis Kapodistrias in Aigina in 1829. Subsequently, the archaeological collection was relocated to a number of exhibition places until 1858, when an international architectural competition was announced for the location and the architectural design of the new museum.^[2]

The current location was proposed and the construction of the museum’s building began in 1866 and was completed in 1889 using funds from the Greek Government, the Greek Archaeological Society and the society of Mycenae. Major benefactors were Eleni Tositsa who donated the land for the building of the museum, and Demetrios and Nikolaos Vernardakis from Saint Petersburg who donated a large amount for the completion of the museum.

The initial name for the museum was The Central Museum. It was renamed to its current name in 1881 by Prime Minister of Greece Charilaos Trikoupis. In 1887 the important archaeologist Valerios Stais became the museum’s curator.

During World War II the museum was closed and the antiquities were sealed in special protective boxes and buried, in order to avoid their destruction and looting. In 1945 exhibits were again displayed under the direction of Christos Karouzos. The south wing of the museum houses the Epigraphic Museum with the richest collection of inscriptions in the world. The inscriptions museum expanded between 1953 and 1960 with the architectural designs of Patroklos Karantinos.^[3]

The building

The museum has an imposing neo-classical design which was very popular in Europe at the time and is in accordance with the classical style artifacts that it houses. The initial plan was conceived by the architect Ludwig Lange and it was later modified by Panagis Kalkos who was the main architect, Armodios Vlachos and Ernst Ziller. At the front of the museum there is a large neo-classic design garden which is decorated with sculptures.^[2]

Expansions and renovations

Giacobbe Giusti, National Archaeological Museum, Athens

The Antikythera Ephebe

The building has undergone many expansions. Most important were the construction of a new east wing in the early 20th century based on the plans of Anastasios Metaxasand the construction of a two-storeyed building, designed by George Nomikos, during 1932–1939.^[2] These expansions were necessary to accommodate the rapidly growing collection of artifacts. The most recent refurbishment of the museum took more than 1.5 years to complete, during which the museum remained completely closed. It reopened in July 2004, in time for the Athens Olympics and it included an aesthetic and technical upgrade of the building, installation of a modern air-conditioning system, reorganisation of the museum’s collection and repair of the damage caused by the 1999 earthquake. The Minoan frescoes rooms opened to the public in 2005.^[4] On May 2008 the Culture Minister Mihalis Liapis inaugurated the much anticipated collection of Egyptian antiquities and the collection of Eleni and Antonis Stathatos.^[5] Today, there is a renewed discussion regarding the need to further expand the museum to adjacent areas. A new plan has been made for a subterranean expansion at the front of the museum.

Collections

The museum’s collections are organised in sections:^[6]

Collections
Section	Rooms	Sample inventories
Prehistoric Collection (Neolithic, Cycladic, Mycenaean)	3-6 and 48[7]	The Mask of Agamemnon, a gold funeral mask, dated 1550–1500 BC Gold elliptical funeral diadems from Shaft Grave III (Grave Circle A, Mycenae) Mycenean gold cups from Grave IV and V
Sculptures Collection	7-34	The bronze statue of Zeus or Poseidon, the Artemision Bronze in room 15 Varvakeios Athena, replica of Athena Parthenos Statue of Asklepius. Roman copy (c.160 AD), from a 4th-century BC Greek original Marble table support adorned by a group including Dionysos, Panand a Satyr, 170-180 AD
Vase and Minor Objects Collection (Including Stathatos and Vlastos-Serpieris collections)	42[8]and 49-56[9]	Attic vase depicting Chimera Bronze pitchers
Santorini Collection	48	Fresco from the bronze age at Akrotiri, Santorini The boxing boys fresco is one of many well preserved frescoes from the island of Thera Fresco with landscape in spring time at Akrotiri
Metallurgy Collection	36-39	The Antikythera mechanism(main fragment) in room 38 The philosopher’s head from the Antikythera wreck Bronze pitcher
Egyptian and Near EasternAntiquities Collection	40-41	Egyptian funerary mask
Epigraphical Museum	1, 9 & 11	The oldest attic epigraphy, 8th century BC Boustrophédon, in room 11 Detail of a part of the sacred law of the Acropolis and the Hékatompédon, 485/4 BC Honorific decree, 313–312 BC.

