WONDERS AND REFLECTIONS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD

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WONDERS AND REFLECTIONS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD Panorama with the Wonders of the Ancient World and the Abduction of Helen Maerten van Heemskerck (Netherlandish, 1498– 1574), 1535 Oil on canvas The Wonders of the Ancient World, those selected by Greek or Roman scholars, were great technical achievements in art and architecture from the pre-Roman world. Roman writers placed value on ingenuity as they debated the selection. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Europeans could call on this ancient celebration of ingenuity to validate their own. Heemskerck’s panorama of wonders includes as well the abduction of Helen, queen of the Greek city-state Sparta, by Paris, a prince of Troy in Asia Minor, an epic that stretches across the ancient world to Rome itself. Heemskerck’s interpretation of the narrative was influenced by medieval versions of the story that set events among the marvels or heroic achievements of the ancient world. This luminous panorama is one of the most famous northern European landscapes of the 1500s. Its array of ancient marvels and evidence of antiquity’s greatness provides a delightful picture- puzzle for the viewer. Bequest of Henry Walters, 1931, acc. no. 37.656

Transcript of WONDERS AND REFLECTIONS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD

Page 1: WONDERS AND REFLECTIONS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD

WONDERS AND REFLECTIONS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD

Panorama with the Wonders of the Ancient World and the Abduction of HelenMaerten van Heemskerck (Netherlandish, 1498–1574), 1535Oil on canvasThe Wonders of the Ancient World, those selected by Greek or Roman scholars, were great technical achievements in art and architecture from the pre-Roman world. Roman writers placed value on ingenuity as they debated the selection. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Europeans could call on this ancient celebration of ingenuity to validate their own. Heemskerck’s panorama of wonders includes as well the abduction of Helen, queen of the Greek city-state Sparta, by Paris, a prince of Troy in Asia Minor, an epic that stretches across the ancient world to Rome itself. Heemskerck’s interpretation of the narrative was influenced by medieval versions of the story that set events among the marvels or heroic achievements of the ancient world. This luminous panorama is one of the most famous northern European landscapes of the 1500s. Its array of ancient marvels and evidence of antiquity’s greatness provides a delightful picture-puzzle for the viewer.Bequest of Henry Walters, 1931, acc. no. 37.656

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The Artist: Maerten van Heemskerck

In 1532 the young Netherlandish artist Heemskerck traveled to Rome, where he drew ancient sculpture and architecture, studied contemporary art, and carried out commissions for paintings. While visiting, he painted Panorama, which is signed and dated 1535 on one of the ships. After returning home in 1537, Heemskerck became the most important artist in the northern Netherlands.

The Owner: Cardinal Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, 1500–64

This painting is cited in the 1564 inventory of the possessions of Cardinal Rodolfo Pio, a powerful churchman in Rome and a well-known collector of antiquities and other art as well as a friend of some of the city’s artists. Select and well-informed visitors were welcome to view his collections in his palace.

The [Seven] Wonders of the Ancient World are among the ancient monuments that are alluded to throughout the landscape. The Greek engineer and writer of the 3rd century BCE Philo of Byzantium was the first to propose a list of seven technological achievements in Greece, the Near East, and Egypt as “wonders.” Scholars were still debating the merits of these monuments during the Renaissance (15th and 16th centuries). The first known attempt to give explicit visual form to the seven that we know of today was the 1572 series of engravings based on Heemskerck’s drawings, published in Antwerp. Referring to them, we can identify some of the Seven Wonders in the Walters painting.

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“Colossus of the God Solis” (The Colossus of Rhodes), a 100 ft. high bronze statue of the sun-god Helios (Solis), erected around 300 BCE as a lighthouse at the harbor at Rhodes [Galle after Maerten van Heemskerck, Colossus Solis (Colossus of Solis), 1572, engraving (all: Baltimore Museum of Art)]

The Lighthouse at Alexandria, built around 280 BCE by King Ptolemy II at the Egyptian port of Alexandria [Galle after Maerten van Heemskerck, Pharos (Lighthouse), 1572, engraving]

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The Temple of Artemis (Diana) at Ephesus, from the 3rd century BCE, the most famous Greek temple of antiquity was celebrated by ancient writers for its immense size and magnificent double rows of columns; Heemskerck designed a basilica in the “antique” style of 16th-century Italian architecture. [Galle after Maerten van Heemskerck, Dianae Ephesias templum (Temple of Diana at Ephesus), 1572, engraving]

The Great Pyramid of Cheops in Egypt was the only one of the Seven Wonders still in existence in the 1530s, though few Europeans had seen it because

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Egypt, then part of the Ottoman Empire, was closed to most non-Muslims. Heemskerck, however, was familiar with the small pyramid built outside Rome by Gaius Cestius in 11 CE, which he represented in the painting. In the engraving, the “pyramids” are derived from Egyptian obelisks, then in Rome. [Galle after Maerten van Heemskerck, Piramides Aegypti (Egyptian Pyramids), 1572, engraving]

Ancient Sculpture and Architecture in RomeThe artist’s interest in current excavations of Roman ruins and sculpture is signaled in the lower left of the painting. There, men with torches are depicted inside spaces of a vast architectural ruin, examining a partially submerged arched passage—possibly Heemskerck and a friend visiting the newly excavated Golden House of Nero (1st century CE), where the artist wrote his name on the wall.

SCULPTURE ON THE TABLE (left to right)

Tarquinius Attacking LucretiaHubert Gerhard (Dutch, ca. 1550–1620), attributed toGermany (Munich) or Austria (Innsbruck), ca. 1600–25BronzeBequest of Henry Walters, 1931, acc. no. 54.662

Lion Attacking a “Unicorn” Antonio Susini (Italian, active 1572–1624) after a model by Giambologna (Flemish, active in Florence, 1529–1608)Italy (Florence), 1580s (model); 18th century (cast)BrassBequest of Henry Walters, 1931, acc. no. 54.669

Dancing Faun Adriaen de Vries (Dutch, 1545–1626)Czech Republic (Prague), ca. 1588 (model); ca. 1650 (cast)BronzeBequest of Henry Walters, 1931, acc. no. 54.468

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River NymphFrancesco Bertos (Italian, active 1693–1733)Italy (Venice), 1700–20MarbleBequest of Henry Walters, 1931, acc. no. 27.426

Head of a SatyrRoman Empire (copy after Hellenistic original), 2nd century CEMarbleBequest of Henry Walters, 1931, acc. no. 23.110

For more information about a work of art, please visit art.thewalters.org and search using the accession number, denoted by “acc./acq. no.”