to ruthaki : a statue of Alexander IV

[azara]

Dear Ruthaki,
I posted this message some time ago, when I learned that you were writing a book about Alexander's son.
The thread where I posted it,however, was already old, so I think it went unnoticed.(If it did not, excuse me).
May I recommend you a site which has to do with Alexander IV? It belongs to a museum in France (at Cap d'Agde) which possesses an extraordinary bronze statue of Lysippean style, which is interpreted as a portrait of Alexander IV by a major scholar of Alexander's iconography, professor Paolo Moreno of Rome University "La Sapienza". Of course it is a hypothesis, but the statue is so disarmingly beautiful that the site is worth having a look (even though it speaks only French!); I wish it could be inspirational for your book. Here is the address:
http://www.mds-agde.com/autresite/expo/sommaire.html From the homepage follow the links on the upper right corner . All the best Azara

[ruthaki]

That is so gorgeous! Thanks for that. He looks a little old for a 13/14 year old but very much like I'd imagine him to look (some similarities to Alexander III, don't you think?)Now here's a good excuse to get that lovely French chef I know to translate something for me. hehehe...

[azara]

I don't think the boy looks much older than the age at which Alexander IV was killed: the musculature is still immature, and so are the bones and muscles of the face.I have some other, and larger, pictures that I'll send you by email; there is also a marble head pratically identical to the statue, and another unfinished head that demonstrates that the "Agde type" of portrait widely circulated in the hellenistic and Roman world. The main arguments which led some scholars to this identification are the exceptional quality of the object (Lysippus was old and lived in Italy, but his school was still active at Cassander's court), and the fact that the boy wears the royal diadem of Macedon, a thing ATG never could do until the age of twenty. Good bye Azara

[abm]

Hi Alessandra,could you please tell me in which article/book Moreno has proposed this identification? Many thanks in advance.regards,abm

[azara]

Hi, Alexander.
The title of the book is : Paolo Moreno: Alessandro Magno - Immagini come Storia -Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato, Roma 2004, pagg. 537, ill. 601
Here is the publisherGÇÖs website with an image of the book:
http://www.librconcipzs.com/PagineD/Cat ... p?ID=30600
Would you like me to send you the images I sent Ruthaki?
All the best Alessandra

[abm]

Hi Alessandra,thank you very much, I did not know that book yet! It would be very kind of you if send me those pictures.regards,
abm

[arsinoe]

Hi Alessandra.I like to know if the book have some portrait of Roxane in mosaico, statue or other.Kisses Amanda.

[azara]

Dear Amanda, unfortunately there is no image of Roxane, because a famous painting of her marriage with Alexander, made by Aetion, got lost and we have only the description of it made by Lucian of Samosata. Here you'll find more complete information about that:
http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/a ... r_t55.html
However, the book shows two paintings found in a Pompeian house (the House of the Golden Bracelet): one is "The marriage of Alexander and Stateira",
the other is "The marriage of Alexander, as Dionysus, and Parysatis". These are Roman copies of originals possibly made by Apelles, the official painter of Alexander's portraits. Unfortunately my scanner is broken and gives no sign of life; as soon as I have it repaired I will be glad to send you these two images, if you are interested. All the best Alessandra
At the last moment I found a reproduction of the first one at:
http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/ency ... 12512.html
(It is the seventh picture of the page).
Either the painter was not a good one, or opinions on female beauty were a little different in antiquity...but this Stateira is definitely ugly!

[abm]

some scholars assume that one of the boscoreale frescoes represents Alexander IV and Rhoxane. Here's a picture of it: http://www.macedonian-heritage.gr/Helle ... 21a.htmlAs you will see, there are a lot of other interpretations of the fresco and Alexander IV and Rhoxane is not the most plausible one in my view.regards,abm

[azara]

In fact I knew that fresco as an allegory of Macedonia and Asia; I didn't know it had been interpreted as a portrait of Alexander IV with his mother, and frankly I am a bit surprised. I thought those two figures were obviously women.
About the "ephebe d'Agde", Moreno thinks the statue was a funeral monument commissioned by the very author of the boy's demise, i.e. Cassander, who granted him also a noble tomb in Aigai. And the sculptor was very good: the figure is deeply melancholic and looks at the observer from a great distance...But let's not forget we have no proof! Bye bye Alessandra

[abm]

Hi Alessandra,as I said, I don't think it's a plausible interpretation either, but I'm sure I've read it somewhere (I think in a review of Billows' Kings and Colonists, but I should check). According to the author young boys and women were depicted in much the same manner in antiquity; I do not know enough about iconography to judge that. I think the interpretation as Europe and Asia, as argued by Billows in "Kings and Colonists" is the most plausible one, but I certainly have not read everything about it.It would be very interesting if the statue was a funeral monument commissioned by Cassander, but indeed, unfortunately we have no proof.regards,Alexander