Prehistoric collection

The prehistoric collection displays objects from the Neolithic era (6800–3000 BC), Early and Mid-Bronze age (3000–2000 BC and 2000 to 1700 BC respectively), objects classified as Cycladic and Mycenaean art.

Neolithic era and early and mid-Bronze age collection

There are ceramic finds from various important Neolithic sites such as Dimini and Sesclo from middle Helladic ceramics from Boeotia, Attica and Phthiotis. Some objects from Heinrich Schliemann excavations in Troy are also on display.

Cycladic art collection

Cycladic collection features the famous marble figurines from the Aegean islands of Delos and Keros including the Lutist. These mysterious human representations, which resemble modern art and inspired many artists such as Henry Moore,^[10] came from the 3rd millennium BC old cemeteries of Aegean islands along with bronze tools and containers.

Mycenean art collection

Mycenean civilization is represented by stone, bronze and ceramic pots, figurines, ivory, glass and faience objects, golden seals and rings from the vaulted tombs in Mycenae and other locations in the Peloponnese (Tiryns and Dendra in Argolis, Pylos in Messinia and Vaphio in Lakonia). Of great interest are the two golden cups from Vafeio showing a scene of the capture of a bull.

Heinrich Schliemann finds

Mycenean collection includes also the magnificent 19th-century finds of Heinrich Schliemann in Mycenae from the Grave Circle A and the earlier Grave Circle B. Most notable are the golden funerary masks which covered the faces of deceased Mycenean nobles. Among them, the most famous is the one that was named erroneously as the mask of Agamemnon. There are also finds from the citadel of Mycenae including relief stelae, golden containers, glass, alabaster and amber tools and jewels. Other features include an ivory carving of two goddesses with a child, a painted limestone head of a goddess and the famous warrior’s vase dating from the 12th century.

Egyptian Art collection

The Egyptian collection dates back to the last twenty years of the 19th century. Notable is the donation of the Egyptian government which in 1893 offered nine mummies of the era of the Pharaohs. However, the Egyptian collection is mainly by two donors, Ioannis Dimitriou (in 1880) and of Alexandros Rostovic (in 1904). In total the collection includes more than 6000 artifacts, 1100 of which are available presently for the public. The collection is considered to be one of the best collections of Egyptian art in the world. The exhibition features rare statues, tools, jewels, mummies, a wooden body tag for a mummy, a stunning bronze statue of a princess, intact bird eggs and a 3000-year-old loaf of bread with a bite-sized chunk missing. The exhibition centrepiece is a bronze statue of the princess-priestess Takushit, dating to around 670 BC. Standing 70 cm high and wearing a gown covered in hieroglyphs, the statue was found south of Alexandria in 1880.^[11]

Stathatos collection

The Stathatos collection is named for the donors and major Greek benefactors Antonis and Eleni Stathatos. The collection features about 1000 objects, mainly jewels as well as metal objects, vases, and pottery from the Middle Bronze Age to post-Byzantine era. Features of special note are the Hellenistic period golden jewels from Karpenissi and Thessaly.

Artists and artifacts

Some of the ancient artists whose work is presented in the museum are Myron, Scopas, Euthymides, Lydos, Agoracritus, Agasias, Pan Painter, Wedding Painter, Meleager Painter, Cimon of Cleonae, Nessos Painter, Damophon, Aison (vase painter), Analatos Painter, Polygnotos (vase painter), Hermonax.

Collections include sculpture work, Loutrophoros, amphora, Hydria, Skyphos, Krater, Pelike, and lekythos vessels, Stele, frescoes, jewellery, weapons, tools, coins, toys and other ancient items.

Artifacts derive from archaeological excavations in Santorini, Mycenae, Tiryns, Dodona, Vaphio, Rhamnous, Lycosura, Aegean islands, Delos, the Temple of Aphaea in Aegina, the Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia in Sparta, Pylos, Thebes, Athens, Vari Cave, the Antikythera wreck and from various other places in Greece.^[2]

The museum houses the archaic terracota statuette daidala that inspired the designers of the 2004 Athens Olympics maskots Athena and Phevos.

