The Biggest Private Collection of Roman Art [12:12]

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0:01 · over the course of two and a half
0:03 · centuries Rome's aristocratic Toonia
0:06 · family built up the world's largest
0:08 · private collection of Roman sculpture
0:11 · There are more than 600 statues in this
0:13 · collection which rivals that of Rome's
0:15 · great museums For much of the 20th
0:17 · century however this was closed to the
0:20 · public known only from grainy black and
0:22 · white photos That all changed a few
0:24 · years ago when the Trolonia Foundation
0:27 · began displaying some sculptures in Rome
0:30 · Now for the first time ever they have
0:32 · left Europe and come here to Chicago
0:34 · Let's take a look Here is a man who
0:37 · loves his ram Actually it's Odicius uh
0:40 · the famous Greek hero And it's a scene
0:42 · when Odysius and his men are in the cave
0:44 · of Polyphimas the Cyclops And to escape
0:47 · after blinding Polyphimmis they hold on
0:50 · to the underside of the Cyclops's giant
0:52 · rams and escape his cave that way So
0:54 · here we see under this very large and
0:56 · accommodating ram Odicius clinging and
0:58 · looking behind his
1:00 · shoulder The Romans produced sculpture
1:03 · and mass by the dozens and even the
1:05 · hundreds but they weren't exact copies
1:07 · They were more like variations on a
1:09 · theme imitations of a widely known
1:12 · original In this case we have two copies
1:15 · of the same Hennessy statue showing Lea
1:18 · and the swan The swan is Zeus They're
1:20 · about to get it on It's a whole thing
1:22 · More importantly though we see these are
1:23 · not actually identical The swan's head
1:26 · is in a different place The neck is
1:28 · differently warped And uh the goddess's
1:31 · head is differently arked These are not
1:33 · copies These are illusions to a widely
1:36 · known original This dude is a dishan uh
1:39 · more specifically a barbarian prisoner
1:42 · displayed probably in or around Trajan's
1:44 · forum in Rome It was unfinished probably
1:47 · never installed Maybe it was an extra
1:48 · statue We can tell it is dation from his
1:51 · peaked cap and outrageous mustache Um
1:54 · this was meant to be a garnish um a
1:56 · trophy of victory um in Tra's great
1:58 · conquest in what are now
2:01 · Romania This is one of the few surviving
2:04 · bronze statues from antiquity It shows
2:06 · the imperial prince Germanicus around
2:08 · the first century with his fine
2:10 · Augustine style bull haircut Um it's
2:13 · mostly original which is pretty
2:14 · remarkable for antiquity Most bronzes
2:16 · melted down Let's go over here
2:21 · In the second century for reasons that
2:23 · aren't quite clear the Romans abandoned
2:25 · cremation and went over to inhumation
2:27 · that is of burying their wealthy dead at
2:30 · least in these are very elaborate
2:31 · sarcophagi This is what we call the
2:33 · struggleated type Looks like you direct
2:35 · a struggle one of these bronze sticks
2:37 · used to clean yourself on the edge of
2:39 · the marble creating this wavy pattern
2:41 · with these fine lines on either side
2:44 · which has to be buried in Follow me
2:49 · please Husband and wife Very touching
2:52 · One thing you'll notice about all the
2:53 · statues here is they look good They're
2:55 · not battered and broken like you expect
2:57 · a statue 2000 years old to be That's
2:59 · because the Tony Tonia family in good
3:02 · 19th century fashion had them all
3:04 · restored So many of these statues are
3:07 · only part antique The torsos typically
3:09 · and the more fragile bits the uh the
3:12 · limbs the heads and whatnot are restored
3:15 · um more or less well two different
3:22 · Okay this is a really magnificent
3:25 · sarcophagus um before a wealthy couple
3:28 · whom we'll meet in just a moment Um we
3:31 · see here here the labors of Hercules um
3:34 · all laid out in this case the Nan
3:38 · lion So I was forced to stop filming by
3:41 · a guard I'll do the rest from photos
3:44 · trying to keep the same off-the-cuff
3:46 · narrative style I had going so bear with
3:49 · me As I was saying before I was so
3:52 · abruptly interrupted the sarcophagus
3:54 · shows the first five labors of Hercules
3:57 · Note how the hero gets older from left
3:59 · to right gradually acquiring his
4:01 · trademark beard The labors besides
4:04 · looking good on a sarcophagus are
4:06 · metaphorical They serve as emblems of
4:08 · the Roman occupants achievements and
4:11 · hint that they will be crowned by
