The last sort of ancient sculpture of which I shall speak is portrait sculpture, and perhaps this belongs also to historical sculpture, for it is by means of statues and busts that we know the faces and forms of many of the great men and women who hold their places in the regard of the world through all the centuries, because they were concerned in the events which make up what we call the history of the world. We have said that in Greece in very early times there were no portrait sculptures; gradually they were introduced until, in the time of Alexander, portrait statues were almost numberless, and these and busts were used for the decoration of libraries and public buildings, as well as for the adornment of squares and places of resort in the open air.
The finest life-size statue which remains from the Greeks is that of Sophocles, of which we give a picture (Fig. 68). It was not found until about 1839, and was presented to Pope Gregory XVI. by Cardinal Antonelli; it is in the museum of the Lateran. This engraving from it shows its beauties so well that it is scarcely needful to speak of it in detail. This statue is valuable not only as a portrait of Sophocles, but as a representation of a true product of the highest and best of Athenian civilization and culture; of an elegant, aristocratic man who was trained in gymnastic and warlike exercises which developed his physical parts, as well as in science, philosophy, and music—in various deep studies and lighter accomplishments which rendered him profound and scholarly, and at the same time elegant and graceful. "The attitude, though simple, is well chosen to show the most graceful lines of the figure; and the position of the arms—the one gracefully enveloped in the himation, and the other firmly planted on the hip—gives to the whole form an air of mingled ease and dignity. The face is handsome and full of winning grace, and bears the stamp not only of the creative genius of the poet, but of the experience of the active citizen; of one who has felt both the joys and the sufferings of human lot, and preserved amid them the constitutional calmness, the gentle benevolence, the tranquil, meditative piety for which he was renowned and loved by the people among whom he lived and sang."
Fig. 68.—Portrait Statue of Sophocles.
Fig. 69.—Statue of Augustus.
Among the Romans portrait sculpture held a position of importance. This people had always placed great value upon the likenesses of the dead, and from the earliest times had used different means of making them. In the very early days of the nation the custom prevailed of making masks of the faces of the dead in wax, and these masks were worn in the funeral procession by one of the mourners, who also wore the dress and insignia of the departed. The first aim in these masks was to have an exact resemblance to the dead; and this idea was carried on through all the eras of Roman art, and is a strong distinguishing feature between Greek and Roman sculpture; for while the Greeks wished to reproduce the face of one of whom they made a bust or statue, they did not hesitate to idealize that face; but the Romans labored to make an exact likeness of the man, leaving him in his statue as nothing more than he looked to be. This manner of portraiture often does great injustice to its model, for the changing expressions which come with emotions and with conversation often illuminate the plainest faces with a rare beauty; therefore the aim of portraiture should be to give the very most and best that can be imagined as coming to the face which is reproduced.
I can speak of but a few of the almost numberless Roman portrait sculptures.