Academic literature on the topic 'Chryselephantine Sculpture'

The temple of Zeus at Olympia and its sculptural decoration were excavated almost one and a half century ago, and the remains have always been studied very intensively and from widely different perspectives (Herrmann 1987, Barringer 2005, Kyrieleis 2006, Rehak & Younger 2009, Westervelt 2009). Recently, latest technological innovations were also applied to create a virtual 3D reconstruction of the pediments and also, to simulate the illumination of the cella’s interior containing the famous chryselephantine statue of Zeus by Pheidias, which has perished completely (Patay-Horváth 2014, Digital sculpture 2021). Some details, including a correct reconstruction and interpretation of the Eastern pediment have still remained controversial (Patay-Horváth 2015, Barringer 2021) but, as the presented case illustrates, unexpected discoveries may also occur even in the 21st century, and VR tools can be used to reconsider old problems.

In the 2nd century AD Pausanias (i.2.4-15.1) walked through the agora at Athens describing some of the statues and naming the artists; at least 35 of the statues were of bronze, yet not a single one survives intact today (Mattusch 1982: 8-9). Thinking only of the extant marble sculpture does an injustice to the civic art of Athens. This problem is commonplace; almost any classical site has numerous stone bases for bronze statues which have long gone into the melting-pot. Yet so often in modern scholarship stone sculpture is given a privileged position. Although modern histories of Greek art pay much attention to the marble sculpture of the Parthenon, ancient authorities were not so impressed; Pausanias (i.24.5-7) provides the briefest of descriptions to the marble sculpted pediments and omits to mention the frieze. For many scholars today the frieze has become an example of what ‘unlimited money can do’ (Ashmole 1972: 116), yet, as R. Osborne has recently pointed out, it merely helped the viewer to process to the east end of the temple where he or she would have been confronted by the great chryselephantine cult-statue of Athena: ‘this is what the temple was built to display, this is the object towards which worship is directed, and this is what the procession was all about’ (Osborne 1987: 101). And this is what Pausanias describes in detail, the great work of art and expression of Athens’ wealth which no longer survives.

The article proposes and substantiates a new graphical reconstruction of the chryselephantine colossus of Hera in Argos, created by Polykleitos the Elder in 400 BC. The combination of art sources, archaeological data and ancient documents by Pausanias, Tertullian and Maximus of Tyre describing the lost throne statue of the goddess allow us to recreate it in sufficient detail, completely discarding the speculative methods of the past. The iconographic similarity of the marble replica of the statue of the goddess from the Boston collection with the image of Polyxena in the painting by Polykleitos (depicted on a bronze jug from a Sarmatian burial mound in the Rostov region), earlier identified by the authors, confirms the correctness of A.Limfert, who suggested that the Boston torso reproduced the lost original of the Argos chryselephantine colossus. The surviving part of the Boston replica and the details of the image of the throne of the statue of Hera on the Apulian lekythos from the collection of the British Museum suggest that the marble throne from the tomb of the Macedonian queen Eurydice repeats the throne of the Argive colossus in its main details. The stylistic similarity of the faces of the sculptural images of Demeter Ludovisi, the Sosicles Amazon and the Westmacott Athlete, noted by the authors, makes it possible to express the opinion that the head from the collection of the Palazzo Altemps in Rome is a replica of the statue of Hera by Polykleitos the Elder. Thanks to the surviving parts of Demeter Ludovisi and the image of the head of the colossus of Hera on a fragment of the Apulian crater, which is in a private collection in Kiel (Germany), the authors recreate the diadem crowning the head and the calyptra that covered it. The figures of Horai and Charites, framing the upper edge of the diadem, were reconstructed owing to the iconographic prototype of the same goddesses placed at the base of the back and armrests of the throne of Queen Eurydice. The sceptre, its finial in the form of a cuckoo sitting on an Ionic capital, and the twisted pole are restored according to the images of the colossus of Hera on the Apulian crater and the reverses of the Argive diassarions during the reign of Antoninus Pius. The pomegranate fruit in the deity's right hand was reconstructed thanks to the drawing of the image of the statue of Hera, made by A.Linfert from a marble relief in the collection of the Argos Museum. The presumptive colour scheme of the colossus of the goddess was recreated based on a fresco of the 4th century BC, depicting the Hellenistic chryselephantine throne image of Aphrodite, similar in some details of its iconography to Hera by Polykleitos the Elder.

