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Karen If as attested Lysipos was Alexanders favourite and most Accurate Sculpture..And Alexander did think he caught his likeness. Your picture give or take the nose maybe me be assumed is what Alexander looked like.

The picture looks no older than 25 and I see no real strain on the face.

kenny

Well done Karen, I'm rather impressed with the life youve brought into the Alexander bust. I tend to agree with Athenas Owl re. hair colour, and I may have given his face a bit more of a tan (personal preferance), other wise it's quite scary how life like it is.


I know it's been discussed a million times before on the forum, but where do we get the David Bowie eyes from again? Sorry for the silly question, I can't be bothered searching through past posts.



Once again, fantastic effort!

cheers!

Karen, Your skill is overwhelming. Just a beautiful portrait! Congratulations! It is so lifelike that it almost breathes. Thanks so much for sharing...Jan

I printed a copy of this beautiful portrait! What a time! Thanks, Karen, so much!

The point at which it became a bit scary to me was when I added the pupils of the eyes -- that's what makes a picture alive. What would he look like? My aim was to make the eyes look right at you, as if he were having a conversation with you... also so that if you move around, they seem to follow you around.

Jan, you mention printing, and that brings to mind the point of copyright... I did this for myself, not for any pay, so I don't mind people copying it and passing it on -- but PLEASE CREDIT ME if you do. Who knows, maybe someone will want to pay me for doing something of this nature... ...thanks in advance.

Warmly,
Karen

Hi Beatriki,

Beatriki wrote:

karen wrote:The person to argue with if you don't think it looks like Alexander would be Lysippos... possibly... or whoever carved the Pergamon head.

I don't think Lyssipos has carved that bust, he was the creator of the superb Azara Herm (well, the bust that the Azara Herm copied), and to me it is much, much better than the Pergamon head, and of course is more alike to the image of Alexander portrayed in coins and so on...

I believe that the Azara herm has an inscription which says that it is a copy of a work by Lysippos. Now, the Pergamun bust is my favorite (I'm so glad Karen chose to work with it ) but I suppose one could argue that it looks so dissimilar to the Azara Herm that they couldn't both be by the same artist. But has anyone seen this Alexander bust before, also credited to Lysippos?



Not quite the same face as the herm, huh? I can't recall having seen this image before, btw.

Best regards,

Actually, the Azara bust has roman characteristics. And of course it was made by a roman. I dont know if it is an exact replica of a bust by Lyssipos. It reminds me of a Roman emperor rather than Alexander.

How did they reach the conclusion that this bust was a replica of a Lyssipos' one? What were the evidence suggesting that?

amyntoros wrote:Hi Beatriki,

Beatriki wrote:

karen wrote:The person to argue with if you don't think it looks like Alexander would be Lysippos... possibly... or whoever carved the Pergamon head.

I don't think Lyssipos has carved that bust, he was the creator of the superb Azara Herm (well, the bust that the Azara Herm copied), and to me it is much, much better than the Pergamon head, and of course is more alike to the image of Alexander portrayed in coins and so on...

I believe that the Azara herm has an inscription which says that it is a copy of a work by Lysippos. Now, the Pergamun bust is my favorite (I'm so glad Karen chose to work with it ) but I suppose one could argue that it looks so dissimilar to the Azara Herm that they couldn't both be by the same artist. But has anyone seen this Alexander bust before, also credited to Lysippos?



Not quite the same face as the herm, huh? I can't recall having seen this image before, btw.

Best regards,

Hi Amyntoros,

I also like Pergamon's bust (though it's not one of my favorites), but to my personal opinion, Karen's reconstruction doesn't look much like it, she chose the most difficult bust to reconstruct, maybe that's why. The expression on the face, and specially on his eyes, isn't Alexander's... I didn't express myself correctly, sorry

The bust you've posted is also really beautiful, you can see it has been made by Lyssipos. I do find that it looks like to the Azara Herm: the lips, the shape of the face and the eyes... but I miss the nose, as always

Kisses, Beatriki

Efstathios wrote:Actually, the Azara bust has roman characteristics. And of course it was made by a roman. I dont know if it is an exact replica of a bust by Lyssipos. It reminds me of a Roman emperor rather than Alexander.

How did they reach the conclusion that this bust was a replica of a Lyssipos' one? What were the evidence suggesting that?

Do you doubt it? I mean, look at it, it's like you were watching the real Alexander! It's really well made! Most people say that it is the closest representation of Alexander we have today, and I agree

Kisses, Beatriki

hI

I always imagined the gaze would be away and looking far and beyond. Even looking down pondering.

