ancient greek portrait sculpture -...

ANCIENT GREEK PORTRAIT SCULPTURE

This book offers a new approach to the history of Greek portraiture by focusing onportraits without names. Comprehensively illustrated, it brings together a wide range ofevidence that has never before been studied as a group. Sheila Dillon considers the feworiginal bronze and marble portrait statues preserved from the Classical and Hellenisticperiods together with the large number of Greek portraits known only through Romancopies. By moving away from the traditional concern with names and dates, Dillon investi-gates the range of strategies and styles used by these portraits to construct subject identity.This study calls into question two basic tenets of Greek portraiture: first, that it was onlyin the late Hellenistic period, under Roman influence, that Greek portraits exhibited awide range of styles, including descriptive realism; and second, that in most cases, onecan easily tell a subject’s public role – that is, whether he is a philosopher, an orator, apoet, or a general – from the visual traits used in this portrait. The sculptures studied hereinstead show that the proliferation of portrait styles takes place much earlier, in the lateClassical period, and that the identity expressed by these portraits is much more complexand layered than has previously been realized. Despite the fact that these portraits lackthe one feature most prized by scholars of ancient portraiture – a name – they are evidenceof the utmost importance for the history of Greek portraiture.

Sheila Dillon is assistant professor of art history at Duke University. A recipient of fel-lowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Academyin Rome, she is co-editor of Representations of War in Ancient Rome.

© Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org

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ANCIENT GREEK

PORTRAIT SCULPTURE

Contexts, Subjects, and Styles

SHEILA DILLONDuke University






cambridge university pressCambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, Sao Paulo

Cambridge University Press40 West 20th Street, New York, ny 10011-4211, usa

www.cambridge.orgInformation on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521854986

c© Sheila Dillon 2006

This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exceptionand to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,no reproduction of any part may take place withoutthe written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2006

Printed in the United States of America

A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Dillon, Sheila.Ancient Greek portrait sculpture : contexts, subjects, and styles / Sheila Dillon.

p. cm.Includes bibliographical references and index.isbn 0-521-85498-9 (hardback)1. Portrait sculpture, Greek. 2. Portrait sculpture, Ancient–Greece. I. Title.nb1296.3.d55 2006733′.3 – dc22 2005036462

isbn-13 978-0-521-85498-6 hardbackisbn-10 0-521-85498-9 hardback

Publication of this book has been aided by a grant from theMillard Meiss Publication Fund of the College Art Association.

MM

Cambridge University Press has no responsibility forthe persistence or accuracy of urls for external orthird-party Internet Web sites referred to in this publicationand does not guarantee that any content on suchWeb sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.






To Alex and Donald, with love.

To my teachers Eve Harrison, Gunter Kopcke, Jim McCredie, and Bert Smith, with gratitude.






CONTENTS

List of Illustrations page ix

Acknowledgments xv

Abbreviations xix

chapter 1. Facing up to Anonymity 1

FACING THE PAST: GREEK PORTRAITS IN ROMAN CONTEXTS

chapter 2. Making Portraits of the Greeks 15

chapter 3. Displaying Portraits of the Greeks 38

FACING THE SUBJECT: INTERPRETING IDENTITY IN GREEKPORTRAITURE

chapter 4. The Appearance of Greek Portraits 61

chapter 5. Greek Portraits in Practice 99

Conclusions 127

appendix 1. Museum Index 129

appendix 2. Portrait Catalogue 135

Notes 173

Bibliography 209

Index 215

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ILLUSTRATIONS

1. Naples–Rome Old Man with Matted Beard Type. Front,Naples version (cat. A19.1) page 3

2. Naples–Rome Old Man with Matted Beard Type. Left profile,Naples version 3

3. Diphilos Type. Vienna version (cat. A12.3) 74. Bronze portrait from the Villa of the Papyri (cat. B64) 75. Statue of Demosthenes 86. Bust of Demosthenes 97. Head from a late Classical grave monument 98. New York–Rome–Caesarea Type. Front, New York version

