The ''Discobolus'' of
Myron
Myron of Eleutherae ( grc, Μύρων, ''Myrōn'' ), working c. 480–440 BC, was an Athenian sculptor from the mid-5th century BC. He was born in Eleutherae on the borders of Boeotia and Attica. According to Pliny's '' Natural History'', Agelad ...
("
discus thrower
The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an ancient sport, as demonstrated by th ...
", el, Δισκοβόλος, ''Diskobólos'') is an Ancient Greek
sculpture
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
completed at the start of the
Classical period at around 460–450 BC. The sculpture depicts a youthful male athlete throwing a discus. The bronze Greek original is lost. The work is known through its numerous Roman copies, both full-scale ones in marble, which is cheaper than bronze,
[Woodford, Susan. (1982) ''The Art of Greece and Rome''. Cambridge: ]Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press
A university press is an academic publishing hou ...
, p. 16. such as the first to be recovered, the ''Palombara Discobolus'', and smaller scaled versions in bronze.
The discus thrower is depicted as about to release his throw: "by sheer intelligence",
Kenneth Clark
Kenneth Mackenzie Clark, Baron Clark (13 July 1903 – 21 May 1983) was a British art historian, museum director, and broadcaster. After running two important art galleries in the 1930s and 1940s, he came to wider public notice on television ...
observed in ''The Nude'', "Myron has created the enduring pattern of athletic energy. He has taken a moment of action so transitory that students of athletics still debate if it is feasible, and he has given it the completeness of a
cameo."
[ Clark, Kenneth. (2010) ''The Nude: A study in ideal form''. New edition. London: ]The Folio Society
The Folio Society is a London-based publisher, founded by Charles Ede in 1947 and incorporated in 1971. Formerly privately owned, it operates as an employee ownership trust since 2021.
It produces illustrated hardback editions of classic fict ...
, pp. 134–135. The moment thus captured in the statue is an example of ''rhythmos'', harmony and balance. Myron is often credited with being the first sculptor to master this style. Naturally, as always in Ancient Greek athletics, the ''Discobolus'' is completely nude. His pose is said to be unnatural to a human, and is considered as per modern standards a rather inefficient way to throw the discus. Myron represents the body at the moment of its maximum tension and splendor. The body torsion is vigorous and, at the same time, harmonious and delicate. However, the great effort of the athlete is not reflected in his face, which displays only a tenuous concentration. As Clark observes, "to a modern eye, it may seem that Myron's desire for perfection has made him suppress too rigorously the sense of strain in the individual muscles".
[ The other trademark of Myron embodied in this sculpture is how well the body is proportioned the ''symmetria''.
The potential energy expressed in this sculpture's tightly wound pose, expressing the moment of stasis just before the release, is an example of the advancement of Classical sculpture from Archaic. The torso shows no muscular strain, however, even though the limbs are outflung.
]
Reputation in the past
Myron
Myron of Eleutherae ( grc, Μύρων, ''Myrōn'' ), working c. 480–440 BC, was an Athenian sculptor from the mid-5th century BC. He was born in Eleutherae on the borders of Boeotia and Attica. According to Pliny's '' Natural History'', Agelad ...
's ''Discobolus'' was long known from descriptions, such as the dialogue in Lucian of Samosata
Lucian of Samosata, '; la, Lucianus Samosatensis ( 125 – after 180) was a Hellenized Syrian satirist, rhetorician and pamphleteer who is best known for his characteristic tongue-in-cheek style, with which he frequently ridiculed superstiti ...
's work ''Philopseudes
''The Lover of Lies'', also known as ''The Doubter'' or ''Philopseudes'' ( el, Φιλοψευδὴς ἢ Ἀπιστῶν), is a frame story written by the Greeks, Greek satirist Lucian of Samosata. It is written in the Attic dialect of ancient Gr ...
'':
''Discobolus'' and ''Discophorus''
Prior to this statue's discovery, the term ''Discobolus'' had been applied in the 17th and 18th centuries to a standing figure holding a discus, a ''Discophoros
The ''Discophoros'', also spelled ''Discophorus'' (Greek – " Discus-Bearer"), was a bronze sculpture by the classical Greek sculptor Polyclitus, creator of the ''Doryphoros'' and ''Diadumenos'', and its many Roman marble copies. (It is not, ...
