Late Antique Sculpture

The statuary collections of the so-called “Villa of Theseus” in Nea Paphos, Malloutena and the “House of the Gladiators” in Kourion have so far been the only published groups of supposedly domestic sculpture that can be attributed to specific buildings of the Early Christian period in Cyprus, although I will argue that the analysis of the statuary will bring up a different perspective. Much ink has been spilt for their floor mosaic programs, while their statuary assemblages have generally been studied detached from their actual context, with most studies addressing stylistic and iconographical features. This paper makes a first attempt in studying these assemblages by integrating evidence from the architecture of the buildings and their construction phases. While its focus resides on the statuary, it aims to contribute to a better understanding of the architecture and the character of the surrounding space.

Acheiropoietos basilica comprises a phenomenally preserved, typical example of the threeaisled timber-roofed Hellenistic-type basilica with narthex and galleries, thus fitting more than any of the Thessalonican monuments to the standardized Early Byzantine ecclesiastical architecture.
Due to the overall symmetry of its architectural form and the presumable homogeneity of its original sculptural decoration, Acheiropoietos is usually considered as the last maintained architectural composition of the city that still echoes the aesthetics of the Late Antiquity.
However, based on a recent architectural and sculptural analysis of the monument, it occurs that Acheiropoietos was originally erected as a m Roman-type basilica without galleries during the last decade of the fifth  or the first decade of the sixth century (ca. 500). Even though the ground-plan of the church remained unaltered through the ages, its upper-structure was later remodeled. The galleries, a not surviving clerestory and extended annexes were added during the first —among many— structural restoration of the building that took place during the seventh century, as a result of the 620-630 series of earthquakes that devastated large part of the city along with its main urban infrastructure and ecclesiastical monuments.
Based on this new evidence, the present paper presents the various architectural sculptures of the basilica as: (a) a variety of bases of both the classical and the simplified variations of the attic-ionic type, (b) various column shafts, (c) the largest maintained group of twenty nine composite capitals with double fined-toothed acanthus leaves at the tribelon, the nave and the outer-narthex colonnade that beyond their superficial uniformity are divided in four subgroups, (d) various subtypes of the Impost-ionic capitals at the south gallery colonnade, (e) the twenty nine decorated impost-blocks that crown the composite capitals of the nave colonnades, (f) the consoles that support the traverse arches of the narthex, as well as (g) a variety of different type cornices adorning the masonry of the segmental apse and the nave arcades.
At the same time the several types of Constantinopolitan mason marks that connect the primary architectural sculptures of the main nave with specific imperial sculptural workshops of the sixth century are discussed.
Based on this recent study, the architectural sculptures of the gallery level, that until recently were encountered as parts of the original building, have been re-dated and attributed to its second phase. At the same time, several, unobserved until now, characteristics of those at the ground level—apparently belonging to the first phase sculptural decoration of the basilica— showcase that they were not tailor-made for the late fifth-early sixth century basilica; on the contrary they consist of (a) ready-made architectural sculptures, made with proconesian marble in Constantinopolitan workshops, (b) lower-quality sculptures of local workshops made with white coarse-grained marble form the Thassian quarries at Alyki, and (c) secondary, mostly undecorated, architectural members as imposts and thresholds that were cut on the building site from marble sarcophagi, looted from the abandoned Late Roman cemeteries of the city.

This 40th volume of the ASLU series is concerned with the study of the Cycladic settled landscape in Late Antiquity and the Byzantine Early Middle Ages. It offers a fresh approach to the history and archaeology of the Cyclades under the light of current archaeological investigations. It is an attempt to interpret human-environmental interaction in order to “read” the relationship between islands, settlements, landscapes and seascapes in the context of the diverse and highly interactive Mediterranean world. The methodology proposed is an interdisciplinary approach, which combines archaeological evidence, literary sources, and observations of the sites and micro-landscapes as a whole, with the advantages offered by the application of new technologies in archaeological research (Geographic Information Systems). The islands of Paros and Naxos are used as case-studies. It is a challenging task to trace how these neighbouring insular communities reacted under the same general circumstances pertaining in the Aegean and to what extent the landscape played a role in this process.

