Commentary Prepared by Dr. Julia Lenaghan, Ashmolean Museum

C 212
Demosthenes. Vatican

Roman portrait statue of the orator/politician Demosthenes (384-322 BC). Based on a bronze statue made by Polyeuctos that was set up in the Athenian agora in 280/279 BC at the initiative of Demosthenes’ nephew, Demochares.

Marble
Statue
2.07, head 27.9 cm

Possibly from Tusculum, though Athens has also been suggested. Recorded in 1709 in the inventory of Villa Aldobrandini at Frascati as the "statue of the theater", meaning the theater at Villa Aldobrandini. E. Braun assumed it was from Tusculum which is after all near Frascati but there is no proof for this. Tusculum was first excavated in 1553 and in 1573 the building of Villa Mondragone there revealed much material. The Torlonia family and Cardinal Ludovisi (in 1622) acquired many of the Tusculum statues. The Aldobrandini collection was compiled by Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini around 1600. According to Nibby, however, the Demosthenes statue was taken by Morosini in 1687 from Athens to Venice and entered the Giustiniani collection. This seems improbable since ca. 20 years later it was in Frascati. The statue was purchased from the Aldobrandini in 1823 by Pope Pius VII.
Italy, Vatican, Braccio Nuovo, 2255
Roman version of a statue probably erected in 280/279 BC

Preservation:
The end of the nose, parts of the right eyebrow, areas on the forehead and on the left temple,and part of the neck have been restored in plaster. Areas on the breast, the right upper arm, portions of the ancient part of the right forearm, the lower parts of both forearms, the hands, most of the right foot, and most of the plinth were restored in marble. How much of the scrinium is ancient remains controversial (see Balty). The lower portions of the forearms and hands have since been removed. Much of the statue was broken and has been pieced back together; areas that had broken off include the head, the right shoulder, the mid-section of the right arm, the plinth, the left foot, and the front of the right foot. The statue originally had traces of a red-brown paint.

Description:
The slightly over life-size statue depicts a standing man dressed in a himation and sandals. A scrinium, mainly restoration, is located behind the left foot. The portait head shows an older man with a short beard and a receding hairline. One edge of the himation is tucked under the left arm and hangs down the back of the left side. The main part of the himation is pulled from the left armpit across the front of the body. Its lower edge crosses between the ankles and its upper edge, rolled together, crosses just under the pectorals and tucks under the right armpit. The himation wraps around the back of the body and there its excess material is pulled up to and over the left shoulder. This portion of the himation falls vertically downward at the front of the body; its bottom corner with a small drapery weight rests just above the left knee. The sandals are open and made of numerous straps. At the front of the foot there is an odd double sole. The body weight rests over the left leg. The right leg is bent and turned slightly outwards. Both arms are lowered and the forearms would have gently crossed the body and the hands would have met at the center of the lower abdomen. The arms and the upper chest area are bare. They are emaciated with hanging skin. The clavicle, sternum, and rib cage are visible and the pectorals and biceps are slightly flabby. The right side of the neck features creases that are created by the turn of the head. The head turns to the right and gently downward. The face is oval in shape with widely spaced cheekbones, and a broad jaw line that culminates in a pointed chin. The brow is tall and slopes backward. It has at least two parallel furrows that arch over the eyebrows and dip at the center of the brow. Directly over the eyebrows, the brow bulges and there are several vertical creases. The eyebrows barely arch and hang heavily over the eyes. The eyes are deep and closely set with crow’s feet wrinkles at their outer corners. Across the base of the nose is a deep triangular (with point upward) crease. The base of the nose and the beginning of the ridge are fine and narrow. The naso-labial folds are deep. The upper lip, concealed moustache, protrudes over the horizontal lower lip. The beard is short and without volume; it follows the contour of the face. The hair on the head has more volume than the beard and, made of short curling locks, is distinctly unruly. It is cut around the ears and short at the back of the neck. It recedes more or less evenly from the brow, though at the center of the brow there is a prominent tuft of hair. The upper rims of the ears stick out.