'', which Ennio Quirino Visconti
Ennio Quirino Visconti (November 1, 1751 – February 7, 1818) was an Italian antiquarian and art historian, papal Prefect of Antiquities, and the leading expert of his day in the field of ancient Roman sculpture. His son, Pietro Ercole Visconti, e ...
identified as the ''Discobolus'' of Naukydes of Argos
Naukydes of Argos (4th century BCE) was a Greek sculptor from Argos.
Taught under Polykleitos, he created a statue of gold and ivory of Hebe for the temple of Hera in Argos; also, statues of Hecate, Hermes, of the poet Erinna, and Phrixus. The d ...
, mentioned by Pliny
Pliny may refer to:
People
* Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'')
* Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...
(Haskell and Penny 1981:200).
''Discobolus Palombara'' or ''Lancellotti''
The ''Discobolus Palombara'', the first copy of this famous sculpture to have been discovered, was found in 1781. It is a 1st-century AD copy of Myron
Myron of Eleutherae ( grc, Μύρων, ''Myrōn'' ), working c. 480–440 BC, was an Athenian sculptor from the mid-5th century BC. He was born in Eleutherae on the borders of Boeotia and Attica. According to Pliny's '' Natural History'', Agelad ...
's original bronze. Following its discovery at a Roman property of the Massimo family, the Villa Palombara on the Esquiline Hill
The Esquiline Hill (; la, Collis Esquilinus; it, Esquilino ) is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. Its southernmost cusp is the ''Oppius'' ( Oppian Hill).
Etymology
The origin of the name ''Esquiline'' is still under much debate. One view is ...
, it was initially restored by Giuseppe Angelini; the Massimo installed it in their Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne
The Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne is a Renaissance palace in Rome, Italy.
History
The palace was designed by Baldassarre Peruzzi in 1532–1536 on a site of three contiguous palaces owned by the old Roman Massimo family and built after arson de ...
and then at Palazzo Lancellotti
A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...
. The Italian archaeologist Giovanni Battista Visconti
Giovanni Battista Visconti or Giovanni Battista Antonio Visconti (17222 September 1784) was an Italian archaeologist and museum curator.
Biography
Giovanni Battista Visconti was born in 1722.
After the murder of Johann Joachim Winckelmann in 1 ...
identified the sculpture as a copy from the original of Myron. It was instantly famous, though the Massimo jealously guarded access to it (Haskell and Penny 1981:200).
In 1937, Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
negotiated to buy it, and eventually succeeded in 1938, when Galeazzo Ciano
Gian Galeazzo Ciano, 2nd Count of Cortellazzo and Buccari ( , ; 18 March 1903 – 11 January 1944) was an Italian diplomat and politician who served as Foreign Minister in the government of his father-in-law, Benito Mussolini, from 1936 until 19 ...
, Minister of Foreign Affairs, sold it to him for five million lire, over the protests of Giuseppe Bottai
Giuseppe Bottai (3 September 1895 – 9 January 1959) was an Italian journalist, and member of the National Fascist Party of Benito Mussolini.
Early life
Born in Rome, Giuseppe was son of Luigi, a wine dealer with republican sympathies, and Ele ...
, Minister of Education, and the scholarly community. It was shipped by rail to Munich and displayed in the Glyptothek
The Glyptothek () is a museum in Munich, Germany, which was commissioned by the Bavarian King Ludwig I of Bavaria, Ludwig I to house his collection of Ancient Greek art, Greek and Roman art, Roman sculptures (hence γλυπτο- ''glypto-'' "sculp ...
; it was returned in 1948. It is now in the National Museum of Rome
The National Roman Museum (Italian: ''Museo Nazionale Romano'') is a museum, with several branches in separate buildings throughout the city of Rome, Italy. It shows exhibits from the pre- and early history of Rome, with a focus on archaeological ...
, displayed at the Palazzo Massimo.