(cat. A19.3) 169. New York–Rome–Caesarea Type. Front, Rome version

(cat. A19.4) 1610. New York–Rome–Caesarea Type. Front, Caesarea version

(cat. A19.1) 1711. New York–Rome–Caesarea Type. Right profile,

New York version 1812. New York–Rome–Caesarea Type. Right profile, Rome version 1813. New York–Rome–Caesarea Type. Left profile,

New York version 1914. New York–Rome–Caesarea Type. Left profile, Rome version 1915. New York–Rome–Caesarea Type. Left profile,

Caesarea version 1916. New York–Rome–Caesarea Type. Back, New York version 2017. New York–Rome–Caesarea Type. Back, Caesarea version 2018. Getty–Woburn Abbey Type. Front, Getty version (cat. A29.1) 2119. Getty–Woburn Abbey Type. Front, Woburn Abbey version

(cat. A29.2) 2120. Getty–Woburn Abbey Type. Right profile, Getty version 2221. Getty–Woburn Abbey Type. Right profile, Woburn

Abbey version 22

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ILLUSTRATIONS

22. Getty–Woburn Abbey Type. Left profile, Getty version 2223. Getty–Woburn Abbey Type. Left profile, Woburn

Abbey version 2224. Getty–Woburn Abbey Type. Back, Getty version 2325. Getty–Woburn Abbey Type. Back, Woburn Abbey version 2326. Hermarchus Type B. Front, Naples version (cat. A1.9) 2427. Hermarchus Type B. Front, American Academy version

(cat. A1.12) 2428. Hermarchus Type B. Front, Hanover version (cat. A1.5) 2529. Hermarchus Type B. Right profile, American Academy

version 2630. Hermarchus Type B. Right profile, Hanover version 2631. Hermarchus Type B. Left profile, American Academy version 2632. Hermarchus Type B. Left profile, Hanover version 2633. Hermarchus Type B. Back, Naples version 2734. Hermarchus Type B. Back, American Academy version 2735. Hermarchus Type B. Back, Hanover version 2736. Marble portrait of Metrodorus 2937. Sophocles Type III. Front, Naples version (cat. A2.7) 3238. Sophocles Type III. Front, London version (cat. A2.5) 3339. Striding Poet. Rome version (cat. A14.3) 3440. Seated statue of a poet by the sculptor Zeuxis, front 3541. Seated statue of a poet by the sculptor Zeuxis, left 3542. Sophocles Type III. Front, Copenhagen version (cat. A2.2) 3543. Sophocles Type III. Left, Copenhagen version 3544. Herculaneum and its vicinity in the eighteenth century 4245. Plan of the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum 4346. Bronze portrait from the Villa of the Papyri (cat. B65) 4347. Bronze portrait from the Villa of the Papyri (cat. B66) 4448. Crates Type. Front, Naples version (cat. A18.2) 4549. Crates Type. Right, Naples version 4550. Marble herm from the Villa of the Papyri, front (cat. B68) 4651. Marble herm from the Villa of the Papyri, left 4652. Marble herm from the Villa of the Papyri, front (cat. B69) 4653. Marble herm from the Villa of the Papyri, left 4654. Marble herm from the Villa of the Papyri, front (cat. B70) 4755. Marble herm from the Villa of the Papyri, right 4756. Marble herm from the Villa of the Papyri, front (cat. B71) 4757. Marble herm from the Villa of the Papyri, left 4758. Map of villas in the Tivoli area, with the location of the Villa

of “Cassius” 5059. Plan of the remains of the Villa of “Cassius,” Tivoli 5160. Pericles herm 5261. Pericles herm 5262. Footed herm base of Peisistratos 5363. Statue of Aeschines 6364. Statue of “Hippokrates” 6465. Hellenistic grave relief from Rheneia 6466. Bronze portrait statue 6567. Hellenistic grave relief from Rheneia 65