Macroscopic examination is used as a guide for selecting candidates for isotopic testing in a search for Thasian marble artifacts in the north Adriatic region. Five Roman and Early Byzantine artifacts could be sampled in Ravenna, Aquileia, and Milan: three sarcophagi, a pulpit, and a column shaft. Grain size was measured in some cases. Four of the five candidates clearly proved to be marble from Thasos, and the other seemed more likely to be Thasian than Proconnesian.

The Barletta colossus is the sole large-scale statue in bronze preserved of a late antique emperor; the only comparable image is the even larger, but fragmentary, Constantinian emperor in Rome. According to local tradition, the Barletta colossus depicts the Byzantine emperor Heraclius (610-641). Modern researchers tend to regard this attribution as mere folklore and fiction. But while there is general agreement that the statue does not portray Heraclius, there is no agreement as to whom it may have been intended to portray. About a dozen different emperors have been proposed, suggested dates ranging from the fourth to the eighth century. The present article reviews the evidence and discusses the methodological problems we face when dealing with this enigmatic work.

A long tradition of excavations and recent archaeological research make it possible to reconstruct a well-structured picture of the Athenian
residential architecture in Late Antiquity. Houses were located in several districts, often overlapping with pre-existing buildings. In most
cases, they continued to be used until the 6th century. Their sculptural apparatus reflects the tastes and behaviors of the owners, sometimes
showing changes in mentality, during a process of gradual dismantling of the traditional sculptural heritage, which involves both
public and private social contexts.

The people who commissioned artworks and monumental decorations in late antiquity are for the most part unknown. Even when names are recorded, it is often difficult to tell to what extent the demands of the patron determined the visual characteristics of a given work. Since styles were tied to workshop traditions and conventions, it can be argued that in most instances, the patron had but limited influence on stylistic properties. Evidence actually suggests that the style of a work often came about independently of the one who commissioned or purchased it. Style was conditioned by function and context. The article therefore proposes a functional paradigm for evaluating visual expressions, defining three main domains of representation: public monuments, religious programs and artworks.

A long tradition of excavations and recent archaeological research make it possible to reconstruct a well-structured picture of the Athenian
residential architecture in Late Antiquity. Houses were located in several districts, often overlapping with pre-existing buildings. In most
cases, they continued to be used until the 6th century. Their sculptural apparatus reflects the tastes and behaviors of the owners, sometimes
showing changes in mentality, during a process of gradual dismantling of the traditional sculptural heritage, which involves both
public and private social contexts.

As pesquisas sobre coleções artísticas têm cada vez mais importância na historiografia artística; porém, dentro deste tema, as coleções de escultura permanecem muito mais desconhecidas e em alguns casos completamente ignoradas. Na presente comunicação, pretendemos nos aproximar a este tipo de coleções no Rio de Janeiro do Segundo Reinado através da documentação inédita do espólio do escultor e professor da Academia Imperial de Belas Artes, Honorato Manuel de Lima, que detalha as esculturas que o artista possuía na hora de sua morte em 1863.

A partir da análise desta coleção, podemos entender melhor as escolhas e finalidades da coleção e do artista e a influência destas na sua produção, assim como os modos de comércio de gessos de esculturas antigas, destacando a figura do escultor Leon Despres de Cluny,  que forneceu à Academia Imperial a maioria das sucessivas coleções dessas obras. Assim, a coleção de Honorato Manoel de Lima é comparada com a coleção da Academia Imperial de Belas Artes, da qual se oferece documentação inédita sobre sua formação, sua compra e sua recepção, a coleção escultórica mais importante do Império, originada por sua vez pela compra de outra coleção privada, a do professor Marc Ferrez.

Esta proposta discute um tema escassamente tratado, oferecendo documentação inédita que permite uma melhor compreensão tanto da arte oitocentista como da escultura em particular, aprofundando na temática das coleções escultóricas, suas funções, suas caraterísticas e os circuitos de comércio das mesmas.

