The ’Massimino Farnese’, A Polykleitan TypeNow that the head of the ’Massimino Farnese’ has been identified as portraying Marcus Nonius Balbo and information has been gathered from 18th-century excavation journals, there is general consensus that the head of the statue, which had been torn inadvertently from a tuff bank in the course of excavations in Herculaneum by Duke d’Elboeuf in 1710-1711, was relocated by Weber on February 13, 1768 and that the body was recovered on April 16 of the same year. Hence, the statue could be thought of as an honorary portrait of Marcus Nonius Balbo in heroic nudity. Actually, though, it is not at all certain that the head belongs to that body; indeed, the presence of integrations due to modern restorations in the neck area would suggest the contrary. The body of the statue, which is distinct from the Doryphoros type only for a black chlamys over the left shoulder, might be one of the best marble replicas from the Roman Age of the bronze archetype of Polykleitos’ Hermes.
In seguito al riconoscimento della testa del ‘Massimino Farnese’ quale ritratto di Marco Nonio Balbo e alla rilettura delle notizie riportate nei diari di scavo settecenteschi si afferma concordemente che la testa della statua, strappata inavvertitamente dal banco tufaceo nel corso degli scavi ercolanesi del duca d’Elboeuf (1710-1711), fu ritrovata il 13 febbraio 1768 dal Weber, mentre il corpo fu recuperato il 16 aprile dello stesso anno. La statua costituirebbe, per tanto, un ritratto onorario di Marco Nonio Balbo in nudità eroica. Tuttavia, la pertinenza della testa al corpo non è affatto certa, anzi, la presenza di integrazioni dovute a restauri moderni nella zona della nuca e del collo, lascerebbe pensare il contrario. Il corpo della statua, che si distingue dal tipo del ‘Doriforo’ soltanto per la presenza di una clamide nera sulla spalla sinistra, potrebbe costituire la migliore tra le repliche marmoree di epoca romana dell’archetipo bronzeo dell’Hermes di Policleto.
Il "Massimino Farnese": un tipo policleteo
FRANCIOSI, Vincenzo
2019-01-01
Abstract
The ’Massimino Farnese’, A Polykleitan TypeNow that the head of the ’Massimino Farnese’ has been identified as portraying Marcus Nonius Balbo and information has been gathered from 18th-century excavation journals, there is general consensus that the head of the statue, which had been torn inadvertently from a tuff bank in the course of excavations in Herculaneum by Duke d’Elboeuf in 1710-1711, was relocated by Weber on February 13, 1768 and that the body was recovered on April 16 of the same year. Hence, the statue could be thought of as an honorary portrait of Marcus Nonius Balbo in heroic nudity. Actually, though, it is not at all certain that the head belongs to that body; indeed, the presence of integrations due to modern restorations in the neck area would suggest the contrary. The body of the statue, which is distinct from the Doryphoros type only for a black chlamys over the left shoulder, might be one of the best marble replicas from the Roman Age of the bronze archetype of Polykleitos’ Hermes.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.