A quite literally huge new discovery has been made at the World Heritage Site of Hierapolis in Turkey. Archaeologists from Italy’s National Research Council in Lecce have uncovered a colossal 1st century AD marble statue of the legendary deity-of-many-talents Apollo – god of poetry, music, healing the arts and archery, among other things.
Submitted by Mary Harrsch on Mon, 08/31/2009 - 17:23
Each time I visit Pompeii I discover something new that I had not seen before. Likewise, with exhibits about Pompeii and the ancient Roman communities surrounding Mount Vesuvius, I learn something about Roman culture that I had not encountered before. Last week when I attended the exhibit, "Pompeii and the Roman Villa: Art and Culture Around The Bay of Naples" at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, I was fascinated by information about and examples of archaeized Roman art of the 1st century BCE - 1st century CE.
%QUOTEArchaism is the term applied to art produced after 480 BCE that incorporates stylistic elements used in Greek art of the archaic period (700-480 BCE). These elements include facial features, such as hair with spiral or corkscrew or tight curls across the forehead, high cheekbones, heavy lidded eyes or a slight smile.
This statue in gilded bronze was cast in several sections, using the lost wax method, and then gilded - possibly more than once during the Roman period. The naked god would originally have held a lyre in his left hand - a particularly common iconography in Gaul, where Apollo was often associated with local deities such as Belenus and Virotutis. Sites associated with Apollo are often found near healing springs. The poise and balance of the figure, together with the careful arrangement of the hair, suggest Greek influence; it has the calm and adolescent silhouette of Praxitelean models and the elongation of works by Lysippus. The posture, too, goes back to Greek forms. However the statue was created in the province of Lugdunum (modern Lyons) by Gaulish sculptors - evidently well schooled in the classical tradition.
This marble copy of an original by Praxiteles shows the typical characteristics of Praxiteles' style - charm, grace, and elegance, with a feeling of respose (very different from later Hellenistic art with its drama and movement). There may be a slight sense of humour in showing Apollo, who famously killed the great Python of Delphi, as a boy idly stabbing a lizard with an arrow. Apollo is shown leaning against a tree, which forms the support for the sculpture. The left arm and right hand of the god, together with the head of the lizard, are restorations.
The head demonstrates the advances that had been made in Greek sculpture by the end of the Archaic Period (600-480 BC). Although in full command of anatomical accuracy, the sculptors did not seek to produce naturalistic sculptures but aspired instead to a sort of unreal perfection. This tendency can often make it difficult to determine whether sculptures represent real people or gods, although the vogue for presenting gods as slightly larger than life-size during the period makes it likely that this head comes from a statue of Apollo. Some of the locks of hair would have been made separately and attached to the head and the bronze plates which once held the inlaid eyes in place can still be seen in the eye sockets.
The statue of Apollo from Veio, in polychrome terracotta, is one of the masterpieces of Etruscan art from the end of the 6th century BC, famous the world over. Together with other statues, it decorated the roof beams of the Temple of Veio in Portonaccio, a sanctuary dedicated to Minerva. Placed on high plinths they were erected with an arcoterial function twelve metres high and even though they were created separately, they narrated Greek mythical events at least in part tied to the god Apollo. The statue, together with the statue of Heracles, formed a group representing one of the labours of the hero before his apotheosis among the divinities of Olympus. The myth narrates the contention between the god and the hero for the possession of the doe with the golden horns. There was probably also a statue of Mercury united to this group of which only the head and a part of the body remain. Apollo, dressed in a tunic and short cloak advances towards his left with his right arm outstretched and bent (his left arm is towards the ground maybe with a bow in his hand); Heracles, with the doe tied around his legs, is outstretched towards the right, leaning forwards to attack with his bludgeon and with his torso in a violent curve.
The best-known example of its type, the Athenian agora was a meeting place and melting pot for all the business of ancient Athens. Debates, legal proceedings and public meetings were all carried out there, as well as worsjip in the numerous temples on the site. Remains of many of the key buildings are still in evidence, while other artifacts found during over seventy years of excavation are housed in the reconstructed South Stoa II, which now serves as a museum.
Each time I visit 