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ILLUSTRATIONS

68. Grave stele of Artemon 6769. Detail, head of Artemon 6870. Detail, head of older man on Artemon stele 6871. Grave naiskos of Prokles, found near the Dipylon Gate 6972. Detail, figure of Prokleides 6973. Gravestone of Ktesileos and Theano 7074. Head of Alexos 7075. Grave monument of man in military dress 7176. Fragment of the grave naiskos of Polystrate 7177. Fragment of Attic document relief 7178. Old man from the Ilissos stele 7379. Head of old man from grave relief 7380. Delphi “Philosopher” 7481. Statue from the Heraion on Samos 7582. So-called Arundel Homer 7583. Marble head, front (cat. B55) 7884. Marble head, right profile 7885. Kolotes–Lycurgus Type. Front, Tirana version (cat. A3.7) 7986. Kolotes–Lycurgus Type. Left, Tirana version 7987. Sophocles Type III. Right profile, Naples version (cat. A2.7) 8088. Sophocles Type III. Left profile, Naples version 8089. Sophocles Type III. Right profile, London version (cat. A2.5) 8190. Sophocles Type III. Left profile, London version 8191. Marble head (cat. B74) 8192. Oxford–Vatican–Villa Albani Type. Front, Oxford version

(cat. A16.2) 8293. Oxford–Vatican–Villa Albani Type. Right profile,

Oxford version 8294. Galleria Colonna–Vatican Type. Front, Galleria

Colonna version (cat. A25.1) 8295. Galleria Colonna–Vatican Type. Right profile, Galleria

Colonna version 8296. Aranjuez–Vatican Theophrastus Type. Front,

Aranjuez version (cat. A26.1) 8397. Aranjuez–Vatican Theophrastus Type. Right profile,

Aranjuez version 8398. Front, Madrid, Prado 14-E (cat. B59) 8399. Right profile, Madrid, Prado 14-E 83

100. Alicibiades–Philip Type. Front, Copenhagen version(cat. A4.1) 84

101. Alicibiades–Philip Type. Front, Vatican version (cat. A4.6) 84102. Marble herm from the Villa of the Papyri (cat. B69) 84103. Torlonia–Vatican Type. Front, Torlonia version (cat. A17.1) 85104. Torlonia–Vatican Type. Right profile, Torlonia version 85105. Copenhagen National Museum–Conservatori Type.

Conservatori version (cat. A20.3) 85106. Marble head, front (cat. B85) 87107. Marble head, right profile 87108. Rieti-Type Euripides. Front, Terme version (cat. A5.6) 87109. Rieti-Type Euripides. Left profile, Terme version 87

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ILLUSTRATIONS

110. Copenhagen–Florence–Liverpool Type. Front, Naples version(cat. A6.6) 88

111. Copenhagen–Florence–Liverpool Type. Left, Naples version 88112. Berlin–Copenhagen–Munich Eudoxos Type. Front,

Berlin version (cat. A15.1) 89113. Berlin–Copenhagen–Munich Eudoxos Type. Left profile,

Berlin version 89114. Marble herm, front (cat. B37) 89115. Marble herm, right profile 89116. Marble head, front (cat. B38) 90117. Marble head, right profile 90118. Marble head, front (cat. B97) 91119. Marble head, right profile 91120. Marble head, front (cat. B98) 91121. Marble head, left profile 91122. Striding Poet Type. Head, front, Vienna version (cat. A14.4) 92123. Naples–Rome Type. Front, Naples version (cat. A23.1) 92124. Naples–Rome Type. Left profile, Naples version 92125. Berlin–Lateran Type. Lateran version (cat. A30.2) 93126. So-called Hipponax: found in the Kerameikos 93127. Tall marble herm, front (cat. B91) 94128. Tall marble herm, right profile 94129. Marble portrait of a poet (?) (cat. B46) 94130. Statue of New Comedy poet Poseidippos; head reworked 95131. Ennius–Vergil New Comedy Poet Type. Front,

Copenhagen version (cat. A10.1) 96132. Ennius–Vergil New Comedy Poet Type. Right profile,

Copenhagen version 96133. Marble portrait of wreathed poet, front (cat. B57) 96134. Marble portrait of wreathed poet, right profile 96135. Marble herm portrait of a poet, so-called Pseudo-Menander

