A display case of broken marble hands. I love the attention to detail on the part of the museum here. They could display these all in a line, or they could not display them at all, but they choose to make a composition not unlike a sketchbook here to draw people's eyes to the detail in every piece of the statues. I will say I have huge amounts of respect for every statue, even those of "lesser quality and complexity" after a single marble carving class!
A sphinx!
A very tall (about 7 feet with pediment) Kore (read: unknown female). I can finally show what I've been talking about in every sculpture post up to this point - the color! I really believe in the painted statues now and can see how it was supposed to look. A little red remains here and it makes the marble even more lovely.
Detail of the feet and intricate garment of the Kore above.
Another, much smaller Kore. Here you can really see the paint left on the statue.
Same as above. I'm in so much awe over how much detail went into every tiny statue.
Zeus about to kick some mortal/immortal butt. This is an incredibly famous statue, and it was a bit of a shock to suddenly run into it unexpectedly. He stands over 7 feet, and then is on a plinth (museum patrons for scale), so you can see he's a bit imposing. One guy in the museum tried posing in front of him for a picture and the guard got really upset. It was really amusing, though, and I wish I'd been quick enough to take the picture myself before the guard started yelling.
Advancing Nike (victory) from a temple somewhere. I love how she leaps out further than her weight can support. When you walk around the statues, you can really feel the movement.
Best find of the day: an entire hall dedicated to Athena statues, including this miniature reproduction of the Athena Promachos (ready for battle Athena) that would have stood, covered in gold in the Parthenon. Much prettier than the drawings and tourist reproduction make her out to be. :-) This one is out of ivory like the original would have been.
This very odd statue of Athena is based off the east pediment on the Parthenon. I'm fond of the statue as it, but extremely confused by its inscription to Artemis... SS and I couldn't figure that out...
I love the broken marble faces in the museums. They are so powerful in that they look alive at first glance and then they suddenly become unrecognizable and inhuman as you walk around them. They also look like modern art which continually blows my mind.
There were many lovely large scale grave steles (basically a giant, intricate family tombstone) but this was the most powerful for me. The woman on the right (seated) is an image of the deceased, and her infant son reaches out to her, struggling against its surrogate mother. Some things are truly universal.
Lovely large statue of Artemis. I love her loose, thrown together outfit and modern/awesome shoes.
Boy on horse. Giant. Awesome.
Go, go, Gryffindor! (Actually pediment topper from Temple to Asclepius - healer god).
Another grave stele. I love the emphasis on the hands grasping each other and the gesture of supplication towards the chin. Beautiful.
A pair of bronze arms. Again, the museum's emphasis on composition in the littlest things. It's so helpful to draw the eye to detail.
A pair of posers who didn't get caught, providing both humor and scale reference to the hand of Zeus.
An example of ancient "meta" (a word which derives from Greek, after all!) This is a statue of Aphrodite who is leaning on (you guessed it) a statue of Aphrodite. Goddess of vanity, indeed!
Bronze torso of Octavius, I assume on a horse, originally. The plaque didn't say. But I like how his clothes flow out.
Sculpture of a sleeping Maenad (follower of Dionysus) surrounded by the busts of Roman rulers and one scale tourist.
I love this statue for many reasons (the elongated fingers that don't reappear in art until Goya, the way the metal folds under the out stretched arm, the too slender torso that elongated the figure, etc.) But the first thing I saw (and probably the first thing you saw, too) was the smashed in face. I'm so glad they didn't try to reconstruct it. It looks so much like a Picasso I have a little trouble believing that it's from the 3rd century AD or so.
Downstairs by the cafe, a large mosaic of geometric patterns and probably Aphrodite. Also, a museum worker on break.
Back inside, on the second floor now, some ancient marionettes! They're only a few inches high and so cute!
this red figure pot looks like many others, and I don't really know what's going on in it, but there is something unusual. Some of the original gold leaf remains intact on the pot! How cool is that?! I can barely get that stuff to stay on my modern day paintbrush long enough to get it on canvas!
Lastly a depiction of Herakles (Hercules) destroying some priests who deserved it (I forget the details of the myth). I'd seen this pot before in pictures, but was amazed by it in person for its unusual completeness and a small detail you won't be able to see unless you zoom in. Herakles' hair is painted with raised, individual shining black paint. And it survives perfectly! I stared at that for a full minute trying to comprehend it. The technique is flawless and gorgeous!
After this, my camera died. So, expect more pictures, primarily and particularly of vases after the Peloponnese trip (which I should really start packing for eventually.) After coming back from the museum, I got a gyro for lunch/dinner and went to a screening of Rent that JK was hosting in the student center at CYA. Very fun, even if there weren't as many people as expected. More popcorn for the rest of us. :-P
Tomorrow is classes as usual, and then we leave for the Peloponnese Tuesday morning at far too early (8:00am). It will be worth it.
Kαληνύχτα!
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