Greek Sculpture
Ancient Greek sculpture has exerted a wide influence on Western aesthetics, whether that sculpture is free-standing—like Myron’s famous Discobolus (c. 450 B.C.E.) or the Nike of Samothrace(c. 190 B.C.E.)—or architectural like the so-called Elgin Marbles removed from the Parthenon (448– 432 B.C.E.) in the early nineteenth century. It was also widely dispersed through the Hellenic world, in part because sculptors were often located near important sources of stone throughout the Hellenic world. There, they were commissioned to create statuary that was later shipped to distant temple sanctuaries. Quarried stone was sometimes imported for sculpture, as at the Temple of Zeus at Olympia (c. 170 B.C.E.). According to some estimates, during the Archaic Period (c. 700–480 B.C.E.) well over 250 tons of marble were moved in and around Greece in one year. As with Egyptian sculpture, Greek style was disseminated through trade: Mesopotamian cultural objects show its influence, as does Etruscan terracotta work from roughly the seventh century B.C.E.
Ancient Greek sculpture has exerted a widespread influence on Western aesthetics. Pictured here is Myron’s famous Discobolus(c. 450 B.C.E.). (Library of Congress)
Ancient Rome acquired much Greek sculpture through its army’s looting during the first and second centuries C.E. Much of this sculpture— especially in bronze, widely used but often later melted down—has survived only through ancient Roman copies, usually in marble. Unlike the Greeks, who tended to associate sculpture with religious practice, the Romans considered these works to be art objects worthy of copying and collecting. Accordingly, the Roman empire became the center for a burgeoning market in sculpture. Sculpture workshops were spread across the empire, especially near urban centers where demand for sculpture was high. Buyers came from all social backgrounds and commissioned a wide range of objects, from mundane portraits and sarcophagi to the famous Laocoon (first century C.E.), made by Greek sculptors for a Roman patron.
The decline of the Roman empire brought a decline in sculpture markets. Sculpture during the Middle Ages became largely architectural: the entry portals at Saint Pierre in Moissac (c. 1115– 1135) and at Saint Lazare in Autun (c. 1130), both in France, incorporate perhaps the best examples of Romanesque sculpture, and the central portal at the cathedral in Reims (c. 1225–1290) in France includes important Gothic examples. Small-scale sculpture achieved some circulation in Europe because of the era’s extensive population movement. Likewise, sculpture was increasingly designed to be moved: the small Harbaville Triptych, for example, a detailed, finely worked Byzantine ivory relief carving from the late tenth century, was made expressly as a portable altar.
The Italian Renaissance is traditionally defined as the rediscovery of Greco-Roman culture; it was spurred in part by the rediscovery of Roman copies of Greek sculpture. The Renaissance also marks the emergence of what we recognize today as the modern art market: from the late fifteenth century onward, a constant trade in both historical and contemporary art emerged and was sustained by private collectors, from royalty to— by the nineteenth century—the middle classes. Interest in ancient statuary can be traced to the early fifteenth century, when the return of the papacy to Rome in 1415 following the Great Schism prompted building projects there that resulted in the discovery of many artifacts. Papal collections began during roughly this period and were primarily responsible for exhibiting the ancient art that would fuel the Renaissance. Sixtus IV is typically credited with creating the first public art collection in 1471, which included bronze Etruscan statues. Julius II bought the Laocoon after its discovery in 1506 and added it to his substantial collection of Roman works.
Rulers elsewhere in Europe entered these markets—or engaged in looting during military campaigns—during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries: after conflict in Italy, the French king Louis XII and his court built collections of Italian art, while his successor, Francis I, pursued ancient statuary. In the seventeenth century, the French royal collection, augmented especially by Louis XIV—who made the acquisition and public display of antique sculpture, whether original or as copies, a priority—grew rapidly, as did the short-lived English collection of Charles I. Royal ministers also built significant collections during this period: Thomas Howard, the earl of Arundel, owned one of the more notable collections of Greco-Roman statues.
From the eighteenth century onward, the sculpture market—like art markets more generally—broadened to include buyers beyond the royal court. Liberated from architecture by the Renaissance, sculpture served roles familiar since ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt: commissioned most often by the wealthy and powerful, sculpture was used for portrait busts, funeral monuments, and home and garden decoration. England emerged as one of the most important countries for the collection and resale of art, while Italy continued to hold its place as the center for trade in ancient statuary. Collections in England were started and enriched by the Grand Tour, the semiritualistic travels of the nation’s young elite throughout Europe to study art and culture. Italy was an important destination, where these travelers typically purchased sculpture, typically small-scale copies of famous works, which were then either carried or shipped to England for domestic display. Throughout eighteenth-century Italy, workshops filled with copies and some original work catered to these Grand Tourists; the Lazzerini family in Carrara, in business from 1670 to 1942, was one of the more prominent. These workshops proliferated in the nineteenth century, when international tourism became more widespread: Murray’s Handbook for Travellers in Central Italy (1861) referred to Carrara as “one continuous studio.”