As dusk set on the ancient world and Christianity was becoming a major religious force across the Mediterranean basin, life as a pagan statue must have been extremely precarious. In fact, according to apologetic and hagiographic texts, from the early third century onward a wave of resolute bishops, deacons, and monks had already begun to attack temples and shrines physically, smashing the idols of ancient gods. Some of these men were destined to be included among the most venerated saints in Byzantium: at the turn of the fourth century, Theodore set the temple of Cybele at Amasea on fire, destroying the wooden cult statue; a few years later, Nicholas, bishop of Myra, razed the local temple of Artemis to its foundations and saved the citizens from the demons that had gathered there; and George was capable of pulverizing idols by his presence alone.
After increasing in popularity in the textual tradition, episodes of idol destruction also began to occur in the visual arts. From the eleventh century onward, such episodes proliferated in Byzantine hagiographical cycles and made their appearance in book illumination, icons, and wall paintings, eventually reaching Russia, Bulgaria, and Serbia, areas outside the empire but within the Byzantine cultural orbit. In depicting the confrontation between an early Christian saint and pagan idols, Byzantine artists needed to represent events that supposedly had taken place centuries before, in a period in which scenes of idol destruction were almost entirely unknown in the figurative arts. Despite the stereotypical nature of this iconographic motif, the artists provided a surprisingly broad variety of pictorial solutions that reveal a multifaceted attitude toward their late antique cultural and artistic heritage.
By taking into account a wide selection of examples in diverse media, this seminar will explore different patterns in the development of the motif of idol destruction in Byzantine art.

During the older excavation of Messene by Anastasios Orlandos a quite original smaller than life-size marble statue of a Roman emperor wearing a short tunic and holding in his left hand the orb had been located and dated to the 4th c. AD. Further exploration of the area by Petros Themelis in the 1990s unearthed a magnificent Roman urban domus of large proportions and luxurious decoration. Near the find spot of the imperial portrait two more statues where recovered, portraying the gods Hermes and Artemis. These two along with the imperial portrait stood in the far end of the main hall of the domus, probably in niches inside the wall. The imperial portrait has been since then convincingly attributed to an emperor of the Constantinian dynasty, either Constantine himself (306-337 AD) or his son Constantine II (337-340 AD.) The final destruction of the domus can be dated by coins in the decade of 360, and has been largely connected with the earthquake of 365 AD. As such the composition of the three statues and the renovation of the domus has been dated sometime in the first half of the 4th c.
Recently the discovery of an inscribed limestone statue base reused in a later Byzantine building sheds new light in the identification of the imperial portrait, the process of reuse and the dating of the final arrangement. The base bears two inscriptions on the two opposite sides. The first side commemorates the erection by the city of Messene of a statue of one of the Constantinian dynasty emperors, most probably Constantine II; while the other side commemorates the erection by the city a statue to emperor Valentinian I (364-374 AD). By examining the cutmarks on the plinth we can deduce that the marble imperial statue from the domus had been once the statue referred to by the Constantinian inscription, and that it was removed in the reign of Valentinian I in order for the base to host a new bronze statue. Thus it is proposed that the statue of Constantine found a secondary use in the new arrangement inside the domus along with the pagan deities as part of an effort maybe connected with the new religious conditions, and the advent of Christianity that already had set a firm standing in Messene. Since the Valentinian statue could not have been erected before March, 364 AD and the domus most probably was destroyed in the earthquake of July, 365 AD, we can precisely date the whole effort of replacement and reuse in this brief 15 months period.

The reworked portraits, which were a widespread phenomenon, indicate a general disposition in the reuse of marble at the same time as it shows shifts in the perspectives of portraits from the 1st to the 6th centuries AD. Recent studies on “Ephesus Portrait Sculpture” demonstrate that reworked portraits were fairly common from 3rd to 6th century AD, especially when the empire was in a period of military, social, political and economic unrest. Also, there are some examples of reworked portraits from Ephesus in the Early Imperial Period. Several sculptures or portraits which are dated to the Roman Imperial Period were reworked in Late Antiquity. The most widely known reason for reworking portraits, along with the intentional damage performed on the portraits, is the condemnation of memory (more frequent during 1st and 2nd century AD). One of the main reasons for reuse, reworking and for the change, at least in Late Antiquity, is the impact of the new Christian ideology which marks a break with the pagan past. Although new forms and styles are developed in Late Antique portraits, they are still developed from the Roman tradition of portraiture.

