Greek bronzes . of sculptors are not so easilychanged as those of poets. We begin with a figure which has been longer and more widely knownthan any other ; and the reason is this, that up to now it is the best copyin existence of a particularly famous statue. We are told that Darius, Kingof Persia, when he sacked the town of Miletus in 494 , carried offfrom a neighbouring temple, long famous for its oracle, a bronze statue ofApollo, the work of a Greek sculptor, Canachos. After a lapse of nearlytwo centuries, when Persia had been forced to yield to the Macedonianconquest, the statue was re
Greek bronzes . of sculptors are not so easilychanged as those of poets. We begin with a figure which has been longer and more widely knownthan any other ; and the reason is this, that up to now it is the best copyin existence of a particularly famous statue. We are told that Darius, Kingof Persia, when he sacked the town of Miletus in 494 , carried offfrom a neighbouring temple, long famous for its oracle, a bronze statue ofApollo, the work of a Greek sculptor, Canachos. After a lapse of nearlytwo centuries, when Persia had been forced to yield to the Macedonianconquest, the statue was returned to Miletus, and thereafter appears onthe coinage of that town, where it is represented as an archaic statue ofApollo holding out a fawn in his right hand. Many instances are known GREEK BRONZES II of statues which had become famous in one way or another, being copiedon local coins ; and when it was remembered that Pliny had described theApollo of Canachos as holding out a deer in one hand, hardly a doubt. Fig. 3.—Bronze Statuette. Apollo of Miletus. British Museum. could remain that the figure on the coins of Miletus was that sameApollo. But the workmanship of the coins is too rude to be of anyartistic use. At this point the statuette comes to our aid. We see at i 12 GREEK BRONZES once that it has been copied from the same original as the coin. Andthough much may be wanting in the spirit, as undoubtedly there is in thedetails, yet we may be thankful for being thus able to realise at least thepose, the proportions, and the general structure of the original. There is, however, one difficulty that ought to be mentioned here,though it is more curious than serious. Pliny says (I quote the transla-tion of Miss Jex-Blake, xxxiv. 75): Kanachos made the nude Apollowhich is named the Lover, and is in the temple at Didyma, of ^ginetanbronze, and with it a stag so poised upon its feet that a thread can bedrawn beneath them while the heel and toe alternately catch the ground,both p
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectbronzesgreek, bookyea
