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Agasias, Son of Menophilus

Συγγραφή : Leka Evridiki (16/10/2002)
Μετάφραση : Nakas Ioannis

Για παραπομπή: Leka Evridiki, "Agasias, Son of Menophilus",
Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Μείζονος Ελληνισμού, Μ. Ασία
URL: <http://www.ehw.gr/l.aspx?id=7038>
Αγασίας του Μηνοφίλου (22/1/2008 v.1) Agasias, Son of Menophilus (2/10/2008 v.1) 
 

1. Origins

The sculptor Agasias, son of Menophelos, came from a family of important Ephesian sculptors. His father, son of Agasias, played a vital role in the development of figurative sculpture in Delos during the second half of the 2nd century BC,1 whereas one of his relatives (maybe his cousin), also named Agasias from Ephesus, son of Dositheos, was the creator of the famous “Gladiator” of the Borghese collection in the Louvre (c. 100 BC).2

2. Agasias in Delos

Although none of Agasias’ works have been safely identified, judging from the inscriptions on the bases of statues at Delos, it is inferred that he is one of the most important representatives of the Late Hellenistic figurative sculpture. Like his father, his career flourished at Delos in the early 1st century BC, where he worked for the island’s Italian community.3 He also created bronze statues, but in Delos he mostly worked as a marble sculptor and created at least 14 statues of Roman dignitaries and Italian merchants.4 Four of these sculptures were damaged in 88 BC, during the suck of Delos by the generals of Mithridates VI Eupator, Archelaus and Metrofanes, and were repaired by Aristandros from Paros, a distant relative of the famous 4th century BC sculptor Skopas.

Agasias was one of the main creators of the sculptural decoration of the Italian Agora, a place where the Italian community of Delos would gather,5 which, apart from statues of Roman dignitaries -on horse or on foot-, it also contained sculptures of Gauls according to the models of the School of Pergamon.6 The famous marble statue of the “Dying Gaul” of the early 1st century BC, now housed in the Athens’ National Archaeological Museum,7 as well as a Gaul’s head in the Delos’ museum are attributed to Agasias.8 These figures greatly remind us of the Gaulic compositions of the School of Pergamon and help us appreciate the sculptor’s style. The celebrated bronze male head from Delos’ “Old Gymnasium”, which is characterized by a profound realism,9 three marble heads from statues of Romans10 and a headless statue of a Roman dignitary with a corselet, also from Delos are also attributed to Agasias.11Agasias collaborated with the sculptor Eutychides from Athens for the construction of the statues of the great podium SE of the Antigonus’ portico in Delos, as well as with the sculptors Dionysius and Timarchides from Athens, for the statues of the Italian Agora.12

3. Agasias in Tenos

After Delos, Agasias worked in another important sanctuary of the Hellenistic period, Poseidon’s and Amphitrite’s sanctuary in Tenos,13 where he created two similar compositions of bronze statues that adorned the base of the great altar.14 Only the huge marble bases are still preserved today in situ, bearing the signature of the sculptor and the votive inscriptions.15 These sculptures represented two different scenes from the quarrel of Eros and Anteros with Nike waiting for the result of the quarrel or preparing to crown the victorious Eros with the victory wreath.16 We cannot, however, determine the exact scenes pictured in Agasias’ compositions, that is whether it was a proper hand-to-hand fight with Eros winning, a scene common in the iconography of Asia Minor during the 1st century BC,17 or whether this was a scene of the claiming of the palm tree, as pictured in Roman relieves: Anteros is trying to detach the palm tree bearing the insignia of Nike from Eros, who is holding the tree already.18 These sculptures, also damaged by Mithridates VI Eupator’s generals in 88/87 BC and repaired in 46-44 BC by the proconsul of Asia P. Servilius Isauricius, were dedicated at the sanctuary of Tenos in the beginning of the 1st century BC by the Italian merchantman Gaius Pandysinus. The choice of Agasias by an Italian is not surprising, since his clientele in Delos was mostly Italian. On the other hand, these sculptures demonstrate that the sculptor’s repertoire was not limited solely to statues.

