Practice question · Multiple choice
Most famous Greek bronzes are known only through Roman marble copies. What problem does that create for judging Greek sculpture?
Hints
- Marble cannot do what bronze does. Ask what a copyist must add to stop a marble leg from snapping.
- The copies were made for Roman buyers. Does that leave the work unchanged?
Show the answer
C. Copies were made in a different material for a different market
Why
Marble needs tree stumps and struts that bronze never required, and the copyists worked for a later taste, so the canon rests on translations. The Riace bronzes matter enormously for this reason: they are among the few originals, and they look markedly unlike the copies we had built the picture from.
Practise Classical Greek Art
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