Review article
Giacomo Paronuzzi and the Marsyas Group of Statues from the Nugent Museum
Ivan Mirnik
Abstract
This paper deals with three statues, excavated together with many other statues, statuettes and reliefs on behalf of Count Laval Nugent of Westmeath between 1817 and 1819 at Traetto/Minturno, in Latium, near Naples. Some of the statues were already partly restored in marble at the Naples Archaeological Museum. In approximately 1820 the entire Nugent collection was transported to Venice to his vast Palazzo Pisani di Santo Stefano, and after 1831 to his Trsat Castle above Rijeka. Still in Venice, the young sculptor Giacomo Paronuzzi was entrusted with the reconstruction of the statues, which he did in plaster. Thus he reconstructed the large statue of Silenus (as it was thought to be at the time, later to be recognized as Marsyas), holding little Bacchus, as well as that of Ariadne (later identified as the Muse Calliope). Much later these two statues, as well as the preserved head of Apollo, were identified as the three statues forming the group of Marsyas, Calliope and Apollo. Paronuzzi’s reconstruction can be seen only on a Major Mijat Sabljar’s drawing preserved in the Archives of the Zagreb Archaeological Museum. There are also some older descriptions. Unfortunately, there is no photograph of the reconstructed statues, before the removal of the plaster parts. It is possible that the plaster parts had already suffered at Trsat Castle from the rain entering the tower where the statues were stored. Judging these reconstructions as bad Josip Brunšmid had them removed. The preserved height of Marsyas’ statue is 1.73 m. Only the nose remained of Paronuzzi’s reconstructions, as well as the right knee and other retouches on the legs and the tree-trunk. Of Apollo’s statue belonging to the same group only the head is preserved in Zagreb, its height being 0.32 m. Paronuzzi’s intervention consisted of the flattening the break of the nose, drilling a hole and fastening a reconstructed nose with an iron peg. Also this reconstruction was removed in Zagreb. The head is slightly turned to the left, looking at Marsyas, who was looking to the right, i.e. towards Apollo. The third statue, that of the Muse Calliope, previously considered to be Ariadne, preserved to the height of 1.17 m, was the most reconstructed one in plaster from the waist upwards: the breasts, shoulders, head, right arm, feet and parts of drapery. These statues were already described in some texts published in the 19th c. the Royal Territorial Government of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia acquired some parts of the Nugent Museum and brought them to Zagreb to the Archaeological Department of the Croatian National Museum. Josip Brunšmid published the final description of the entire group in 1903. In conclusion, to sum up this review of the Marsyas group from Minturno, and leaving aside how many more statues formed the entire scene, the central group consisted of Marsyas standing left, looking to the right and holding the aulos. In the centre sat the Muse Calliope holding a diptych, while on the right stood Apollo, slightly looking to the left and holding a cithara. The very similar scene can be seen on a marble sarcophagus relief from Dogana del Chiarone in Tuscany (Ma 2347), dated to the late 3rd c. A. D. now in the Louvre (Clarac 1820: 275, 732; Daremberg-Saglio-Pottier IV, 3, 1908-1909: 1100, Fig. 6138). Giacomo Paronuzzi in his time could certainly not have known what mythological scene these marble statues represented.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
240917
URI
Publication date:
29.6.2020.
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