(cat. B48) 97136. Marble statue of the Pseudo-Menander, head reworked 97137. Marble herm from the Auditorium of Maecenas, front

(cat. B87) 97138. Marble herm from the Auditorium of Maecenas, left 97139. Plan of Classical Athens 101140. Plan of the Athenian Agora in about 300 BCE 103141. Base for the portrait statue of the poet Menander 105142. Base for the portrait statue of the philosopher Carneades 105143. Reconstruction of the portrait statue of the general Chabrias 108144. Grave stele of Chairdemos and Lykeas 108145. Attic document relief: Herodoros crowned by Athena 109146. Marble portrait of a strategos 109147. Marble bust, front (cat. B67) 111148. Marble bust, left 111149. Cast reconstruction of the portrait statue of Epicurus 114150. Marble statue of Chrysippus, head restored 114151. Cast of lost bust of Carneades 115152. Bronze philosopher on a column 117

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ILLUSTRATIONS

153. Detail: bronze philosopher on a column 117154. Marble statuette of so-called Cleanthes Type. Front,

New York version 117155. Marble statuette of so-called Cleanthes Type. Left,

New York version 117156. Aranjuez–Naples–Louvre Type. Front, herm restored

Aranjuez version (cat. A21.1) 119157. Copenhagen–Capitoline Type with Toupee. Front,

Copenhagen version (cat. A24.1) 120158. Copenhagen–Capitoline Type with Toupee. Right profile,

Copenhagen version 120159. Copenhagen–Capitoline Type with Toupee. Left profile,

Copenhagen version 120160. Copenhagen–Capitoline Type with Toupee. Front,

Capitoline version (cat. A24.2) 121161. Copenhagen–Capitoline Type with Toupee. Right profile,

Capitoline version 121162. Copenhagen–Capitoline Type with Toupee. Left profile,

Capitoline version 121163. Copenhagen–Getty Poet with Fillet. Front,

Copenhagen version (cat. A27.1) 122164. Copenhagen–Getty Poet with Fillet. Right profile,

Copenhagen version 122165. Capitoline–Getty Poet with Fillet. Front, Getty version

(cat. A28.1) 122166. Capitoline–Getty Poet with Fillet. Left, Getty version 122167. Seated poet from Claros 123168. Seated statue of poet or philosopher 123169. Votive relief of a seated poet, Acropolis west slope 124170. Bronze head of a poet, front 125171. Bronze head of a poet, right 125

xiii






ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This study has its origins in my doctoral dissertation, completed in 1994 for the

Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. During the long period of time that

I have worked on this project since then, I have been the fortunate recipient of

help, advice, and encouragement from many friends and institutions. I owe a pro-

found debt to my advisor, Bert Smith, who first suggested the dissertation topic

of unnamed Greek portraits to me and then supported the project with unfailing

enthusiasm and encouragement through to its completion as a much different, thor-

oughly reconceived and revised book. He has been a generous mentor, who has always

had the time to read and to comment on my work with care and speed. Numer-

ous friends have also provided helpful advice, intellectual support, and friendship

over the years. I would like to thank a few of them here: Carla Antonaccio, Tolly

Boatwright, Diskin Clay, Katherine Dunbabin, Janet Grossman, William Harris,

Tonio Holscher, Ralf von den Hoff, Natalie Kampen, Tina Salowey, William Slater,

Annabel Wharton, and Irene Winter. I have been particularly lucky to be involved

with the excavations at Aphrodisias in Turkey since 1992, first as a graduate stu-

dent and then as a staff member of the sculpture study team. The members of this

team – Chris Hallett, Julia Lenaghan, Julie van Voorhis, and Katherine Welch –

deserve special thanks for teaching me so much about ancient sculpture during

many long summers spent handling, discussing, and arguing over thousands of

statue fragments. While my participation in the Aphrodisias Excavations undoubt-

edly delayed the completion of the present project, it has deeply informed the way

I approach ancient portraiture, and I am certain that it has made this a better

book.

