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The Ludovisi Ares Michele Gherardi (cast maker)

Artist

Michele Gherardi (cast maker) Rome, 19–20th century

Place of production Rome, Michele Gherardi
Date early 20th century (plaster cast), 150-200 AD, after a statue made around 325-300 BC (original)
Object type plaster cast
Medium, technique plaster
Dimensions

163 x 83 x 114 cm

Inventory number Ag.191
Collection Classical Antiquites - Plaster casts
On view Star Fortress (Komárom), Famous sculptures in the fourth century BC and their ancient reception, Gallery VII

Ares sits on a rock; he is nude, the loin only partially covered by his mantle folded around the left arm and the right thigh. The left foot rests on his helmet, his shield is placed beside him. The hands are clasped around the raised knee, but the left also holds a sword. The statue is characterised by an impassionate calmness and a tense posture — this is how the god of war became present. The figure of Eros hiding behind the right leg is perhaps a seventeenth-century addition, created by the great sculptor, Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini (1598—1680). The statue may have been accompanied by another figure of Eros or Aphrodite.

References

Hekler, Antal, Az antik gipszgyűjtemény I-II., Budapest, 1919-1920, 1923, no. no. 304.

This record is subject to revision due to ongoing research.

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