Dear readers, We are pleased to present to you Issue 3, 2022, of the scientific and analytical journal Burganov House. The Space of Culture. Upon the recommendation of the Expert Council of the Higher Attestation Commission, the journal is included in the List of Leading Peer-reviewed Scientific Journals and Publications in which the main scientific results of theses for the academic degrees of doctor and candidate of science must be published. The journal publishes scientific articles by leading specialists in various humanitarian fields, doctoral students, and graduate students. Research areas concern topical problems in multiple areas of culture, art, philology, and linguistics. This versatility of the review reveals the main specificity of the journal, which represents the current state of the cultural space. In the article “The Colossus of Hera in Argos by Polykleitos the Elder: Experience of Reconstruction”, the team of authors, K. Gavrilin, I. Akilov, N. Akilov, proposes and substantiates a new graphical reconstruction of the chryselephantine colossus of Hera in Argos, created by Polykleitos the Elder in 400 BC. The combination of art sources, archaeological data and ancient documents by Pausanias, Tertullian and Maximus of Tyre describing the lost throne statue of the goddess allows us to recreate it in sufficient detail, completely discarding the speculative methods of the past. In the article “Sculptures of the Head of Beheaded John the Baptist”, M. Burganova considers the appearance and spread of the iconography of the plot “the Head of Beheaded John the Baptist”. The article analyses the works created by masters in the major cultural centres of Western and Eastern Europe. On the examples of works made by masters in different European art centres, the author analyzes the evolution of the image of the head of John from the image-symbol in the 13th century to the imageillustration of a real action, which became a reflection of a special religious sensibility in the culture of Europe of the 16th‑17th centuries. The article also provides a comparative analysis of the characteristic features of Eastern and Western Christianity in the iconographic renderings of the plot of the Beheaded John the Baptist. The multicultural and multiethnic integration and unprecedented flourishing of trade during the Mongol-Yuan period in the context of the Silk Road is analyzed by Ding Liang in the article “The Influence of the Grassland Silk Road on the Porcelain Styles of the Yuan Dynasty Вuring the Mongol-Yuan Period”. The culture, technology, materials, and craftsmen of the western regions dispersed throughout this space had a greater influence on the decorative modeling of Yuan Dynasty porcelain. Yuan Dynasty porcelain was inclusive, open and innovative, not only absorbing the culture of the western regions, grassland culture, and the culture of the Central Plains but also integrating and developing multiple cultures, forming unique decorative modeling characteristics, which contributed to the rapid development of porcelain in the Yuan Dynasty. In the article “The Mediterranean as a Сontext and Concept in the Art of Modernism”, N. Getashvili examines the role of the Mediterranean in the context of the antinomy of Nordicism and Greco-Latin civilization. Examples that confirm this postulate from the works of representatives of Fauvism (Braque, Derain, Matisse), cubism, Maillol, Picasso, de Chirico, Dali, and Klee, are given. In the article “Relevance of the Study of Forgotten and Little-known Artists of the Russian Landscape School on the Example of Mikhail Germashev”, T. Bocharov and P. Kozorezenko consider the issues of studying the work of little-known Russian artists. The authors analyse why this or that artist came to the periphery of the attention of culture lovers and art historians, highlighting the merits of the artistic manner of one of the forgotten Russian masters. The article describes the distinctive features of Germashev’s creative style and his strong artistic connection with the Moscow region and the capital. The creative method of sculptors of the midtwentieth century and the historical context of the construction of the Stalin skyscrapers are analysed by P. Dobrolyubov in the article “Soviet Sculptors and the Stalinist Empire Style. High-rise Building on Kotelnicheskaya Embankment”. The author tells in detail about the creative team of wonderful, talented Soviet architects, sculptors, engineers, designers who decorated Moscow with their monumental works during the construction of the Stalin skyscrapers, using the example of the construction of the high-rise building on Kotelnicheskaya embankment. In the article “Dubai Expo 2020. A Look Into the Future”, J. Smolenkova examines the innovative, constructive and artistic features of the main pavilions of the World Expo 2020, which became the basis of the concept of the fair. Gerardo Picardo presents a review of artist A. Kurakina’s work, tracing the formation of the creative path and the influence of different cultures on the artist’s style. The publication is addressed to professionals specialising in the theory and practice of the fine arts and philology and all those interested in the arts and culture.