''Townley Discobolus''
After the discovery of the ''Discobolus Palombara'' a second notable ''Discobolus'' was excavated, at Hadrian's Villa
Hadrian's Villa ( it, Villa Adriana) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site comprising the ruins and archaeological remains of a large villa complex built c. AD 120 by Roman Emperor Hadrian at Tivoli outside Rome. The site is owned by the Republic of ...
in 1790, and was purchased by the English antiquary and art dealer established in Rome, Thomas Jenkins, at public auction
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
in 1792. (Another example, also found at Tivoli at this date, was acquired by the Vatican Museums
The Vatican Museums ( it, Musei Vaticani; la, Musea Vaticana) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of ...
.) The English connoisseur Charles Townley
Charles Townley FRS (1 October 1737 – 3 January 1805) was a wealthy English country gentleman, antiquary and collector, a member of the Towneley family. He travelled on three Grand Tours to Italy, buying antique sculpture, vases, coins, manu ...
paid Jenkins £400 for the statue, which arrived at the semi-public gallery Townley commissioned in Park Street, London, in 1794. The head was wrongly restored, as Richard Payne Knight
Richard Payne Knight (11 February 1751 – 23 April 1824) of Downton Castle in Herefordshire, and of 5 Soho Square,History of Parliament biography London, England, was a classical scholar, connoisseur, archaeologist and numismatist best k ...
soon pointed out, but Townley was convinced his was the original and better copy.
It was bought for the British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
, with the rest of Townley's marbles, in July 1805.
Other copies
Other Roman copies in marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...
have been recovered, and torsos that were already known in the 17th century but that had been wrongly restored and completed, have since been identified as further repetitions after Myron's model. For one such example, in the early 18th century Pierre-Étienne Monnot
Pierre-Étienne Monnot (9 August 1657 – 24 August 1733) was a French sculptor from the Franche-Comté who settled in Rome in 1687 for the rest of his life. He was a distinguished artist working in a late- Baroque idiom for international client ...
restored a torso that is now recognized as an example of Myron's ''Discobolus'' as a ''Wounded Gladiator'' who supports himself on his arm as he sinks to the ground; the completed sculpture was donated before 1734 by Pope Clement XII
Pope Clement XII ( la, Clemens XII; it, Clemente XII; 7 April 16526 February 1740), born Lorenzo Corsini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 July 1730 to his death in February 1740.
Clement presided over the ...
to the Capitoline Museums, where it remains.
Yet another copy was discovered in 1906 in the ruins of a Roman villa at Tor Paterno in the former royal estate of Castel Porziano, now also conserved in the Museo Nazionale Romano.
In the 19th century, plaster copies of ''Discobolos'' could be found in many large academic collections, now mostly dispersed.
'' Bodies: The Exhibition'' includes a recreation of the ''Discobolus''. The ''Discus Thrower'' is plastinated human corpse posed like the original sculpture, discus included.
See also
* Sport in ancient Greek art
Athletics were an important part of the cultural life of Ancient Greeks. Depictions of boxing and bull-leaping can be found back to the Bronze Age. Buildings were created for the sole use of athletics including stadia, palaestrae, and gymnasiu ...
* ''Discobolus'' (Harvard University)
* ''Discus Thrower'' (Washington, D.C.)
*
Notes and references
External links
{{commons category, Discobolus
Myron's Discobolus
A discussion about the sculpture between Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker on video at Khan Academy
Khan Academy is an American non-profit educational organization created in 2008 by Sal Khan. Its goal is creating a set of online tools that help educate students. The organization produces short lessons in the form of videos. Its website also in ...
/Smarthistory
British Museum collection record
GR 1805.7-3.43 (Sculpture 250).
(German), 69-30/SH 948
Capitoline Museum collection record
MC0241
3D preview
1781 archaeological discoveries
1790 archaeological discoveries
Townley collection
Sculptures of the Vatican Museums
Collections of the National Roman Museum
Roman copies of 5th-century BC Greek sculptures
Ancient Greek athletic art
Ancient Greek bronze statues of the classical period
Archaeological discoveries in Italy
Sculptures of sports
Nude sculptures