Physical description
Philoctetes. Relief in white marble inlaid with red and purplish grey breccia marble. The relief is framed at the top and sides by a flat border; at the base is a shallow projecting platform. To the left there is a step inlaid with coloured marble. Philotetes, a bearded male nude carved almost in the round, is seated on a tree trunk which rises from the platform. He faces to the left with his right leg extended across the relief and his right foot raised on the projecting step. With his left hand he clasps the tree trunk, and with his right, he fans the inflamed wound in his right calf with a bird's wing. In the left background are two columns and the entablature of a temple, and on the right is a tree, to which are tied a bow and quiver full of arrows.
Place of Origin
Venice, Italy (made)
Date
ca. 1510-1515 (carved)
Artist/maker
Lombardo, Antonio, born 1453 - died 1520 (sculptor)
Materials and Techniques
White marble inlaid with red and purple marble
Marks and inscriptions
VVLNERA (LER) NAEO DOLET HOC POEAN (tius). HEROS
Dimensions
Height: 41.3 cm, Width: 25 cm, Depth: 9.5 cm
Object history note
Purchased in London (J.Rochelle Thomas). There is no record of the provenance of the relief prior to its appearance as anonymous property at auction in the preceding year (Christie, 8 December, 1927, No.82 £157 16s., attributed to Tullio Lombardi.
Historical context note
The relief represents Philoctetes, son of Poeas, King of the Malians. According to the version of the myth recorded by Servius (commentary to Aenid,iii 402), which is that illustrated in this relief, Philoctetes, having accidentally injured himself on the journey to troy with one of the arrows of Hercules, was abandoned by his companions on Lemnos because of the stench of his wound. The bow and arrows of Hercules are shown in the right background of the relief ; they were presented to Philoctetes or his father in return for lighting the funeral pyre of Hercules on Mount Oeta, and were later instrumental in effecting the fall of Troy. The popularity of this relief is reflected in the survival of three modified variants. These are in the Hermitage, the Palazzo Ducale at Mantua and a private collection in London. The basic composition of the relief is related to an antique cameo of the same subject, signed by the Hellenistic artist Boethos, while the figure itself is derived from the Belvedere Torso.
Maclagan and Longhurst relate the present relief to to a number of others depicting heroes and heronies of antiquity presumed to have been made for Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara. Pope-Hennessy dissmisses the claim that the group or any of its individual constituents was carved for Alfonso d'Este at Ferrara.
Descriptive line
Marble relief of Philoctetes on the island of Lemnos by Antonio Lombardo, Venice, early 16th century
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Pope-Henessy, J. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum. London, 1965. pp. 353-357. cat. no. 380.
Boucher and Radcliffe. Small Marble Reliefs by Antonio Lombardo and his circle. Burlington Magazine. 1984.
Furtwangler, A. Die antiken Gemmen Leipzig and Berlin, 1900. pls. 57, 3
Ozzola, L. Il Museo d'Arte Medievale e Moderna del Palazzo Ducale di Mantova Mantua, 1950. p. 38.
Ruhmer, E. Antonio Lombardo : Versuch einer charakteristik Arte Veneta. XXVIII, 1974. pp.39-73.
Martineau, J. The Genius of Venice. London, 1983. p. 364. cat. no. S9.
Lewis, D. The Washington Relief of Peace and its Pendant a Commission of Alfonso d'Este to Antonio Lombardo in 1512 - Collaboration in Italian Renaissance rt. New Haven and London, 1978. pp. 235, 239.
Warren, Jeremy. Gaspare Fantuzzi: a patron of sculpture in Renaissance Bologna. Burlington Magazine. CXLIX, no. 1257, Dec. 2007. pp. 831-835. fig. 28.
Lewis, D. The Washington relief of Peace and its pendent. In: Sheard, W. S., Paoletti, J. T. eds. Collaboration in Italian Renaissance art. New Heaven; London, 1978. pp. 235, 239. note. 14.
Maclagan, Eric and Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture. London, 1932. p. 102.
Olga Raggio. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Art Bulleting. vol. L. 1968. p. 102.
Cf. Verborgene Schätze der Skulpturensammlung. Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, 1992. cat. no. 26. pp. 44-45.
Exhibition History
Gli Este a Ferrara: Il Camerino di alabastro Antonio Lombardo e la scultura all'antica (Castello di Ferrara 14/03/2004-04/07/2004)
The Genius of Venice (Royal Academy of Arts 01/01/1983-31/12/1983)
Subjects depicted
Tree; Architectural elements; Arrow; Bow (weapon); Philoctetes; Boethos
Categories
Sculpture
Collection code
SCP
