One of the most interesting pieces from last week was The Rape of the Sabine Women, which is located in the Conservators' Apartment of the Capitoline Museum in the Hall of the Horatii and Curiatii. From a historical standpoint, the legend associated with this painting would suggest that Rome was not always founded on the most noble of terms. The legend about the abduction and rape of the Sabine women leads us to the conclusion that great cities are not always founded on great morals. The fresco is located next to other frescoes of ancient Rome, such as Finding of the She-Wolf with Romolus (sic) and Romulus Traces the Boundaries of Rome (museicapitolini.org). The Rape of the Sabine Women was created 1635-1636 C.E. by Giuseppe Cesari, also known as Cavalier d'Arpino. Legend tells us that the newly-found Rome was in desperate need of women to populate the young city. Neighbors were invited for a grand feast, and they were expressly told to bring daughers and sisters (Blue Guide 58). Their men were occupied with games, and the women were locked up on the Capitoline Hill (59). However, the Roman who was given the key, Tarpeia, opened the doors to the Sabine men. Even though it was in their favor, the Sabines despised the fact that she betrayed her country. They subsequently killed her.
The depiction above concerns the actual raping of the Sabine women. It struck me as disgusting that a country that was so great and still is a world power could have started from such low morals. However, as I learn more about ancient Rome through my other classes, I realize that many evil and cruel things were hidden in the underbelly of Rome's allure. For example, thousands of people and animals were killed in the Colosseum, and the Romans sequestered the Jews into ghettoes. I look forward to finding out the little-known side of Roman history, one in which Rome continually acts against morals, even if it is slightly disturbing.
Another piece that amazed me was the bust of Medusa by Gian Lorenzo Bernini from the Conservators' Apartment in the Hall of the Geese. This picture came in a little squished, but you can see that she has snakelike hair and an anguished face. I thought this picture is significant historically because she was one of the first to be portrayed with passion and emotion.This is an example, according to our guide, of the Baroque movement in the fifth decade of the 17th century (museicapitolini.org). Greeks would have sculpted Medusa as perfect and calm, but Bernini chose to express her true emotions. It's made of white marble with the dimensions 50 x 41 x 38 centimeters. Medusa's passion can be traced to the legends and stories about her. In this way the iconology can help us to evaluate this piece. In Ovid's Metamorphosis, Medusa is the most deadly, and at the same time, most beautiful of the Gorgons. These feminine creatures were monstrous and could turn anyone who looked into their eyes into stone. Medusa gets her snakelike hair in this bust from one of Ovid's myths: Minerva is said to have transformed Medusa's gorgeous blonde hair into ugly snakes because Medusa had intercourse with Neptune in a temple.
Though she has a beautiful face, Medusa realizes what is happening to her and that moment is captured in stone: "the writhing serpents in her hair paralyse and her expression of pain and anguish are forever captured in marble" (museicapitoloni.org). This expression of pain makes the piece stand out in comparison with the many other busts that I saw in the Capitoline Museum. Without this critical piece of Bernini's work, art would have probably moved less easily from Greek classicism to the Baroque style, in my opinion. This Baroque style is preferable to me because it can include the passions of human emotion.
http://en.museicapitolini.org/museo/restauri/restauro_del_busto_di_medusa_di_gian_lorenzo_bernini
No comments:
Post a Comment