Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great
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museum replica | cast + marble | handmade | height 49 cm
Detailed description
Alexander the Great
The desire for power is written on his face. He is a titanic, curly-haired young man with a faraway gaze, open, covetous lips and an energetic chin. Alexander was only 20 years old when he succeeded his father. In the following years he conquered the greatest empire that had ever existed before.
Original: British Museum London. Leochares. Around 338 BC, marble.
Polymer ars mundi museum replica cast by hand. Height with anthracite marble pedestal 49 cm.
Producer: ars mundi Edition Max Büchner GmbH, Bödekerstraße 13, 30161 Hanover, Germany Email: info@arsmundi.de
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About Leochares
Together with Praxiteles, Leochares is the most important Greek sculptor of the Late Classical period. He lived in the 4th century BC and probably came from Athens. Pliny puts his creative period between 370 and 320. Since only little is known about his life and work, his oeuvre can only be reconstructed based on copies.
However, it is certain that the artist was involved in the sculptural decoration of the Mausoleum of Mausolos at Halicarnassus around the year 350. According to Pliny, he is said to have made the panels with the Amazon battle frieze. However, the attribution of the models for the "Apollo Belvedere" and its counterpart, the "Artemis of Versailles" remains controversial.
The Greek sculptor's great fame among his contemporaries was based primarily on his portraits and images of the gods. Before 338 BC, for example, he was commissioned to depict the royal family of Philip II of Macedon as a family portrait in the Philippeion in Olympia. He also portrayed his son Alexander in other portrait busts. A work by Leochares that was still famous in Roman times was the statue depicting an eagle abducting Ganymede.
The free sculptural works have their peculiarity in their slender proportions and space-grasping movements. If the attributions are correct, he has shown unusual group dynamics for his time in the multi-figure scenes and decorative surface filling. Thus, his work stands at the threshold of the classical art of the 5th century BC towards Hellenism.
Sculptural representation of a person's head and shoulders.
Minoan Culture, Mycenean Culture
Cretan art is also called Minoan art, named after the legendary King Minos.
Cretan-Minoan art is the art of Crete from about 2900 to 1600 B.C., the Mycenaean art from Crete and the Greek mainland from about 1600 to 1100 B.C., continuing in Crete until 1200 B.C.
In the shaft graves of Mycenae, which reached their peak in the 14th and 13th centuries B.C., the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann discovered significant evidence of this culture. One preserved monument is the Lion Gate from the 13th century B.C.
Splendidly decorated vases are the artworks of ceramics that have best survived the turmoil of millennia. The famous Snake Goddess (around 1500 B.C.) is a faience statuette that has been recovered from the ruins of the Repositories Temple of the Knossos palace. Bronze vessels from that time were primarily used in the household. Daggers, swords, and armour were also made of bronze.
The jewellery of the Cretan-Mycenaean women was made of gold, rock crystal, lapis lazuli, ivory, faience, and glass.
Geometric Culture
As a continuation of Late Mycenaean art, geometric art developed on the Greek mainland towards the end of the 11th century B.C. Replacing the naturalistic Crete-Mycenaean forms, geometric art introduced a mathematically ordered style. Another new feature was the use of the ruler and the compass. Jewellry from this time is also based on strict geometric principles.
Archaic Culture
Temple architecture in the 8th and 7th century B.C. developed significantly. Initially, mudbrick and wood were used for building, later the forms were transferred to stone. A monumental style developed in sculpture. Materials such as marble, bronze, clay, and limestone were used. The nude young male figure type was used to represent gods, heroes, and victorious athletes. However, gods or other consecration figures were portrayed as clothed.
In addition to freestanding sculptures, relief art developed, which was preferably used for decoration of temples.
Statuettes made of clay and bronze first appeared in the 6th century B.C., depicting humans, animals, and mystical beings, all of high quality.
Classical Culture (5th and 4th century B.C.)
The beginning of the Greek classical art coincides with the time of the great statesman Pericles. Because of his democratic politics, Athens became the centre of cultural life and artistic creation in ancient Greece.
Classic architecture refined the shapes and proportions to perfection. The Temple of Zeus at Olympia, the Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens, and other major temple buildings were built in that time.
In sculpture, the time of the Severe style began. The rigid forms of the earlier period were outdated, the human body was studied anatomically. Top works of the Severe style include the Charioteer of Delphi and the Artemision Bronze, which was recovered from the sea by fishermen.
The high classical period saw further progress. Sculptors such as Myron, Phidias, and Polykleitos created sculptures that affect the statuary art to the present day (e.g. "Discobolus," "Athena-Marsyas Group," and "Riace Bronzes," etc.)
In the 4th century, a romantic conception prevailed. Praxiteles and Lysippos determined the art of the time. Sculptures such as "Hermes and the Infant Dionysus," "Pouring Satyr," and especially the "Aphrodite of Knidos" are magnificent examples of the artistic conception of Classical Greece.
Hellenistic Art
With Alexander the Great's conquests, the Greek art dominated the Mediterranean and the Orient. In temple architecture, the Ionic and Corinthian style prevailed.
The Hellenistic sculptural period was initiated by Lysippos. Temple complexes, such as those in Pergamon, were richly decorated with statues. At the beginning of the 2nd century B. C., The "Winged Victory of Samothrace" was created, and towards the end of the century, the "Venus de Milo." The period of Hellenistic sculpture reached its final peak with "Laocoön Group". The painting of that time was determined by Apelles. The Hellenistic painters depicted themes such as historical events, portraits, and genre paintings.
Collective term for all casting processes that ars mundi carries out with the help of specialised art foundries.
Stone Casting
Similar to artificial marble, with the difference that instead of marble powder, the stone to be replicated is used in powder form.
Bonded Bronze (Cold-Cast-Bronze)
Bronze powder is polymer-bonded. Through special polishing and patination techniques, the surface of the cast takes on an appearance similar to that of bronze.
Imitation Wood
In order to guarantee absolute fidelity to the original, an artificially manufactured imitation wood is used as a base material that features typical wood characteristics: density, workability, colour, and surface structure.
Ceramic Mould Casting
Ceramic mould casting usually requires the use of casting clay, which is then fired and optionally glazed. Instead of the usual rubber moulds, plaster moulds are often used in ceramic casting and porcelain production.
Cast Bronze (Lost-Wax-Casting)
For the cast bronze, the thousand-year-old lost-wax technique is used. It's the best, but also the most complex method of producing sculptures.
A true-to-the-original reproduction of an artwork in the same size and with the best possible material and colour uniformity.
The mould is usually taken directly from the original so that the replication reproduces even the finest details. After casting the replication, using the most appropriate method, the surface is polished, patinated, gilded or painted according to the original.
A replication of ars mundi is a recognizable copy of the original.
A plastic work of sculptural art made of wood, stone, ivory, bronze or other metals.
While sculptures made of wood, ivory, or stone are carved directly from the material block, in bronze casting, a working model is prepared at first. Usually, it is made of clay or other easily mouldable materials.
The prime time of sculpture after the Greek and Roman antiquity was the Renaissance. Impressionism gave a new impulse to the sculptural arts. Contemporary artists such as Jorg Immendorf, Andora, and Markus Lupertz also enriched sculptures with outstanding works.