New exhibits

Two of the newest exhibits of the museum include a 4th-century BC golden funerary wreath and a 6th-century BC marble statue of a woman, which were returned as stolen artifacts to Greece in 2007 by the Getty Museum in California, after a 10-year-long legal dispute between the Getty Center and the Greek Government.^[12] One year earlier, the Los Angeles foundation agreed to return a 4th-century BC tombstonefrom near Greek Thebes and a 6th-century BC votive relief from the island of Thassos.^[13]

Museum highlights

Antikythera mechanism Bronze Statuette of Athletic Spartan Girl Nestor’s Cup Mask of Agamemnon Dipylon inscription Poseidon of Cape Artemision Antikythera Ephebe Diadumenos Marathon Boy Lemnos stela Collection of Kouros and Kore (sculpture) Kroisos Kouros Sounion Kouros

Aphrodite of Cnidus Pitsa panels Daidala Ninnion Tablet Theseus Ring Wall frescoes from Tiryns and Santorini Capitoline Venus Poseidon of Milos Rhyton in the shape of a bull head Jockey of Artemision Mycenean Warrior Vase

Library of archaeology

The museum houses a 118-year-old library of archeology with rare ancient art, science and philosophy books and publications. The library has some 20,000 volumes, including rare editions dating to the 17th century.^[14] The bibliography covers archaeology, history, arts, ancient religions and ancient Greek philosophy, as well as Ancient Greek and Latin literature. Of particular value are the diaries of various excavations including those of Heinrich Schliemann. The collection of archaeology books is the richest of its kind in Greece. The Library has been recently renovated with funds from the Alexander S. Onassis Foundation. Its renovation was completed on 26 May 2008 and is now named after Alexander Onassis.^[15]

Museum activities

• Conservation laboratories
• Photographic archive and chemistry laboratories
• Organises temporary exhibitions in the museum and abroad
• Hosts a large number of archaeology related lectures in its lecture-hall annually

Visitors’ information

The museum is accessible by the Athens metro. The nearest stations are Viktoria station and Omonia station. The museum houses a gift shop with artifact replicas and a café in the sculpture garden. The museum is fully wheelchair accessible. There are also facilities and guides for hearing-impaired visitors.

• Ancient Greek sculpture
• Ancient Greek technology and innovation
• Art in Ancient Greece
• Gorgon
• Greek Terracotta Figurines
• Kouros
• List of museums in Greece
• List of museums with major collections of Greek and Roman antiquities
• Pottery of ancient Greece
• Typology of Greek Vase Shapes
• Valerios Stais

References

1. Jump up^ « Ministry of Culture and Sports | National Archaeological Museum ». odysseus.culture.gr. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
2. ^ Jump up to:^a b c d The National Archaeological Museum (2000) Euangelia Kypraiou Archaeological Receipts Fund Direction of Publications, Athens Greece
3. Jump up^ « Ministry of Culture and Sports | Epigraphic Museum ». odysseus.culture.gr. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
4. Jump up^ ekathimerini.com | National Archaeological Museum Archived 2007-11-09 at the Wayback Machine.
5. Jump up^ Egyptian antiquities exhibition
6. Jump up^ Sculpture in the National Archaeological Museum, Athens (2002) Nikolaos Kaltsas Getty Trust Publications: J. Paul Getty Museum, California, USA
7. Jump up^ The Prehistoric Collection, National Archaeological Museum
8. Jump up^ Stathatos Collection, National Archaeological Museum
9. Jump up^ The Vase and Minor Objects Collection, National Archaeological Museum
10. Jump up^ Early cycladic sculpture: its aesthetics and its influences on Henry Moore and Constantin Brâncuși DEB Lercher – 1979 – State University of New York at Binghamton
11. Jump up^ Priceless ancient Egyptian relics go on display^{[dead link]}
12. Jump up^ « BBC NEWS – Europe – Ancient wreath returns to Greece ». Retrieved 21 November2015.
13. Jump up^ CBC.ca Arts – Greece closes net on antiquities smuggling
14. Jump up^ « Rare tomes… – News – ekathimerini.com ». Retrieved 21 November 2015.
15. Jump up^ « This Week – News – ekathimerini.com ». Retrieved 21 November 2015.

