diaphanous drapery

gossamer...diaphanous drapery
highly expressive, swirling folds
as depicted in paintings and sculpture
makes my heart skip a beat
represented here by some of the greats.

primavera by sandro botticelli

primavera (detail)

portrait of josephine by francois gerard

laure regnaud de saint-jean d'angély by francois gerard

since this post is quickly becoming one about gerard, 

here is yet another by him exploring the same

neoplatonic theme as the above primavera.

human soul and divine love united… 

psyché et l'amour by francois gerard

another botticelli...incidentally, i was reading here that the plant depicted 
in the lower right corner is datura stramonium also known as "poor man's acid" 
– a hallucinogen. so perhaps mars isn't just sleeping. i can sleep through severe 
thunderstorms, but i'm quite sure trumpet-blowing satyrs would have no trouble waking me.

venus and mars

venus and mars (detail)

the three graces by rubens

lucretia by cranach

perseus and andromeda by anton raphael mengs

morpheus and iris by pierre narcisse guerin

the pleiades by elihu vedder

now let's turn to illusionary transparency as a formal device in sculpture defined in 

looking at greek and roman sculpture in stone: a guide to terms, styles and techniques as…

"an impression of a diaphanous fabric for the clothing of a sculpted figure. 
It was especially popular among sculptors working in the last thirty years 
of the fifth century B.C. In order to appear like gathered and transparent fabric 
a successful rendering of illusionary transparency depended on substituting 
raised ridges for the incised grooves of the modeling line technique to depict drapery."

venus genitrix , roman copy of 5th century greek original

another roman imperial copy of venus genitrix, late first-early second century AD

three maenads, altar of dionysos, 5th century b.c.




another votary of Dionysos...

relief with a dancing maenad ca. 27 b.c.–14 a.d.; augustan roman copy of a greek relief attributed to kallimachos, ca. 425–400 b.c.

 

ludovisi throne, early 5th century b.c.

to think that many other objects of art from the same time period were broken, 

buried, reused, melted, used as in-fill, sunk and therefore lost forever reminds me of this.

  

eastern section of the parthenon frieze representing poseidon, apollo and artemis, executed by alkamenes, 447 – 432 b.c.

 

nike unlacing her sandal from the parapet of the temple of nike, late 5th century b.c.

stele of hegeso, late 5th c.

i realize i'm hopping around in history by adding this two-layered 
arabian onyx cameo from after 10 a.d., but look how perfectly it 
illustrates the subject. to imagine the gem cutter executing such 
incredible detail over an area measuring 7.5 inches tall by 9 inches 
wide makes me weak in the knees.

 gemma augustea, created by dioscurides or one of his disciples

the nike of paionios, the work of paionios of mende in the chalkidike peninsula, c. 420 b.c.

unlike the nike of paionios, the identity of the sculptor(s) is often unknown.
instead scholars must attribute a work to "the sculptors" or "follower of the sculptor".

such is the case with the winged victory of samothrace, for a dedicatory inscription
has yet to be found. who was this man who sculpted one of the most famous statues
of antiquity? we don't even know your name, except that you may've been from the island of rhodes.

winged victory of samothrace, 190 b.c.

only a handful of greek sculptors are known to us by name, such as
skopas, lysippos, paionios, pheidias and praxiteles, and yet they greatly
influenced the history of sculpture, artists of the italian renaissance, as
well as modern art, fashion and dance. however, as sir john beazley said,
"the name of the artist is of little importance, since we are privileged to
have before us his own work, which conveys the highest artistic messages,
as well as the spiritual and religious exaltation of those distant times."

for a closer look at the winged victory of samothrace

watch a video about the parthenon sculptures

taste and the antique: the lure of classical sculpture, 1500-1900
the beazley archive
 

image credits: 1-2, 4) wikipedia; 3, 10-11) the hermitage; 5, 14, 23) the louvre; 6-7) the national gallery; 8) museo nacional del prado; 9) gemäldegalerie der akademie der bildenden künste, wien; 12, 15-16) the metropolitan museum of art; 18-20, 22) the greek museums published by ekdotike athenon s.a.; 21) behind the image by federico zeri