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museum replica | artificial marble | size 20 x 12 x 6 cm (h/w/d)
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Sculpture "Socrates", artificial marble
"I know that I know nothing."
This saying should become the essence of the teaching of the man whom the Delphic Oracle proclaimed to be the wisest of his time. At Delphi, the god Apollo had killed the dragon Python. This spirit had overpowered the spirits of the animate and inanimate world. Thus the Greeks had erected a temple to reason.
Socrates, the son of a midwife and a stone sculptor, was born during this already illuminated age. It is unknown whether Socrates followed his father's footsteps but he had the money for equipment and weapons to take part as a hoplite in three campaigns, during which he proved himself to be strong in privation, prudent and courageous, for example, when he pulled his injured friend Alcibiades together with his weapons out of the midst of the battle.
Through his students, first and foremost Plato, we know that Socrates, who did not write down a legacy or anything, spent a large part of his life in the agora, the centre of life for the Athenians, to hold exploratory conversations with his fellow citizens. Whether with the craftsman, the merchant, the politician, the judge or the wise sophist, he wanted to discover what was correct in their thoughts and actions.
Socrates was convinced that the ability to recognise the good was inherent in every human being as a divine light or gift - like a god. Incidentally, in the biblical creation story, the same basic idea, positive in this case, was constructed into the tragic Fall.
Socrates developed a form of questioning dialogue, as a result of which interlocutors often needed to refute their supposed knowledge. He called this questioning technique his midwifery, his intellectual obstetrics. Because of these penetrating dialogues, he made friends, such as those who later founded schools of philosophy in his spirit. But he also made enemies, to whose vanity and career he stood in the way.
For Socrates, not knowing or faking knowledge was just as reprehensible as malicious deception, for: " A person behaves badly when he does not know the good!" Oh, how fitting to our times! Following the Delphic saying "Know thyself!" he did not cease to search for fundamental values, such as virtue, justice or bravery, in his love for wisdom, philosophy, for an ethical basis for right thought and action.
His opponents accused him. For "corrupting the youth" and "disrespecting the Greek gods", he was sentenced to death by the authorities of the still pubescent democracy. In his defence speech, he said that for his work he should rather receive a life honourary sentence, like the Olympic winners. Nevertheless, he accepted the miscarriage of justice, in keeping with his moral standards, because "it is better to suffer injustice than to do injustice".
With his sovereign way of accepting his death, he became immortal. "Do not forget to sacrifice a cock to Asclepius!" were his last words after he had drunk the cup of hemlock.
Where is the Socrates of our time? In each and every one of us! Let this sincerely wise man watch over your decisions.
Socrates (469-399 BC): Polymer museum replica. Artificial marble. Size 20 x 12 x 6 cm (h/w/d). Accurate portrait of the philosopher as an unfinished work after a figure from the 4th century BC in the British Museum.
Producer: ars mundi Edition Max Büchner GmbH, Bödekerstraße 13, 30161 Hanover, Germany Email: info@arsmundi.de
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.
Marble powder is polymer-bonded. Artificial marble is characterised by a fine white surface that appears very similar to marble.
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 from wood, ivory or stone are made directly from the block of material, 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.