Discussion:
The Vatican statue of a himation-clad older man represents the fourth century BC Athenian politician and orator Demosthenes (384-322 BC). Demosthenes was anti-Macedonian and the political opponent of Aeschines. The Roman statue is almost certainly a version of a posthumous bronze statue erected in Athens in 280/279 BC. The portrait type was extremely popular in the Roman period and is known in almost fifty Roman versions; the majority of these come from the Roman West. A bronze bust found in 1753 at Herculaneum bears the inscribed label Demosthenes and, thus, definitively identifies the portrait type. The Vatican statue is one of five versions of the statue body. A better preserved marble statue with head exist in Copenhagen; full-scale versions in Newby Hall and Brussels preserve the body without the head; and a bronze statuette in New York provides a small-scale version of the entire statue. The Vatican statue is not considered an especially fine rendition of the original type. It is criticized for its dry and perhaps perfunctory treatment of the drapery and body; the drapery folds lack torsion and the body seems amorphous in comparison to the Brussels statue. In addition, the expression of the face has been described as cold. The detail of the pompom-like drapery weight exists in none of the other copies. The date, sculptor, and context of the original statue, on which these Roman period versions are based, are known. Three ancient authors mention a statue of Demosthenes: Pseudo-Plutarch Vita X orat.Demosth. 847a, Pausanias 1.8.2 and 4, and Plutarch Demosthenes 30.5-31.1. From Pseudo-Plutarch we learn that a statue of Demosthenes made by Polyeuktos was erected 42 years after his death at the suggestion of Demosthenes’ nephew, Demochares. This statue was set in the agora in Athens not far from the Altar of the Twelve gods; it was seen there by Pausanias. From Plutarch we learn that the statue was bronze and that the hands were clasped together, a detail that corresponds with the preserved statues. The statue bore an inscription (Ps.Plutarch) that read, “O Demosthenes, had your power been equal to your foresight, then would the Macedonian Ares never have enslaved the Greeks”. Modern scholars have noticed the obvious difference between this statue and the statue of Sophocles (cat.no. C 141) and Demosthenes’ arch-rival Aeschines (cat. no. C 211). The statues of those two prominent Athenians show handsome men, elegantly and effortlessly poised. This striking difference has led to slightly different interpretations of the Demosthenes’ statue within its context. Giuliani proposed that the statue, given its inscription, was intended as a admonishing reminder to the Athenians. The gesture of the clasped hands before the body as well as the downward glance appear on funerary monuments and seemingly expressed sorrow. The extremely furrowed brow was an indication of concern for the city and of the political fervour of the orator. Zanker interprets the statue as a celebration of Demosthenes foresight which was revealed in his public speaking. Thus, the statue shows Demosthenes as a fervent public speaker. The clasped hands and the contracting brow are indications of his emotional involvement that he just manages to control. Unlike the posed artificial statue of the soul-less Aischines, this statue is a depiction of a devoted fiery patriot. Zanker’s analysis differs from the assessment of others primarily in that he sees no mourning or suffering in the stance or in the brow. Worthington attempts to explain the statue’s precise location in the agora. He argues that near the Altar of the Twelve Gods, a statue of Lycurgus had been deliberately placed next to the of Eirene and Ploutos (Peace holding Wealth) (cat. no. C 167) because of Lycurgus’ connection to a prosperous period. The placement of Demosthenes near Lycurgus, he argues, was similarly conscious since Demosthenes had defended the exiled heirs of Lycurgus. J. Lenaghan

Bibliography:
W. Amelung, Die Skulpturen des vaticanischen Museums I (Berlin 1903) 81-83, no. 62, pl. 11 careful full catalogue entry
W. Helbig (H. von Steuben), Führer durch die öffentlichen Sammlungen klassicher Altertumer in Rom I(4th ed) (Tübingen 1963) 332-333, no. 431 brief catalogue entry based on Amelung
G.M.A. Richter, Portraits of the Greeks II (London 1965) 215-223, especially 216, no.1, figs. 1397, 1404-1406 catalogue entry and discussion of the portraits of Demosthenes
J. C. Balty, "Une nouvelle réplique du Démosthènes de Polyeuctos" (BMusBrux 50 1978) 49-74, especially 56, fig. 3 and 15 copy critique of body type of statue
L. Giuliani, Bildnis und Botschaft. Hermeneutische Untersuchungen zur Bildniskunst der römischen Republik (Frankfurt a. M. 1986) 139-140 interpretation of the statue in view of political situation
A. Michaelis, "Die Bildnisse des Demosthenes" (1877), in K. Fittschen, Griechische Porträts (Darmstadt 1988) 79, no. B best discussion of statue’s provenance history
P. Zanker, The Mask of Socrates (Berkeley 1995) 77-78, 83-89 good discussion of portrait statue in conjunction with its context in post-Alexander Athens