4. Style

From the works attributed to Agasias it is inferred that his style is greatly influenced by the School of Pergamon in the selection of themes, as well as in the rendering of movement and the anatomy of the figures.19 Nevertheless, this is not a mere imitation but an original renegotiation of the Gaulic themes with powerful realistic elements. With his father Menophelos and Agasias, son of Dositheos, they are the main representatives of the school of Hellenistic plastic of Ephesus, distinguished for its realism and knowledge of anatomy.20Agasias’ workshop played a major role in the adaptation of the Greek sculpture art to the Roman taste with the preservation and renovation of the Pergamon Gaulic themes and with the elaboration of a new type of portrait.

1. For the sculptor Menophelos, son of Agasias, see Marcadé, J., Recueil des signatures de sculpteurs grecs 2 (Paris 1957), no. 73-74; Marcade, J., Au Musée de Délos (BEFAR 215, Paris 1969), p. 371; EAA 4 (1961), p. 1027, “Menophilos (1)”; Moreno, P., Scultura ellenistica 2 (Roma 1994), p.686. Some also believe that Menophelos was the son and not the father of Agasias.

2. Moreno, P., Scultura ellenistica 2 (Roma 1994), p. 683-685; Bourgeois, B. – Pasquier, A., Le Gladiateur Borghése et sa restauration (Paris 1997). Some scholars believe that Agasias, son of Dositheos, is Menophelos’ father, therefore the grandfather of the aforementioned Agasias. See Moreno, P., op.cit., p.686. The relationship between the two homonymous sculptors from Ephesus has been questioned. See Ridgway, B.S., Hellenistic Sculpture 1 (Princeton 1990), p. 297.

3. Delos’ particular economic prosperity during late Hellenistic times had attracted sculptors from various areas to the island, amongst which many from Asia Minor, such as: Voithios from Chalkidona, Menodoros from Mallo, Sopatros from Soloi. Marcadé, J., Au Musée de Délos (BEFAR 215, Paris 1969), p. 80-82.

4. Picard, Ch., “Le sculpteur Agasias d’Ephèse a Délos”, BCH 34 (1910), p. 538-548; Marcade, J., Recueil des signatures de sculpteurs grecs 2 (Paris 1957), no. 4-1 ; Marcadé, J., Au Musée de Délos (BEFAR 215, Paris 1969), p. 80-82.

5. Lapalus, E., L’Agora des Italiens (EAD 19, Paris 1939).

6. For the Gaulic compositions at Delos see J., Au Musée de Délos (BEFAR 215, Paris 1969), p. 119-127, 363-366, 371-374.

7. On the wounded Gaul from the Agora of the Italians in Delos (Athens, National Archaeological Museum cat.no.247) see mainly Reinach, S., “Monuments figurés de Délos (2)”, BCH 8 (1884), p. 178-181, no. 14; Reinach, S., “Le Guerrier de Délos et le Gaulois blessé du Louvre”, BCH 13 (1889), p. 112-130 ; Leroux, G., “Le Guerrier de Délos”, BCH 34 (1910), p. 478-500; Picard, Ch., “Le guerrier blessé de l’Agora des Italiens a Délos”, BCH 56 (1932), p. 491-530, fig. 24-26; Marcadé, J., Au Musée de Délos (BEFAR 215, Paris 1969), p. 119-127, 363-364, 371-373; Bruneau, Ph. – Ducat, J., Guide de Délos 3 (Paris 1983), p. 75-76, fig. 12; Ridgway, B.S., Hellenistic Sculpture 1 (Madison Wisconsin 1990), p. 297-298; Moreno, P., Scultura ellenistica 1 (Roma 1994), p. 302-305, fig. 376, 386; Marcadé, J. (ed.), Sculptures Deliennes (Athènes – Paris 1996), p. 204-205, no. 92.

8. Cat. No. Α 4195; Marcadé, J., Au Musée de Délos (BEFAR 215, Paris 1969), tab. 79.

9. Athens, National Archaeological Museum, Cat. No. 14.612. Michalowski, C., Les Portraits Hellenistiques et Romains (EAD 13, Paris 1932), p. 1-5, fig. 1-2, tab. 1-6; Kleiner, G., MuJb 3, 1 (1950) p. 9-22; Hafner, G., Spathellenistische Bildnisplastik. Versuch einer landschaftlichen Gliederung (Berlin 1954), p. 30-31, no. 2; Marcadé, J., Au Musée de Délos (BEFAR 215, Paris 1969), p. 88-89; Stewart, A., Greek Sculpture. An Exploration (New Haven – London 1990), p. 228, fig. 842; Moreno, P., Scultura ellenistica 2 (Roma 1994), p. 685· Marcadé, J. (ed.), Sculptures Deliénnes (Athènes – Paris 1996), p. 220-221, no. 100.