National Archaeological Museum of Athens.

• National Archaeological Museum of Athens Official website
• Review of The National Archaeological Museum in Athens at UNRV.com
• Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Αθηνών – Archaeological Museum Of Athens Unofficial page on Facebook
• High-resolution 360° Panoramas of Archaeological Museum | Art Atlas

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Archaeological_Museum,_Athens

http://www.giacobbegiusti.com

Giacobbe Giusti, Discobolus

Giacobbe Giusti, Discobolus

Giacobbe Giusti, Discobolus

Discobolus-Kunsthistorisches Museum

Giacobbe Giusti, Discobolus

Castelporziano Discobolus. Marble, Roman artwork, reign of Hadrian (117–138 CE).

Giacobbe Giusti, Discobolus

Roman bronze reduction of Myron’s Discobolus, 2nd century AD (Glyptothek, Munich)

Giacobbe Giusti, Discobolus

Dorieo e un altro autore – Opera propria

Discobolo. Marmo, copia romana da un originale in bronzo del V sec. a.C. da Mirone. Da Villa Adriana presso Tivoli

 

Giacobbe Giusti, Discobolus

The Townley Discobolus at the British Museum, Roman copy with incorrectly restored head.

Giacobbe Giusti, Discobolus

Discobole Lancellotti. Marbre, H. 1,55 m., copie romaine, vers 120 ap. J.-C., original : avant – 450, palais Massimo alle Terme

Giacobbe Giusti, Discobolus

Copia romana del British Museum, con la cabeza orientada de modo incorrecto.

Giacobbe Giusti, Discobolus

Bronze copy of Myron of Eleutherae’s « Discobolus » (discus thrower) in the University of Copenhagen Botanical Garden, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Giacobbe Giusti, Discobolus

Discobole Lancellotti. Marbre, H. 1,55 m., copie romaine, vers 120 ap. J.-C., original : avant – 450, palais Massimo alle Terme

Giacobbe Giusti, Discobolus

Discobole au repos, Athlète au disque dit « le Discophore », Musée des beaux-arts de Lyon.

Le Discobole est l’une des plus célèbres statues de l’Antiquité. Généralement attribuée à Myron, sculpteur athénien du v^e siècle av. J.-C., elle représente un athlète en train de lancer le disque. Myron, représentant du premier classicisme, était célèbre pour ses représentations d’athlètes, ce qui explique l’attribution. De plus, elle est mentionnée par Pline l’Ancien dans les Histoires Naturelles, où l’auteur livre la liste des œuvres réalisées par Myron.

Description

La statue originale représente un athlète nu, imberbe, figé alors qu’il prépare le lancer de son disque. La tête est tournée sur le côté. Le mouvement se déploie sur le côté, donnant une composition bidimensionnelle (ce qui est caractéristique du pré-classicisme). La composition est géométrisée, théorique. En effet, le bord des pectoraux est net, la musculature est faite de formes plastiques et théoriques qui se répondent. Le personnage, alors qu’en plein effort, est impassible, le regard serein et sans expression. Les paupières sont lourdes, le nez droit, la bouche charnue et légèrement entrouverte, la mâchoire épaisse, le menton fort. On idéalise son visage pour que son image gagne un aspect intemporel.

Découverte

L’original en bronze a été perdu. Seules demeurent des copies en marbre d’époque impériale. La plus célèbre d’entre elles est le Discobole Lancellotti, considérée comme la reproduction la plus fidèle de l’original. L’œuvre fut découverte sur le mont Esquilin au xviii^e siècleet vendue à la famille Massimo, devenue ensuite Massimo Lancelotti. Réalisée au ii^e siècle sous les Antonins, elle figure actuellement dans les collections du palais Massimo alle Terme, branche du Musée national romain, à Rome. Une autre copie connue, exposée dans le même musée, est le Discobole Castelporziano, découverte mutilée (la tête est perdue) dans le village homonyme en 1906, parmi les ruines d’une villa d’époque impériale. Cette copie est plus réaliste dans son traitement des volumes et témoigne des évolutions techniques survenues depuis entre le classicisme grec et la sculpture romaine impériale.

