The Praying Boy
Last night, commenting a post on a newly made friend's blog, I mentioned the Pergamon Museum in Berlin which I had the opportunity to visit several years ago.
Among many antic beauties, I was totally stunned by this Praying Boy. Some believe it to represent Antinoüs, ephebe lover of emperor Hadrien. It was exhibited on a stele, and I can't remember for how long I looked up to its beauty, slowly walking around it.
It is now shown indoors, at Altes Museum - Berlin.
The so-called “Praying Boy” is one of the most famous bronze statues of antiquity.
It was created around 300 BC in the artistic tradition of the Greek sculptor Lysippus.
Discovered on the island of Rhodes, the “Praying Boy” was first brought to Venice and then became the property of the finance minister of King Louis XIV.
In 1747, the bronze statue was purchased by Friedrich II and displayed in Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam.
In 1807, Napoleon brought the “Praying Boy” to Paris, from where the statue came to the newly opened Altes Museum in 1830.
This is where the “Praying Boy” now stands once again in the visual axis of the rotunda, just as it did back then.
[credits: commons.wikimedia.org + Hellenic Glory on Facebook]
3 comments:
praying boy, just for the position of his arms? perhaps she is just waiting in his arms for her emperor!
Tout à fait ! Et c'est exactement pour ça que j'aime la version qui dit que c'est Antinoüs.
L'idée du garçon en adoration, non-pas devant un Empereur, mais devant l'amant qu'il aime et qui l'aime en retour, ne peut que résonner chez toute personne ayant encore un peu de romantisme en elle. Non ?
En passant : as-tu lu "Les Mémoires d'Hadrien" de Marguerite Yourcenar ?
J'en ai gardé un beau souvenir de jeunesse.
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mémoires_d%27Hadrien
par conséquent, une étreinte d'amour et non d'adoration divine. Ou plutôt: les deux! parce que l'aimé est un dieu pour l'autre.
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