4:13 · immortality Hercules after all conquered
4:16 · death itself by joining the
4:19 · gods The lid of the sarcophagus is
4:21 · displayed beside it It was produced in
4:24 · Asia Minor and shipped to Rome
4:26 · unfinished with the occupants faces just
4:28 · roughed out to be customized to the
4:30 · client once it was purchased
4:33 · Across the room on the mortuary theme is
4:36 · this gravestone of gas marus cresens who
4:40 · died at the tender age of 14 years and 9
4:44 · hours That indication of hours speaks
4:47 · the influence of astrology at this time
4:50 · His parents were almost certainly former
4:52 · slaves Their Greek cognoma give it away
4:56 · Freedmen and their families are
4:57 · disproportionately represented on Roman
5:00 · tombstones both because they often
5:02 · became wealthy and because they were
5:03 · exceptionally motivated to commemorate
5:05 · their accomplishments and their
5:07 · legitimate free
5:09 · families Note that abbreviation at the
5:11 · end
5:13 · HMHNS which means this monument will not
5:16 · pass to my heir A bit of Roman legal
5:19 · boilerplate
5:21 · There are a number of images of gods and
5:23 · goddesses in the same room The most
5:26 · remarkable of these is the so-called
5:28 · Hestia
5:30 · Justiniani It isn't actually Hestia more
5:33 · probably Juno or
5:35 · Demeter The statue is a Roman imitation
5:38 · of the Greek severe style classical
5:41 · original a style favored in the
5:42 · Augustine era for its austere appearance
5:45 · which seemed to suggest traditional
5:47 · virtue It's probably based on a lost
5:52 · masterpiece On the other side of this
5:54 · exhibition hall is an impressive
5:56 · collection of portraits focused on the
5:59 · second century emperors and their
6:01 · wives Roman portraiture of the
6:03 · Republican era was famous for its
6:05 · realism We'll see a well-known example
6:08 · shortly But after Augustus imperial
6:12 · portraits were always idealized to a
6:14 · degree They have an ageless quality as
6:18 · though their subject ceased to age the
6:20 · moment he became emperor In the center
6:23 · of this picture we have Hrien and
6:25 · Antonyinus Pas Hadrien was in his 40s
6:29 · and 50s as emperor Antonyinus Pas was in
6:33 · his 60s and 70s but neither shows any
6:36 · sign of age In this photo we have Marcus
6:39 · Aurelius and just behind him his
6:42 · shiftless co-emperor Lucius
6:44 · Varys The second century was the age
6:47 · when sculptors most exploited the stone
6:49 · drill as you can see from the impressive
6:51 · volume of Varys's beard and curls
6:54 · Hadrien had been the first emperor to
6:56 · wear a beard After him it became
6:59 · fashionable Finally we have Commodus
7:01 · with Septimius Seis and Julia Damna
7:04 · behind Nobody has much good to say about
7:07 · Cometus though this portrait is rather
7:09 · fine Note Simeia Seis's forked beard
7:13 · inspired by images of the god Sapus
7:16 · Julia Damna has her trademark wig-like
7:19 · hairstyle which makes her instantly
7:21 · recognizable and any statue or coin In
7:24 · the final exhibition space we have
7:26 · another Hercules
7:28 · sarcophagus Here the labors merge into
7:30 · one another the Nean lion the slaying of
7:33 · the hydra the Armanthian boar the hind
7:36 · of Cerna the slaying of the styal birds
7:39 · the retrieval of the belt of Hippala and
7:42 · finally the golden apples from the
7:44 · garden of the
7:46 · Hisperities Note again how Hercules ages
7:49 · as he progresses through his
7:51 · labors Beside it is the Tolonia Nile As
7:55 · the name suggests this is a
7:57 · personification of the River Nile as we
8:00 · can tell from a few visual clues Namely
8:03 · the crocodile at his feet the cornucopia
8:05 · symbolizing the fertility brought by the
8:07 · river and a sphinx which emphasizes the
8:10 · Egyptian setting This is a Roman copy of
8:13 · a famous Hellenistic sculpture later
8:15 · brought to Rome Here we have the old man
8:18 · of Otraoli one of the most famous works
8:21 · in the Toonia collection This is an
8:24 · excellent example of the hyper realism
8:27 · of Roman portrait sculpture in the late
8:29 · Republican era Every wrinkle is etched
8:32 · almost to the point of
8:34 · caricature The purpose is to emphasize
8:36 · the experience and wisdom of the sitter
8:38 · and to make him instantly recognizable
8:40 · to friends and
8:42 · clients This sculptural habit may recall
8:45 · the Roman aristocratic practice of
8:47 · keeping imagines the wax death masks of
8:51 · ancestors in their atria