La Ermita de los Santos de Medina Sidonia, desde la aproximación que a su conjunto realizara Romero de Torres, ha suscitado la atención de los investigadores tanto por la inclusión en su conjunto de destacados restos monumentales y epigráficos del periodo tardoantiguo como por la presencia en su recinto de una torre que ante el análisis de su fábrica es posible datar en pleno periodo califal. En el presente trabajo se busca obtener una panorámica conjunta de la relación entre ambos elementos y ofrecer en consecuencia una nueva teoría según la cual el monumento podría haber encontrado su origen en una de las licencias concedidas con carácter excepcional por el gobierno omeya para la construcción de iglesias cristianas en su territorio.

Catalogue entries from the exhibition catalogue. Following pieces are discussed:
1. Portrait of Constantine the Great (or one of his sons), Eichenzell, Museum Schloss Fasanerie, FAS.ARP 54.
2. Fragment of a portrait of Helena (?), Berlin, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Antikensammlung SK 449.
3. Portrait of an emperor of the valentinian dynasty, Rome, Musei Capitolini, Museo del Palazzo dei Conservatori, A 10460.
4. Fragment of a portrait of a theodosian emperor, Berlin, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Antikensammlung, SK 1779.
5. Portrait of an empress, late 5th/early 6th century AD ('Ariadne'), Rome, Musei Capitolini, Museo del Palazzo dei Conservatori, MC 865/S.
6. Mosaic portrait of Justinian I. (reworked), Ravenna, Basilica di Sant' Apollinare Nuovo.

The study of the ambos offers features of interest in the context of
early Byzantine architecture, sculpture and liturgy in the Aegean islands. Despite
the difficulties deriving from a heterogeneous and often incomplete documentation,
it is possible to recognize significant differences, but also typological homologation
phenomena, not always dependent on Constantinopolitan models. In particular, the paper examines some examples of Crete and the Dodecanese, which make it possible to understand differences and common tendencies, offering the possibility of comparing these characteristics with those present in adjacent areas

In Studiolo, n°13, 2017, p. 86-111.

Dans la Pala Pucci (1518), Jacopo Pontormo fait un usage singulier de la référence au Laocoon. En effet, il attribue non seulement plusieurs fois le visage du prêtre troyen à différents saints, mais opère également, sous l’influence de Raphaël, une subversion de la charge émotionnelle, transformant l’expression tragique en un sourire. L’article démontre que loin d’être gratuite la citation est porteuse de sens. Dans les deux cas l’antique est envisagée comme pré-figure annonçant le sacrifice du Christ. Toutefois, la formule oxymorique du visage du Laocoon/souriant, attribuée à Jésus, christianise la figure païenne. Le sourire de l’Enfant signifie son acceptation du plan incarnationnel divin et devient promesse de Résurrection. La pala devient ainsi un véritable parcours spirituel qui passe par la reconnaissance des formes. Une échelle céleste ouvrant la voie vers Dieu.

Revisione sistematica dello stato degli studi sul complesso di San Lorenzo. Scavi archeologici e restauri architettonici sono visti parallelamente con la stessa chiave di lettura. Il lavoro presenta una ricognizione sistematica delle notizie disponibili sul complesso monumentale di S. Lorenzo in Milano. Imprescindibile è infatti l’esame delle informazioni sugli scavi e sui restauri per poter affrontare scientificamente ed eventualmente sciogliere le complesse questioni interpretative proposte da questo monumento. Le appendici ridiscutono due temi di particolare interesse: la corretta interpretazione del grande pluteo a decorazione meandriforme e la questione di una più appropriata impostazione del problema dell’identificazione del marmo delle colonne di S. Lorenzo.