Représentation dans la culture grecque

Le mot discobole vient du grec ancienδισκοβόλος / diskobolos, « lanceur de disque ». Le disque grec était un palet de pierre ou de bronze d’environ 20 cm de diamètre. Il pesait plus de 5 kg. Parallèlement au type du discobole, on peut citer celui du discophore : un athlète au repos, tenant simplement le disque à la main.

La statue du discobole figure sur la pièce commémorative de 2 € frappée par la Grèce à l’occasion des Jeux olympiques d’Athènes de 2004. Le Discobole était l’une des plus grandes œuvres de Myron Éleuthères.

Bibliographie

• Bernard Holzmann, La sculpture grecque, Librairie générale française, coll. « Le livre de poche », 2010, 447 p.(ISBN 978-2253905998), p. 214-215
• Jean Charbonneau, La sculpture grecque classique, t. 1, Paris, Éditions de Cluny, 1945, 131 p., p. 22-28

Discobolus

Giacobbe Giusti, Discobolus

Roman bronze reduction of Myron’s Discobolus, 2nd century AD (Glyptothek, Munich)

The Discobolus of Myron (« discus thrower« , Greek: Δισκοβόλος, Diskobólos) is a Greek sculpture that was completed toward the end of the Severe period, circa 460–450 BC. The original Greek bronze is lost but the work is known through numerous Roman copies, both full-scale ones in marble, which was cheaper than bronze,^[1] such as the first to be recovered, the Palombara Discobolus, and smaller scaled versions in bronze.

A discus thrower is depicted about to release his throw: « by sheer intelligence », Kenneth Clarkobserved in The Nude, « Myron has created the enduring pattern of athletic energy. He has taken a moment of action so transitory that students of athletics still debate if it is feasible, and he has given it the completeness of a cameo. »^[2] The moment thus captured in the statue is an example of rhythmos, harmony and balance. Myron is often credited with being the first sculptor to master this style. Naturally, as always in Greek athletics, the Discobolus is completely nude. His pose is said to be unnatural to a human, and today considered a rather inefficient way to throw the discus.^[3] Also there is very little emotion shown in the discus thrower’s face, and « to a modern eye, it may seem that Myron’s desire for perfection has made him suppress too rigorously the sense of strain in the individual muscles, »^[2] Clark observes. The other trademark of Myron embodied in this sculpture is how well the body is proportioned, the symmetria.

The potential energy expressed in this sculpture’s tightly wound pose, expressing the moment of stasis just before the release, is an example of the advancement of Classical sculpture from Archaic. The torso shows no muscular strain, however, even though the limbs are outflung.

Reputation in the past

Giacobbe Giusti, Discobolus

The discobolus motif on an Atticred-figured cup, ca. 490 BC, is static by comparison.

Giacobbe Giusti, Discobolus

Roman discus thrower from Stabiae, Villa Arianna, 1st century AD

Myron‘s Discobolus was long known from descriptions, such as the dialogue in Lucian of Samosata‘s work Philopseudes:

« When you came into the hall, » he said, « didn’t you notice a totally gorgeous statue up there, by Demetrios the portraitist? » « Surely you don’t mean the discus-thrower, » said I, « the one bent over into the throwing-position, with his head turned back to the hand that holds the discus, and the opposite knee slightly flexed, like one who will spring up again after the throw? »

« Not that one, » he said, « that’s one of Myron‘s works, that Diskobolos you speak of… »

— Lucian of Samosata, Philopseudes c. 18^[4]

Discobolus and Discophorus

Prior to this statue’s discovery the term Discobolus had been applied in the 17th and 18th centuries to a standing figure holding a discus, a Discophoros, which Ennio Quirino Viscontiidentified as the Discobolus of Naukydes of Argos, mentioned by Pliny (Haskell and Penny 1981:200).