Two particular institutions provided both material support and access to wonderful

library collections at important stages of this work: the American School of Classical

Studies, where I carried out the research for the dissertation, supported first by the

Institute of Fine Arts and then by a Kress Art History fellowship from the ASCSA; and

xv






ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

the American Academy at Rome, where I held a post-doctoral fellowship in 1997–

1998 and completed the fieldwork that formed the basis for Chapters 2 and 3. At the

Academy I would like particularly to acknowledge the support and encouragement of

Caroline Bruzelius, Lisa Fentress, and Pina Pasquantonio; all three were instrumen-

tal in making it possible for me to combine single parenting of a newborn and aca-

demic research. My gratitude for their good humor and unfailing support knows no

bounds.

I have spoken on different aspects of this project at the College Art Association

meeting in 1995, at the Archaeological Institute of America meeting in 1998, at the

American Academy in the same year, and at the Institute of Fine Arts in 2002, and

I thank those present at these occasions for their helpful comments. The section

in Chapter 3 on the portraits from Herculaneum and Tivoli was first published in

a slightly different version in the Journal of Roman Archaeology 13 (2000). I am

grateful to John Humphrey for allowing me to update this study and include it

here.

The actual writing of the book was primarily accomplished while I was a fac-

ulty Fellow at the John Hope Franklin Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies at Duke

University in 2002–2003 and during my junior faculty leave in the spring of 2004.

I would like to thank my colleagues at Duke for providing the kind of dynamic

intellectual atmosphere that encourages thinking and working across disciplines.

I also owe a debt of gratitude to my immediate colleagues in the Department of

Art and Art History for providing the most genial and supportive environment

in which to be a junior faculty member. On a more practical note, the chair of

the department, Patricia Leighten, generously set aside a fund for junior faculty

that has helped to offset the cost of purchasing some of the many photographs

for this book. The Office of Undergraduate Research at Duke provided funds to

hire a series of talented and hard-working research assistants – Anne Douty, Kira

Rosoff, and Emma Wallace – who helped with the illustrations, bibliography, and

museum index. A publication subvention from the Millard Meiss Foundation made

it possible to include so many illustrations, and I am very grateful for its generous

support.

For their help in obtaining photographs and securing permissions, I would like

particularly to acknowledge Benedicte Gilman and Janet Grossman of the J. Paul

Getty Museum, Jan Jordan of the Agora Excavations, Michael Krumme of the DAI

in Athens, Michael Kunst of the DAI in Madrid, Richard Posamentir of the DAI in

Istanbul, Luisa Veneziano of the DAI in Rome, Heidie Schjøtt of the Ny Carlsberg

Glyptotek, Katja Leiskau of the Bildarchiv Foto Marburg, Lutgarde Vandeput of the

Forschungsarchiv fur Antike Plastik in Koln, and Chris Gravett of Woburn Abbey.

For kindly allowing me to include their own photographs and illustrations, I would

like to thank Greg Anderson, John Buckler, Ralf von den Hoff, and Carol Lawton.

I must also single out for special thanks the generous colleagues who read vari-

ous parts of the manuscript and offered helpful comments and suggestions, while

saving me from numerous errors, both of judgment and of fact: Mark Fullerton,

Chris Hallett, Brunilde Ridgway, and Andrew Stewart, as well as an anonymous

xvi






ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

reviewer for the Press. Any faults that remain are, of course, entirely my own. I am

grateful to Beatrice Rehl of Cambridge University Press for taking on this project so

enthusiastically, and for working diligently to see it come to fruition. This book is

dedicated to those who have made such a difference in my life, both personally and

professionally.

Durham, North Carolina

May 2005

xvii






ABBREVIATIONS

Abbreviations of journals and standard works follow the format set out in AmericanJournal of Archaeology 104 (2000), 3–24. References to ancient authors and theirtexts follow the abbreviations listed in the third edition of The Oxford ClassicalDictionary, eds. S. Hornblower and A. Spawforth (Oxford, 1996). Abbreviationsspecific to this work follow.

