In Oxford's Ashmolean museum, there are plaster casts of figures from the Arch of Trajan dating to 114 AD from Beneventum (north east of Naples where Phyrrus fought an inconclusive battle in 275 BC).
One panel shows "a cuirassed military god presents a new recruit to the emperor. The new soldier stands, his feet together: his height is being measured by a wooden frame held by the soldier on the right." The 'military god' looks like a generalised portrait of Alexander.
Alexias wrote:In Oxford's Ashmolean museum, there are plaster casts of figures from the Arch of Trajan dating to 114 AD from Beneventum (north east of Naples where Phyrrus fought an inconclusive battle in 275 BC).
One panel shows "a cuirassed military god presents a new recruit to the emperor. The new soldier stands, his feet together: his height is being measured by a wooden frame held by the soldier on the right." The 'military god' looks like a generalised portrait of Alexander.
Trajan was one of the emperors who deliberately sought to emulate Alexander, if I recall correctly. So I'm not very surprised! Good call.
It would make sense if the message Trajan was trying to get across was "Inspired by Alexander's military deeds? Want to emulate him? Then join my army!"
Thank you, Alexias, for posting this beautiful image.
I think Alexander head is a bit like the one in Pella Museum, but much more expressive, almost ecstatic.
The likeness of the second beautiful image seems to correspond with other images of Alexander, i.e; 1.the lysippos statue where Alexander is holding out his left arm as if to hold something (perhaps a spear, if memory serves me)http://www.louvre.fr/sites/default/file ... xandre.jpg ,though the arm on the statue is cut of mid-arm. 2. Also, the likeness seems to harmonize with the Lysippos painting with Alexander sitting with a thunderbolt resting in his arm http://www.pothos.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3910
The common denominator, to my mind, in these visual instances, would be the the part concerning his eyes and eyebrows; they all seem portrayed in a similar way; the "upturned" eyebrows, the yearning glance - I think it's relatively safe to assume it's the closest we can get to the way he looked.
Found the following at: http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000344727 It is from the book, "The triumphal arch of Trajan at Beneventum. Casts of the sculptures executed for the American school of classical studies in Rome. Catalogue of casts for sale, compiled by A. L. Frothingham." Published approximately 1900 in Rome.
Page 28 and 29
This scene, if correctly interpreted, is unique in Roman art. It represents recruits entering the army, and is a pendant to No. VIII. A radiant youthful ideal figure, in full military costume, representing the Genius of the Army, is presenting a young recruit to Trajan. The youth is being measured. Back of him stands the Genius of the Legion holding its standard. The recruit stands rigidly at attention, with bared feet and straining muscles. The measure over his head is broken, as is the head of the Emperor. Back of the Emperoror are his companions and lictors.
Interesting that "A radiant youthful ideal figure" is thought to look like Alexander by our Pothosians.
amyntoros wrote:
Interesting that "A radiant youthful ideal figure" is thought to look like Alexander by our Pothosians.
You don't think it does?
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These are supposed to be Alexander in the British Museum.
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And robbie's image from the Louvre too is barely discernable as Alexander.
I'm not saying it is an actual portrait, but I do think it is referencing Alexander. What better precedent for Trajan's expansion of the Roman empire than Alexander's conquests? A divine sanction and inspiration for the military life in Roman eyes.
Having said that though, there is a photo here which says that the central figure is Trajan crowned with the oak leaves of victory, distributing lands to his soldiers http://www.dl.ket.org/latin2/historia/e ... netour.htm. This seems wrong as Trajan is usually shown with flat hair and a rather tight-lipped visage.
amyntoros wrote:
Interesting that "A radiant youthful ideal figure" is thought to look like Alexander by our Pothosians.
You don't think it does?
Well ... it does and it doesn't as far as my opinion goes. And, of course, this is only my opinion. The mouth looks waaay too wide and the lips not full enough for an Alexander representation. Plus I've never seen Alexander portrayed with his teeth actually visible. Thing is, I prefer the earlier versions of Alexander such as the bust at Pergamon and the little statuette from Pella. I look at those portrayals and then at this one and I don't really see the comparison. Now, later versions did tend to romanticize Alexander much more - idealized him, if you will - and here the comparison is closer. But is this "radiant youthful ideal figure" referencing Alexander or just showing an idealized face? There are statues/busts of Apollo and Dionysos which also look very much like this one.
I'm not saying you're wrong, btw. Just that it doesn't hit home for me.
amyntoros wrote:
Well ... it does and it doesn't as far as my opinion goes. And, of course, this is only my opinion. The mouth looks waaay too wide and the lips not full enough for an Alexander representation. Plus I've never seen Alexander portrayed with his teeth actually visible. Thing is, I prefer the earlier versions of Alexander such as the bust at Pergamon and the little statuette from Pella. I look at those portrayals and then at this one and I don't really see the comparison. Now, later versions did tend to romanticize Alexander much more - idealized him, if you will - and here the comparison is closer. But is this "radiant youthful ideal figure" referencing Alexander or just showing an idealized face? There are statues/busts of Apollo and Dionysos which also look very much like this one.
I'm not sure it's necessarily supposed to 'be' Alexander; but I would suggest that elements of Alexander's portraits would have underpinned these generic 'idealised figures', especially when it came to Roman emperors who specifically wished to emulate Alexander.
In that Trajan relief, the tilt of the head is reminiscent of Alexander (although, granted, that is largely to do with the figure's overall posture). It does seem to me that there's a smidgeon of anastole on the hair-line, as well?
amyntoros wrote: There are statues/busts of Apollo and Dionysos which also look very much like this one.
I'm not saying you're wrong, btw. Just that it doesn't hit home for me.
Best regards,
It is unlikely to be Dionysus given the context, and this is Apollo from the same set of reliefs (with presumably Athena and Artemis, or their Roman equivalents).
Alexias wrote:
It is unlikely to be Dionysus given the context, and this is Apollo from the same set of reliefs (with presumably Athena and Artemis, or their Roman equivalents).
Sorry, I wasn't clear about this. I never meant to imply that the figure in question could be Apollo or Dionysos, just that I've seen figures and busts of these gods with very similar features. It's the whole "idealization" thing.
amyntoros wrote:
Sorry, I wasn't clear about this. I never meant to imply that the figure in question could be Apollo or Dionysos, just that I've seen figures and busts of these gods with very similar features. It's the whole "idealization" thing.
And robbie's image from the Louvre too is barely discernable as Alexander.
Well, in my view, I think it hits the mark pretty close in terms of his likeness. Perhaps, you were commenting on the quality of the pic, in which case I apologize. Again, compare with the Lysippos thunderbolt painting which in turn seems to be in agreement with the Lysippos bust.
Funny how no one has included the famous ivory life portrait of Alexander, yet... Surely, this must be our most reliable frame of reference?
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