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Undergraduate
Classics Teaching Collections |
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| Name: |
Dying
Gaul and His Wife (Ludovisi Gaul) |
| Picture: |
 |
| Description: |
Eighteenth
century copy after Roman copies of Attalos I's dedication in bronze.
Rome, Museum of the Terme. H. (of original) 2.11m. The Gaulish chieftain
stands, naked, to the right, supporting his collapsing wife with his
left hand as he drives his sword into his chest with his right hand.
His wife lets out a dying gasp; her eyes begin to close. The chieftain
glances upwards with final defiance at the approaching enemy. The
sword's scabbard and the Gallic oval shield lie at his feet. The sculptor
was of outstanding talent and skill -- the group captures the pathos
and drama of the moment. |
| Date: |
c. 220 B.C. |
| Discussion: |
Attalos
I of Pergamon defeated the combined forces of the Gauls, who had overrun
Italy and parts of Greece before settling in Galacia, and who had
then commenced attacks on Asia Minor. The Gauls allied themselves
with Antiochos, but Attalos defeated them both and controlled Asia
Minor for a brief period in 222 B.C. To commemorate this great victory,
he had these statues made. One bronze group was sent to the Athenian
Akropolis, the others were set up in Pergamon itself. See Robertson
1981: 192-3; Stewart 1990: 205-8, 301-3; 671-4 (ills.); Pollitt 1986:
85, 92, 118; 86-9 (ills.). |
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