Review: The Dying Gaul

The Washington Free Beacon ^ | February 22, 2014 | Aaron MacLean

[Kaslin]

At the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. through March 16

Did you miss it? 2013 was the Year of Italian Culture (YOIC), brought to us by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The themes of the event were, according to the brochure, “Research, Discovery, and Innovation”—which is somewhat odd, considering that the most noticeable manifestation of the YOIC was the temporary importation of various masterpieces of Italian art that are hundreds or even thousands of years old.

Perhaps the idea was for the YOIC to give evidence of past innovation. In any event, those of us on the receiving end should not be too nitpicky, as the United States benefited from a veritable carpet-bombing of old Italian paintings and sculptures: Caravaggios dropped on Los Angeles, the Capitoline Brutus on Boston, and a cluster of “over seventy” Veronese on Sarasota.

Here in Washington, D.C. we witnessed the inauguration of the YOIC’s artistic outreach with Michelangelo’s David-Apollo last year at the National Gallery. Now, even though it is technically no longer 2013, the YOIC, like a Roman native lingering at the end of a fine meal over the dolce and the digestivo, continues in the form of the Dying Gaul, an ancient statue also on display at the National Gallery. It is located in the Rotunda of the West Building, down the hall from another diplomatic exhibit: the ‘Heaven and Earth’ show displaying Byzantine art and objects, brought to us by the government of Greece.

[ClearCase_guy]

I blame Hollande.

[SoCal Pubbie]

One of my favorites from art history class circa 1976.

[353FMG]

Njaah, all cultures are of same value.

Dying Gaul not much different from any medicine man’s mask or totem pole.

[cloudmountain]

WHAT an exquisite statue.
No one can DO that anymore. Truly a lost art.

[Kaslin]

Indeed

[miss marmelstein]

That’s when I first met him - in Jansen’s history of art. Luckily, I saw him in person at the Capitoline Museum in Rome.

[SoCal Pubbie]

Never been to Europe, but I still have that book!

[miss marmelstein]

I don’t think it’s used in colleges anymore. Probably too pro-Western art!

[SoCal Pubbie]

BTW I know it’s heresy but I always preferred Donatello’s David to Michelangelo’s.

[miss marmelstein]

I love the Donatello - a very young David. But I do think God spoke through Michaelangelo when he created his David. Both are representative of the greatest of Western art.

[Captain Jack Aubrey]

But what about Bernini’s”

http://bettybaroque.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/bernini_david4.jpg

[miss marmelstein]

Tres butch!

[Albion Wilde]

"...if it seems odd that Gauls made it as far as Turkey, keep in mind that ‘Gaul’ is a synonym for ‘Celt.’ If the Scotch-Irish could make it to Appalachia, it is unsurprising that their forebears could make it to Asia Minor, where they became known as the Galatians of New Testament fame. It heightens the pathos of Paul’s apostolic struggles when one considers that the poor fellow was trying to preach the word to the ancestors of the Hatfields and the McCoys."

Made me laugh, and reminded me of a conversation we once had about Celts in Spain. Long time no talk to -- hope you are fine!

[Albion Wilde]

I am a great fan of Bernini. A friend once witnessed me breaking the Commandment not to covet by showing me his large coffee table book of close-ups of the Bernini sculptures on the colonnade around the Vatican plaza.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Kaslin.

[Verginius Rufus]

I was wondering if it was a Cisalpine Gaul or a Transalpine Gaul...but according to Wikipedia the original bronze statue is believed to have been commissioned by the king of Pergamum to commemorate a victory over the Galatians.

The Galatians seem to have kept their Celtic language for a long time, but the Roman province of Galatia was larger than the Celtic-speaking area. St. Paul's letter to the Galatians is in Greek. When he traveled around Asia Minor he could converse in Greek in the various cities...it is unlikely he had the time to learn Celtic and may not have encountered any Celtic-speaking Galatians.

[Impy]

Italian ping.