Discobolus Palombara or Lancellotti

The Discobolus Palombara, the first copy of this famous sculpture to have been discovered, was found in 1781. It is a 1st-century AD copy of Myron‘s original bronze. Following its discovery at a Roman property of the Massimo family, the Villa Palombara on the Esquiline Hill, it was initially restored by Giuseppe Angelini; the Massimi installed it initially in their Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne and then at Palazzo Lancellotti. The Italian archaeologist Giovanni Battista Viscontiidentified the sculpture as a copy from the original of Myron. It was instantly famous, though the Massimo jealously guarded access to it (Haskell and Penny 1981:200).

In 1937 Adolf Hitler negotiated to buy it, and eventually succeeded in 1938, when Galeazzo Ciano, Minister of Foreign Affairs, sold it to him for five million lire, over the protests of Giuseppe Bottai, Minister of Education, and the scholarly community. It was shipped by rail to Munich and displayed in the Glyptothek; it was returned in 1948. It is now in the National Museum of Rome, displayed at the Palazzo Massimo.

Townley Discobolus

Giacobbe Giusti, Discobolus

The Townley Discobolus at the British Museum, Roman copy with incorrectly restored head.

After the discovery of the Discobolus Palombara a second notable Discobolus was excavated, at Hadrian’s Villa in 1790, and was purchased by the English antiquary and art dealer established in Rome, Thomas Jenkins, at public auction in 1792. (Another example, also found at Tivoli at this date, was acquired by the Vatican Museums.) The English connoisseur Charles Townley paid Jenkins £400 for the statue, which arrived at the semi-public gallery Townley commissioned in Park Street, London, in 1794. The head was wrongly restored, as Richard Payne Knight soon pointed out, but Townley was convinced his was the original and better copy.

It was bought for the British Museum, with the rest of Townley’s marbles, in July 1805.^[5]

Other copies

Other Roman copies in marble have been recovered, and torsos that were already known in the 17th century but that had been wrongly restored and completed, have since been identified as further repetitions after Myron’s model. For one such example, in the early 18th century Pierre-Étienne Monnot restored a torso that is now recognized as an example of Myron’s Discobolus as a Wounded Gladiator who supports himself on his arm as he sinks to the ground; the completed sculpture was donated before 1734 by Pope Clement XII to the Capitoline Museums, where it remains.^[6]

Yet another copy was discovered in 1906 in the ruins of a Roman villa at Tor Paterno in the former royal estate of Castel Porziano, now also conserved in the Museo Nazionale Romano.^[7]

In the 19th century plaster copies of the Discobolos could be found in many large academic collections, now mostly dispersed.

• Athletes and athletics in ancient Greek art

Notes and references

1. Jump up^ Woodford, Susan. (1982) The Art of Greece and Rome. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 16. ISBN 0521298733
2. ^ Jump up to:^a b Clark, Kenneth. (2010) The Nude: A study in ideal form. New edition. London: The Folio Society, pp. 134–135.
3. Jump up^ An explanation for his inefficient discus throwing could be that the ancient Olympic sportsmen had a set rotation of three quarters before the discus was thrown. This rotation could well have been a deliberate handicap to make the sport more difficult.
4. Jump up^ The Lucian reference and Quintillian, ii.13.xviii-x, are noted by Haskell & Penny 1981, p. 200.
5. Jump up^ Tony Kitto, « The celebrated connoisseur: Charles Townley, 1737-1805 » Minerva MagazineMay/June 2005, in connection with a British Museum exhibition celebrating the bicentennial of the Townley purchase. [1]^{[permanent dead link]}
6. Jump up^ Haskell, Francis & Penny, Nicholas (1981), Taste and the Antique: the Lure of Classical Sculpture 1500-1900, New Haven: Yale University Press, pp. 200 & 227., ISBN 0-300-02641-2
7. Jump up^ Kenneth Clark illustrated it in the 1956 edition of The Nude, fig. 130, p.241, as « after Myron« .

External links

Discobolus.

• Myron’s Discobolus A discussion about the sculpture between Dr. Beth Harris & Dr. Steven Zucker on video at Khan Academy/Smarthistory
• British Museum collection record, GR 1805.7-3.43 (Sculpture 250).
• Skulpturhalle, Basel collection record(German), 69-30/SH 948
• Capitoline Museum collection record, MC0241

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discobole

http://www.giacobbegiusti.com