Sculture da Abu Qir. Una rivisitazione di problemi vecchi e nuovi

Author: Nicola Bonacasa | Pages: 19–34

Abstract

The article presents eight sculptures from Abu Qir, almost all well known and worthy of rereading, appearing in the history of sculpture and Ptolemaic Alexandria. The prevalence was given to the works of portraiture, extending from Alexander the Great to Traian Decius and Casrinus. The Abu Qir-Canopus findings allow some considerations. All this material is necessarily of the intrinsic quality of style. It consists almost entirely of sculptures belonging to the category of high-quality products of celebration purpose. They are clearly products of the ‘medium Hellenism’ largely understood, what means that the development of Canopos was neither prevented nor limited by the neighbouring Ptolemaic Alexandria. The high percentage of works in Greco-Egyptian style supports once again the idea of a reasonable Greco-Egyptian koiné (Adriani, Rostovzeff, Fraser), rather than the free coexistence of two different currents, each unique in style. While considering that, due to particular political conditions determined by Ptolemaic coming to power, the Greek art in Egypt overlapped schemes of art made for thousands of years, we can not say that the inevitable contacts did not produce effect – the mixed ‘Greco-Egyptian style’ being the result of this osmosis phenomenon, attested both in ‘high culture’ and simple handicraft production. However, the late fusion of Greek and Egyptian elements, and easing of political pressure at the end of the Third century BC, rather than to preserve coexistence of two different styles, have strengthened an eclectic artistic language of functional and fast communication.

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