18. Olympias/Sappho

Abstract

The so-called 'Olympias' type is known today in no less than twelve replicas, and the one which gives the type its name is in Rome.1260 This statue and its head were originally executed together as a portrait of Faustina Minor. The head was then reworked in the Constantinian period to represent a portrait of the emperor's mother, Helena. Although the head does not reflect that of a Classical original, it has been fitted to a body type that probably does go back to such an original and, to judge from the number of copies, an important masterpiece. The statue depicts a woman leaning back in a chair in a very relaxed pose. She is wearing a fine chiton and a himation that is wrapped around her legs and back, and falls over her left elbow. Her legs are stretched out before her and the right foot is crossed over her left. The right arm lies in her lap, while the left is pulled back and rests casually on the back of the chair. Her head is turned slightly to her right. The treatment of the drapery shows an effective contrast between the delicate, clinging folds of the chiton and the heavier material of the himation, which reveals the knees and lower legs in taut modelling lines and sits in a heavy bunch of loose folds gathered in the lap. All these characteristics are typical of the 'rich' style in sculpture, which is first seen on the sculptures of the Parthenon, particularly on the Parthenon frieze, and the figures from the east pediment. Many scholars agree on the Pheidian characteristics of the drapery and pose. The fine folds of the chiton may be compared to those of Artemis on the east frieze, while the pose of the statue reminds one of Aphrodite, who leans back against the legs of Artemis. The large number of replicas, some of them of high quality, suggests an important and well-known work.On the basis of the comparisons with the Parthenon sculptures a date for the original statue in the decade 440-430 BC has been proposed by a number of scholars. 1261 In an attempt to associate the type with a statue base on the Athenian Akropolis dating from 450-440 BC, Delivorrias suggested that the sculpture in the round influenced the Parthenon reliefs of the east frieze and he dated the original of the Olympias type to before 438 BC.1262 Yet the drapery style and the appearance of echoes of the type in Attic vase painting of the late 430s and the 420s BC suggest a date nearer 430