ABr P. Arndt and F. Bruckmann, Griechische und romische Portrats (Munich, 1891–1942).

Amelung W. Amelung, Die Skulpturen des Vatikanischen Museums, I (Berlin,1903); II (Berlin, 1908).

Bergemann, Demos und Thanatos J. Bergemann, Demos und Thanatos: Unter-suchungen zum Wertsystem der Polis im Spiegel der attischen Grabreliefs des 4.Jahrhunderts v. Chr. und zur Funktion der gleighzeitigen Grabbauten (Munich, 1997).

Blumel, Berlin C. Blumel, Katalog der Sammlung antiker Skulptur: StaatlicheMuseen, IV (Berlin, 1931), V (Berlin, 1938).

CAT C. W. Clairmont, Classical Attic Tombstones (Kilchberg, 1993).

CDP D. Comparetti and G. de Petra, La Villa Ercolanese dei Pisoni: I suoi monu-menti e la sua biblioteca (1883; reprint, Naples, 1972).

Fittschen, Griechische Portrats K. Fittschen ed., Griechische Portrats (Darmstadt,1988).

Frel, Greek Portraits Getty J. Frel, Greek Portraits in the J. Paul Getty Museum(Malibu, CA, 1981).

Giuliano A. Giuliano, ed., Museo Nazionale Romano: le sculture, I, 9 (Rome,1987).

Hekler A. Hekler, Die Bildniskunst der Griechen und Romer (Stuttgart, 1912).

Johansen, Catalogue F. Johansen, Catalogue Greek Portraits: Ny CarlsbergGlyptotek (Copenhagen, 1992).

xix






ABBREVIATIONS

Lippold, Vatikan Katalog G. Lippold, Die Skulpturen des Vatikanischen MuseumsIII, 2 (Berlin, 1956).

Lorenz, Galerien T. Lorenz, Galerien von griechischen Philosophen- und Dichter-bildnissen bei den Romern (Mainz am Rhein, 1965).

Mansuelli G. A. Mansuelli, Galleria degli Uffizi: Le sculture II (Rome, 1961).

Neudecker, Villen R. Neudecker, Die Skulpturenausstattung romischer Villen inItalien (Beitrage zur Erschliessung hellenistischer und kaiserzeitlicher Skulptur undArchitektur 9; Mainz am Rhein, 1988).

Piekarski, Anonyme griechische Portrats D. Piekarski, Anonyme griechischePortrats des 4. Jhs. v. Chr.: Chronologie und Typologie. Internationale ArchaologieStudia Honoraria, vol. 32. (Rahden and Westfallen: Leidorf, 2004; Ph.D. dissertation,Bonn University, 2002).

Poulsen, Portraits grecs V. Poulsen, Les Portraits grecs, Glyptotheque Ny Carlsberg(Copenhagen, 1954).

Pozzi, MN Napoli E. Pozzi, ed., Le Collezioni del Museo Nazionale di Napoli(Rome, 1989).

Richter, POG G. M. A. Richter, The Portraits of the Greeks (London, 1965),3 vols.

Richter-Smith G. M. A. Richter, The Portraits of the Greeks. Abridged and revisedby R. R. R. Smith (Ithaca, NY, 1984).

Schefold, Bildnisse K. Schefold, Die Bildnisse der antiken Dichter, Redner undDenker (Basel, 1943).

Smith, BM Catalogue A. H. Smith, Catalogue of Sculpture in the Department ofGreek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum (London, 1892–1904).

Stewart, Attika A. F. Stewart, Attika. Studies in Athenian Sculpture of the Hellenis-tic Age, Supplementary Paper no. 14 (London, 1979).

Villa Albani P. C. Bol, ed., Forschungen zur Villa Albani. Katalog der antikenBildwerke I–IV (Berlin, 1989–1994).

von den Hoff, Philosophenportrats R. von den Hoff, Philosophenportrats desFruhund Hochhellenismus (Munich, 1994).

Zanker, Mask of Socrates P. Zanker, The Mask of Socrates: The Image of the Intel-lectual in Antiquity (Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA, 1995).

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