Havenshire: The Travels: Roman (Art): Diana of Versailles

Diana and I at the Louvre in 2004.

Diana of Versailles (or Artemis with a Doe)

Though it had many personal achievements (the Republic, grid cities, aqueducts, roads and bridges, and baths, to name a few), the Roman culture was a sponge. It absorbed characteristics of other cultures and made those characteristics its own by "perfecting" them. For example, the Romans became quite renown for their development and exploitation of the arch in their architecture, but they actually took the idea of an arch from the Etruscans. However, because they perfected the arch, they used the standard arch to create arcades, vaults, and even domes.
Besides the arch, they borrowed and developed many architectural, artistic, religious, and philosophical ideas from the Greeks, such as the Greek theatre and temple. Sculpture was strongly influenced by the classical characteristic of idealization and the Hellenistic idea of realism and pathos (emotion/motion) to engage the viewer. They also adopted the Greek gods as their gods, though many of the names and details changed.
However, many of their own artistic developments include mosaics, frescoes, cameo, and portrait sculptures that were very realistic and identifiable.
Because of their interest in and adoption of Greek ideals and characteristics, the Romans would often copy Greek sculptures.

Ten years later

Diana of Versailles, also called Artemis with a Doe, in the Louvre museum, is a Roman copy of a lost Greek bronze sculpture from the early Hellenistic era. It was sculpted about the 1st or 2nd century AD and was later discovered, according to some sources, near Hadrian's Villa in Italy. In the middle of the 16th century, it was given to Henry II of France by Pope Paul IV. In the early 17th century, it was placed in the Palais du Louvre, but was later moved to Versailles by Louis XIV (therefore, why it is called Diana of Versailles). At the end of the 18th century, however, it was moved back to the Louvre, which then housed a museum and government offices, due to the fall of the French monarchy.

The piece mainly demonstrates Roman artistic characteristics in the adoption, not only of Greek ideals and movement, but of an actual Hellenistic statue. And yet, the sculptor endeavored to make it as beautiful and perfect in his sculpting of the marble as he could, again the idea of perfecting the ideas the Romans adopted.

May 18th

1:15 PM

I’m sitting in the Louvre right now. It’s such a large museum. I could seriously get lost here.

Nike is tragically under refurbishment. But another sculpture I love is Diana of Versailles. The movement in the sculpture is so smooth but clear. I love the wrinkles of her mantle blowing back in the wind, with a hem slightly blown up on her knee, as if in the way. The details are amazing, such as the curve of her arm and hand, pulling an arrow free and her sandals, which look elvish. I’m coveting her sandals. (Is that awkward, to covet a marble statue’s sandals?) She, Nike, and Cupid and Psyche are three of the most beautiful sculptures, I believe.