ART ROMAIN, IER - IIEME SIECLE APRES J.C.

Details

MINOTAURE EN MARBRE
ART ROMAIN, IER - IIEME SIECLE APRES J.C.
Finement sculpté, la tête de taureau de style naturaliste, inclinée vers le sol et sur la gauche, au pelage ondulant sur la tête, les yeux en amande protubérants, le museau allongé et les naseaux nettement percés, présentant de profondes encoches des cornes aujourd'hui manquantes, la peau du cou formant des plis à la jointure du torse humain, se tenant à l'origine debout, le poids du corps reposant sur la jambe gauche, la jambe droite avancée, l'épaule gauche abaissée, les muscles du flanc gauche contractés, la cuisse droite présentant une mortaise carrée pour attache
Hauteur : 104.8 cm. (41¼ in.)

Provenance

Collection privée française, Saint Tropez, années 1970
Galerie Akko van Acker, Paris, 1985.

Special notice

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Further details

A ROMAN MARBLE MINOTAUR
CIRCA 1ST-2ND CENTURY A.D.
The hybrid monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man, depicted with his musculature and details of the head finely sculpted, the head angled down and to his left, with the skin rippling along the neck at the merge of the two species, the naturalistic bull head with curly hair along the poll, bulging almond-shaped eyes, an elongated muzzle and deeply drilled nostrils, deep recesses for the separately-made and now-missing horns, originally standing with his weight on his left leg, his right advanced, his left shoulder lowered, compressing the muscles along his left side, the right thigh with a finished surface on the underside and a square mortise for further attachment

According to Greek mythology, the Minotaur was the offspring of Pasiphaë, the wife of King Minos of Crete, and a bull. King Minos kept the bull in a labyrinth beneath the royal palace, offering to him as feed a tribute of seven youths and seven maidens from Athens. The Athenian hero Theseus came to Crete in the third group of victims. With the help of Mino's daughter, Ariadne, he dispatched the monster and escaped from the labyrinth.

The encounter between Theseus and the Minotaur was a favorite of Athenian vase-painters in black figure during the 6th century B.C. See, for example, fig. 16, p. 91 in Tsiafakis,"\KPELWRA\k" Fabulous Creatures and/or Demons of Death?" in Padgett, ed., The Centaur's Smile, The Human Animal in Early Greek Art. The myth has continued to be depicted in the artistic tradition throughout history, fascinating artists including Rodin, Dali and Picasso.

The subject is preserved from antiquity in a few examples in marble, thought to reflect a marble group of Theseus and the Minotaur attributed to Myron. For two such examples, both positioned differently from the present piece, see no. 169 in Kaltsas, Sculpture in The National Archaeological Museum, Athens and no. 137 in Giuliano, et al., Museo Nazionale Romano, Le Sculture.

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Lot Essay

Selon la mythologie grecque, le Minotaure était le fruit de l'union de Pasiphaé, femme de Minos, roi de Crète, et d'un taureau. Minos emprisonna le taureau dans un labyrinthe, situé dans les sous-sols de son palais, et lui donnait en offrande sept garçons et sept filles d'Athènes, que le taureau dévorait. Thésée se glissa dans le troisième convoi en partance pour la Crète. Grâce à l'aide de la fille de Minos, Ariane, il vainquit le taureau et ressortit du labyrinthe.

La rencontre du héros et du monstre à tête de taureau était un sujet prisé des peintres de figures noires athéniens, au sixième siècle avant J.C.. Voir Tsiafakis, "'\KPELWRA\k' Fabulous Creatures and/or demons of Death?", p. 91, fig. 16, et Padgett ed., The Centaur's Smile, The Human Animal in Early Greek Art. Ce mythe est resté un grand thème dans l'histoire de l'art, dont se sont inspirés de nombreux artistes, tels Rodin, Dali et Picasso.

Quelques exemplaires en marbre nous sont parvenus de l'antiquité, inspirés d'un groupe représentant Thésée et le Minotaure et attribué à Myron. Pour deux exemples de ce type, mais dans des poses différentes à celui que nous présentons, voir Kaltsas, Sculpture in the National Archaeological Museum, Athens, no. 169 et Giuliano, et al., Museo Nazional Romano, Le Sculture, no. 137

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