Roman Sculpture Acquired by MOMA

Metropolitan Museum Of Art Roman Sculpture
Antiques and The Arts Online

New York, NY -- An ancient Roman group statue of great importance and beauty - a depiction of the Three Graces of Greek mythology - has been acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The marble sculpture is a Second Century AD Roman copy of a Greek work from the Second Century BC. Discovered in Rome in 1892, the statue has been on loan to the museum from a private collector since 1992, and has been on view in the center of the Leon Levy and Shelby White Sculpture Court since it opened in 2007.

In making the announcement, Thomas P. Campbell, the museum's director, commented on the history of the composition: "The charming dancelike pose of the Three Graces - who stand in alternating front and back view, with their hands on each other's shoulders - is one of the most famous and enduring compositions known from antiquity. It was first developed in the Second Century BC, continued in popularity in the Renaissance, and has been influential during every subsequent period of Western European art. Thanks to the generous support of several trustees and other good friends of the institution, we are delighted to announce the addition of this superb, extremely well-preserved and beautifully carved work to the Met's encyclopedic collection, where it will continue to delight and inspire future generations."

The sculpture is on view in the center of the Leon Levy and Shelby White Court, where it is displayed with other Roman sculptures derived from classical and Hellenistic models.

The Three Graces are Aglaia (Beauty), Euphrosyne (Mirth) and Thalia (Abundance). They bestow what is most pleasurable and beneficent in nature and society. In mythology, they play an attendant role; their closest connection is with Aphrodite, whom they serve as handmaidens. For ancient authors, the triad also served as an allegory for the cycle of giving, accepting and returning favors, which were described by the ancient Roman philosopher Seneca as the "chief bond of human society."

After its discovery in Rome in 1892 near the ancient Forum of Nerva and Vespasian's Temple of Peace, this sculpture entered the collection of Joachim Ferroni and has since attracted much scholarly attention.

The Three Graces traditionally are shown as nudes with water jars covered by drapery at their feet, a representation that ultimately derives from the famous classical statue of Aphrodite by Praxiteles located at Knidos.



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Greek police seize 2 rare statues from 2 farmers

AP Associated Press
By NICHOLAS PAPHITIS

ATHENS, Greece - Police in southern Greece have seized a rare twin pair of 2,500-year-old marble statues and arrested two farmers who allegedly planned to sell them abroad for euro10 million ($12.43 million), authorities said Tuesday.

Police said two Greeks aged 42 and 48 were arrested in the Peloponnese area late Friday as they were loading the illegally excavated figures of young men into a truck. Authorities are seeking a third man suspected of belonging to a smuggling gang that planned to spirit the 6th century B.C. works out of the country.

"This is a very important find, of fabulous value, and (both statues) were ready to be taken out of Greece," Culture Minister Pavlos Geroulanos said.

Archaeologists said Tuesday the statues are "outstanding works of art" and may have come from a temple or cemetery in a lost ancient city in the Peloponnese region in southern Greece. Both are in excellent condition, but lack sections of their lower legs and were gashed by a plow or digging machinery.

They stand 1.82 meters (5 feet 9 inches) and 1.78 meters (5 feet 8 inches) high, and were probably carved by the same sculptor out of thick-grained island marble between 550-520 B.C, at the height of the archaic period of sculpture.

"They are exactly the same, with a slight variation in hairstyle and a small difference in height," said Nikos Kaltsas, director of the National Archaeological Museum in Athens where the finds were temporarily housed for conservation and study. "The artist may have wanted to produce two similar figures that would form part of a group."

The statues are of the stiff, highly formalized Kouros type widespread in the 7th and 6th centuries B.C. which portrayed gods, heroes or aristocrats and were painted in bright colors. From the 5th century on, Greek sculpture became more fluid and lifelike, culminating in the naturalism of the Hellenistic era.

Such discoveries in good condition are uncommon - about three have turned up during excavations in the past decade. But matching pairs are particularly rare.

Although the precise spot of the find is still unclear, authorities believe it may coincide with the lost ruins of Tenea, a city that according to ancient writers lay between Corinth and Mycenae and was first populated by prisoners of war brought back by victorious Greeks from the Trojan War - recorded in Homer's "Iliad." A similar, but slightly earlier statue discovered in what may have been Tenea's cemetery is displayed in Munich.

Archaeologists hope to find the missing leg sections, because the breaks are recent.

Police chief Lefteris Economou said the arrests followed information from culture ministry officials. He provided no details on the identity of the potential buyers or which country the finds had been heading for.

Antiquities looting is a major problem in Greece, where treasures - by law all state property - can lie inches below farmers' plows or modern buildings, especially in cities like Athens that have been constantly inhabited for thousands of years.

Illegally excavated finds can be impressive to look at, but all the valuable context, which in an organized excavation provides information on their use, date and origin, is lost during hasty looting digs.

"Going after antiquities thieves is our main priority," Geroulanos said. "Work has been done in that direction ... and we are starting to see the first major results."

Dozens of illegally exported finds have been returned to Greece over the past few years, including four masterpieces from the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.



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