Kenny

Beatriki wrote:

Efstathios wrote:Actually, the Azara bust has roman characteristics . . . How did they reach the conclusion that this bust was a replica of a Lyssipos' one? What were the evidence suggesting that?

Do you doubt it? I mean, look at it, it's like you were watching the real Alexander! It's really well made! Most people say that it is the closest representation of Alexander we have today, and I agree

I think what we have here is strong demonstration of what has often been said - everyone has their own Alexander. This seems to apply equally whether we are talking about his image or his personality. Yes, many people do say that the Azara Herm is the closest representation of Alexander that has survived, but others don't want to accept this. For example, I don't hate it, but it's definitely not the face I picture when I think of him. And what about all the people that prefer the romanticized, longer haired portrayals? We are able have our preferences simply because there are so many variations in the portrayals, even the ones made close to Alexander's lifetime. I hold to the same opinion as Efstathios that the herm looks far too much like a typical Roman emperor. And it is a copy, after all. We have Greek originals which have survived that look somewhat different. Which means, IMO, that we can happily argue preferences, but some of us will never be convinced that the herm is the most accurate portrayal, no matter what the experts may say.

Best regards,

Hi Karen, No, I won't be using this work for publication at all, and I would ask your permission first anyway. I just keep a folder of prints that I collect at the library for my own personal use. The time I had is that I had to ask the librarian for help, and we had a doozy of a time with the machines, eating up money and spitting it back to me. Finally, we got one single copy made, and I cherish it. It is really so well done.

(Now I am going to confide the rest of this story to you privately, but not to worry. You would get full credit as I have found your initials at the bottomof the work, and find them to be quite artistic and unique! Just beautiful!)

By the way Karen, the reconstruction you made, is really good. Although i think this is not how he must have looked like exactly, it is a nice one. Try to make more if you can, of other busts as well. I have a bust in mind that i will try to paint in color. I have an artistic vein, although i think it will be difficult to do this in pholotoshop, but i'll give it a try.

amyntoros wrote:

Beatriki wrote:

Efstathios wrote:Actually, the Azara bust has roman characteristics . . . How did they reach the conclusion that this bust was a replica of a Lyssipos' one? What were the evidence suggesting that?

Do you doubt it? I mean, look at it, it's like you were watching the real Alexander! It's really well made! Most people say that it is the closest representation of Alexander we have today, and I agree

I think what we have here is strong demonstration of what has often been said - everyone has their own Alexander. This seems to apply equally whether we are talking about his image or his personality. Yes, many people do say that the Azara Herm is the closest representation of Alexander that has survived, but others don't want to accept this. For example, I don't hate it, but it's definitely not the face I picture when I think of him. And what about all the people that prefer the romanticized, longer haired portrayals? We are able have our preferences simply because there are so many variations in the portrayals, even the ones made close to Alexander's lifetime. I hold to the same opinion as Efstathios that the herm looks far too much like a typical Roman emperor. And it is a copy, after all. We have Greek originals which have survived that look somewhat different. Which means, IMO, that we can happily argue preferences, but some of us will never be convinced that the herm is the most accurate portrayal, no matter what the experts may say.

Best regards,

Hi Amyntoros,

Of course we all have our image of Alexander, which can be very different from one person to another Personally, I adore the Azara Herm and the Issus Mosaic, the less idealized, others don't, it's a matter of preferences. The same with the reconstruction: don't misinterpret me, Karen did a great job, the picture is quite good but it is not my Alexander.

Kisses, Beatriki

Amyntoros, I don't think I've ever seen that bust before, but I saw a half-statue with a face that looked very similar on the cover of a book... J.C. Fuller, I think.

I picked the Pergamon bust, by the way, because of all the portraits, to me it's the only one that looks like a real person. The rest all strike me as stylized -- including the Azara herm, which also, to me, looks oddly exaggerated or distorted. (To Beatriki: first thing you have to do with one of these is always a nose-job ) Now it may be that Alexander was such a handsome devil that an accurate bust of him would look stylized. But the existence of the Pergamon bust suggests otherwise.

Next one I'll do, if I do more, will be the bust that now lives in the Akropolis in Athens, which shows a face that seems much younger, with very intense eyes.

Jan, my point re publication was posted on a site visible to everyone with an Internet connection. I know that you feel a lot of messages are directed at you in particular, but this one wasn't.

Warmly,
Karen