10. Delos Museum, Cat. No. Α 4188, Α 2912 and Α 4189 (the last two are the most unlikely attributions). Michalowski, C., Les Portraits Hellenistiques et Romains (EAD 13, Paris 1932), p. 11, 14, fig. 6, 9, tab. 10-13; Hafner, G., Spathellenistische Bildnisplastik. Versuch einer landschaftlichen Gliederung (Berlin 1954), p. 32-33, no. 4-6; Marcadé, J., Au Musée de Délos (BEFAR 215, Paris 1969) p. 371-373.

11. Statue of Gaius Bilenus from the portico of Antigonos in Delos. Marcadé, J., Au Musée de Délos (BEFAR 215, Paris 1969), p. 119, 333; Marcadé, J. (ed.), Sculptures Deliénnes (Athènes – Paris 1996), p. 196-197, no. 88.

12. Marcadé, J., Au Musée de Délos (BEFAR 215, Paris 1969), p. 483, 494.

13. Some also believe that Agasias worked in Tenos before going to Delos. Marcadé, J., Recueil des signatures de sculpteurs grecs 2 (Paris 1957), no. 9.

14. Etienne, R., Tenos I: Le sanctuaire de Poseidon et d’Amphitrite (BEFAR 263, Paris 1986), p. 107, 121, 125, 195, 272, 316-317, αρ. 84-85; Etienne, R., Tenos II: Tenos et les Cyclades du milieu du IVe siécle av. J.-C. au milieu du IIIe siécle ap.J.-C. (BEFAR 263 bis, Paris 1990), p. 140, 185.

15. IG 12.5, no. 917; Marcadé, J., Recueil des signatures de sculpteurs grecs 2 (Paris 1957), no. 9.

16. For representations of the quarrel between Eros and Anteros see Schauenburg, Κ., “Erotenspiele”, AW 7.3 (1976), p. 39-52; Schauenburg, Κ., “Erotenspiele”, AW 7.4 (1976), p. 28-85; Carinci, F., “Eros e Anteros, Alcune osservazioni a proposito di un rilievo della Galleria Collona”, RIA 3, 8-9 (1985-1986), p. 63-109, mainly p. 82-83, fig. 8; Moreno, P., Scultura ellenistica 2 (Roma 1994), p. 686-687, fig. 831-833.

17. See the terracota compositions from Myrina, Mollard-Besques, S., Catalogue Raisonné des figurines et reliefs en terre cuite grecs et romains 2, Myrina (Paris 1963), p. 58, no. 72 a, c, e, tab. 72 a, c, e. For more dedications of Eros statues from Asia Minor see Robert, L., “Les Inscriptions”, στο Des Gagniers, J. – Devambez, P. – Kahil, L. – Ginouvès, R. (eds.), Laodicée du Lycos, Le Nymphée (Quebec – Paris 1969), p. 247-364, mainly p. 254-261. Particularly for representationsd of Eros on altars see Robert, J. – Robert, L., in Mélanges I. Levy (1953), p. 571-572.

18. See a bas-relief in Naples from Ischia, Moreno, P., Scultura ellenistica 2 (Roma 1994), fig. 832 and the description of Pausanias 6.23.5 of a bronze composition from the gymnasium of Helis.

19. For Agasias’ style see Marcadé, J., Au Musée de Délos (BEFAR 215, Paris 1969), p. 371-374.

20. For Agasias’ workshop and the Ephesus school of Hellenistic sculpture see Hafner, G., Spathellenistische Bildnisplastik. Versuch einer landschaftlichen Gliederung (Berlin 1954), p. 29-44; Moreno, P., Scultura ellenistica 2 (Roma 1994), p. 683-687.
     
 
 
 
 
 

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