Pankration
Fighter
France, last quarter 19th century
Bronze - height: 27cm.
This dynamic cast of a pankration fighter was made after a Roman sculpture dating to the 1st century AD found in Autun, France in 1869. The antiquity was acquired by the Louvre Museum, Paris in 1870. The present sculpture is unsigned, but it is most likely that a French artist made the bronze shortly after the model’s finding, due to its location and availability. The slick modelling and lively rendering of the ancient model indicate that the artist was a talented bronze caster with significant artistic and technical skill. No other 19th century casts are known of this model, making this sculpture an absolute rarity.
Sculptures of fighters were produced as early as the Hellenistic times due to the popularity of combat sport. Pankration involved wrestling, boxing with bare hands, and kicking, and was considered the most dangerous sport in the Olympics. The subject matter is amply represented in ancient art, including sculpture, mosaics, pottery and painting. Usually, a pankration fighter, depicted in whatever medium, has a counterpart generating an exciting juxtaposition of figures resembling an actual fight. This sculpture kicks his left foot forward and drops his body weight back creating a powerful energy. This pose is similar to one depicted on a panathenaic prize amphora from circa 500BC in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The right hand figure similarly lifts his arms in the air, kicking his opponent aggressively in the stomach, setting up a plough punch. Consequently, it is feasible that this model once had a similar opponent grabbing his raised leg as shown on this vase (fig.1).
The physiognomy of the sculpture is expressive, with an almost caricatured slightly swollen face, with large ears and tense facial expression. His stylized hair is tied up in a chignon - a hairstyle worn by Egyptian professional fighters – and contrasts with his more defined beard and moustache.[1] His right calf, arms, neck and shoulders are flexed, his hands clenched and his muscled torso is naturalistically modelled. This powerful sculpture is in excellent condition, revealing a consistent quality that captivates the spectator from all angles.
PROVENANCE
Collection Carl Kraag and Valter Fabiani, Italy
RELATED LITERATURE
Georgiou, Andreas. Pankration: An Olympic Combat Sport. Indiana: Xlibris Corporation, 2005.
Landes, Christian, Mariana Guiéorguiéva, Marie-Thérèse Simon. Le stade romain et ses spectacles. Lattes: Musée archéologique Henri Prades, 1994.
Pinette, Matthieu ed. Autun, Augustodunum: capitale des Éduens. Autun: musée Rolin, 1987.
[1]https://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/pankration-fighter
lastly visited 13/10/2020
(fig.1)Terracotta Panathenaic prize amphora, ca. 500 B.C.,
Attributed to the Kleophrades Painter, height: 63.5 cm.
Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum, New York.
Source: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/249067
Pankration
Fighter
France, last quarter 19th century
Bronze - height: 27cm.
This dynamic cast of a pankration fighter was made after a Roman sculpture dating to the 1st century AD found in Autun, France in 1869. The antiquity was acquired by the Louvre Museum, Paris in 1870. The present sculpture is unsigned, but it is most likely that a French artist made the bronze shortly after the model’s finding, due to its location and availability. The slick modelling and lively rendering of the ancient model indicate that the artist was a talented bronze caster with significant artistic and technical skill. No other 19th century casts are known of this model, making this sculpture an absolute rarity.
Sculptures of fighters were produced as early as the Hellenistic times due to the popularity of combat sport. Pankration involved wrestling, boxing with bare hands, and kicking, and was considered the most dangerous sport in the Olympics. The subject matter is amply represented in ancient art, including sculpture, mosaics, pottery and painting. Usually, a pankration fighter, depicted in whatever medium, has a counterpart generating an exciting juxtaposition of figures resembling an actual fight. This sculpture kicks his left foot forward and drops his body weight back creating a powerful energy. This pose is similar to one depicted on a panathenaic prize amphora from circa 500BC in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The right hand figure similarly lifts his arms in the air, kicking his opponent aggressively in the stomach, setting up a plough punch. Consequently, it is feasible that this model once had a similar opponent grabbing his raised leg as shown on this vase (fig.1).
The physiognomy of the sculpture is expressive, with an almost caricatured slightly swollen face, with large ears and tense facial expression. His stylized hair is tied up in a chignon - a hairstyle worn by Egyptian professional fighters – and contrasts with his more defined beard and moustache.[1] His right calf, arms, neck and shoulders are flexed, his hands clenched and his muscled torso is naturalistically modelled. This powerful sculpture is in excellent condition, revealing a consistent quality that captivates the spectator from all angles.
PROVENANCE
Collection Carl Kraag and Valter Fabiani, Italy
RELATED LITERATURE
Georgiou, Andreas. Pankration: An Olympic Combat Sport. Indiana: Xlibris Corporation, 2005.
Landes, Christian, Mariana Guiéorguiéva, Marie-Thérèse Simon. Le stade romain et ses spectacles. Lattes: Musée archéologique Henri Prades, 1994.
Pinette, Matthieu ed. Autun, Augustodunum: capitale des Éduens. Autun: musée Rolin, 1987.
[1]https://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/pankration-fighter
lastly visited 13/10/2020
(fig.1)Terracotta Panathenaic prize amphora, ca. 500 B.C.,
Attributed to the Kleophrades Painter, height: 63.5 cm.
Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum, New York.
Source: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/249067
