Gallery of Ancient Sculptures. (Heads) [ZNr-747-ZNr-753, Main Hall]
A gallery of sculptures modeled on antique sculptures, in white marble. The sculptures are copies made in Italian workshops from the late 18th to the early 20th century. They depict busts of famous rulers, scholars, and heroes from the history and culture of ancient Greece and Rome. In the modern period and until the early 20th century, art and architecture continually returned to the classical canon of beauty. This phenomenon also fueled the demand for ancient sculptures. As a result, the art market at the time was flooded with high-quality pieces. Archaeological discoveries in the 18th century contributed to this popularity. In Poland, sculpture galleries similar to the museum’s one adorned the interiors and gardens of aristocratic residences. This trend was popularized by King Stanisław August Poniatowski. A great lover of art, he brought copies of the most popular ancient sculptures to Poland. He employed Italian sculptors, who commissioned him to create numerous works. In the gallery of ancient sculptures, from the left, the first on display is a bust of Marcus Tullius Cicero, who lived from 106 to 43 BCE. The copy was made in the 19th century in an unknown Italian workshop. Cicero was a prominent Roman writer, philosopher, orator, and politician. He exerted a significant influence on modern European literature, including Polish Renaissance writers. The original sculpture is located in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Another sculpture, known as a portrait of Seneca, was created in the Florentine workshop of Antonio Frillo in the early 20th century. The original of this sculpture is located in the National Museum in Naples. Until the early 19th century, the portrait of an elderly man depicted was repeatedly identified as Seneca. Today, it is known to be a likeness of Aristophanes, a Greek comedian from the turn of the 5th and 4th centuries BCE. The next sculpture depicts Homer. The copy was created in the aforementioned Firlla workshop in Florence in the early 20th century. Homer was likely born in Smyrna or on the island of Chios in the 8th century BCE. He is remembered as the oldest known European poet, author of the epic poems Iliad and Odyssey, the comic epic Batrachomyomachy, and the Homeric Hymns. The next bust depicts Augustus in armor. The workshop and artist of the sculpture are unknown; it was certainly created in Italy in the second half of the 19th century or the early 20th century. Augustus was the first emperor of the Roman Empire, ruling from 30 BCE to 14 CE. Augustus’ reign ushered in an era of relative peace, known in literature as the “Golden Age.” He contributed to the expansion and beautification of Rome. The Przemyśl bust is a copy of the upper part of an ancient statue – currently located in the Vatican Museum – Braccio Nuovo. In the gallery of ancient dignitaries, only one woman occupies a place – Empress Sabina. The sculpture was created in an unknown workshop, likely in Florence, in the late 18th or 19th century. Vibia Sabina was the wife of Hadrian, Emperor of Rome, who reigned from 117 to 138 CE. Many different likenesses of Sabina have survived. The one on display in the museum has an unusual hairstyle – it was characteristic of the fashion during the reign of the Flavian dynasty from 69 to 96 CE. Colloquially known as the “wasp’s nest.” After her death, Empress Sabina was included among the Roman gods. The next sculpture depicts a bust of Menelaus. The sculpture was created in an unknown Italian workshop in the 18th century. The bust is a fragment of an ancient group depicting Menelaus holding the dead body of Patroclus. Both figures are heroes of the Trojan War described in Homer’s Iliad. The Greek artist’s original sculpture dates from the first half of the 2nd century BCE. In subsequent centuries, many versions were created, with altered facial or helmet details. The Przemyśl sculpture is closest to the 16th-century version of the monument displayed in the Loggia del Lanzi in Florence. In other collections, identical busts are interpreted as an image of Ajax or the Liberator’s Head. The final sculpture in the gallery is Dionysus. The work, signed by Alexander Tippel, was created in 1786 in Rome. In Greek mythology, Dionysus was the god of fertility, wine, and the deity of wildlife. The son of Zeus and the mortal Semele. In art, Dionysus has been depicted in various ways, as a mature, obese man, and at other times as a beautiful youth. The bust of Dionysus on display depicts a young man with perfect, androgynous facial features. The man has long, crimped hair, tied with a ribbon and adorned with ivy sprigs. This stylization of Dionysus’s image, for some time, raised doubts. Historically, the depiction has been interpreted as Ariadne, Dionysus’ wife. However, there is another work that possesses similar features and likely served as a model for the Przemyśl Dionysus. This is the Dionysus statue from the 2nd century AD in the collection of the Borghese Gallery in Rome. This sculpture is a copy of a Greek statue from the 4th century BC.