8:54 · Next up Sylvester Stallone Actually this
8:57 · is Euphitimus of Bactria or so it has
9:00 · long been assumed Euthitus was a famous
9:03 · king of the remote Greek realm of
9:05 · Bactria centered in what are now
9:07 · Afghanistan in Usbekistsan We don't know
9:10 · who this sculpture actually represents
9:13 · A recent theory is that it shows a
9:15 · companion a courtier of some helenistic
9:21 · dynasty In any case a remarkable
9:24 · portrait Yet another highlight in this
9:26 · room is the maiden of Vulti This
9:30 · portrait dates probably to the final
9:32 · years of the Roman Republic The eyes
9:35 · were originally rendered in glass paste
9:38 · Gold leaf and jewels were pressed into
9:40 · the hair All of that is gone but this
9:44 · portrait of a young girl is still very
9:46 · striking Perhaps my favorite statue in
9:49 · the whole exhibition is the resting goat
9:52 · This is a Roman statue that was heavily
9:54 · restored in the 17th century by the
9:56 · great Jean Lorenzo Bernini who created
9:59 · the wonderfully expressive face So it's
10:02 · really more a masterpiece of Baroque
10:04 · sculpture than of ancient art but I
10:06 · won't hold that against it Last but
10:09 · certainly not least is the Portis Relief
10:12 · I tried to take pictures but was
10:14 · defeated by the reflection of the glass
10:16 · case So here's a
10:18 · drawing Originally the Portis Relief was
10:22 · richly colored It still bears a few
10:24 · traces of pigment Poris was the huge
10:27 · artificial harbor built by Claudius and
10:29 · remodeled by Trajan at the mouth of the
10:32 · Tyber Here we see a ship coming into the
10:34 · harbor with a host of wonderful details
10:38 · In the background is the huge stepped
10:40 · lighthouse of
10:42 · Portis We see also a monumental arch
10:45 · with an elephant quadrea on its attic
10:48 · There are other traces of realism
10:50 · probably in the picture of Ramulus and
10:53 · Remis on the sail of the ship and the
10:55 · device in the ship's
10:56 · hall But this plaque was never meant to
10:59 · be just representation of what Poris
11:02 · looked like It was we think a captain's
11:05 · vote of offering to
11:07 · Liberate Bakis for his safe return from
11:10 · a voyage So we see among the actual
11:13 · background of Portoris and the ship that
11:16 · this captain sailed figures of Neptune
11:18 · and Bacus and an epotropeic evil eye
11:22 · Note also the figure in the upper left
11:24 · with a crown that looks like a
11:26 · lighthouse This is a personification of
11:29 · Portis The Tronia collection is a feast
11:32 · for the eyes but the pieces in this
11:35 · traveling exhibition also nicely
11:38 · accentuate the many purposes of Roman
11:40 · sculpture Roman statues were never just
11:44 · decoration The point was display of your
11:47 · wealth of your cultural competence of
11:50 · your ability to play the game of
11:52 · illusions and analogies that defined
11:55 · taste For all these reasons Roman art
11:58 · never gets old
12:00 · Thanks for watching

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--> YouTube-Generated Transcript <--
0:01	·	over the course of two and a half
0:03	·	centuries Rome's aristocratic Toonia
0:06	·	family built up the world's largest
0:08	·	private collection of Roman sculpture
0:11	·	There are more than 600 statues in this
0:13	·	collection which rivals that of Rome's
0:15	·	great museums For much of the 20th
0:17	·	century however this was closed to the
0:20	·	public known only from grainy black and
0:22	·	white photos That all changed a few
0:24	·	years ago when the Trolonia Foundation
0:27	·	began displaying some sculptures in Rome
0:30	·	Now for the first time ever they have
0:32	·	left Europe and come here to Chicago
0:34	·	Let's take a look Here is a man who
0:37	·	loves his ram Actually it's Odicius uh
0:40	·	the famous Greek hero And it's a scene
0:42	·	when Odysius and his men are in the cave
0:44	·	of Polyphimas the Cyclops And to escape
0:47	·	after blinding Polyphimmis they hold on
0:50	·	to the underside of the Cyclops's giant
0:52	·	rams and escape his cave that way So
0:54	·	here we see under this very large and
0:56	·	accommodating ram Odicius clinging and
0:58	·	looking behind his
1:00	·	shoulder The Romans produced sculpture
1:03	·	and mass by the dozens and even the
1:05	·	hundreds but they weren't exact copies
1:07	·	They were more like variations on a
1:09	·	theme imitations of a widely known
1:12	·	original In this case we have two copies
1:15	·	of the same Hennessy statue showing Lea
1:18	·	and the swan The swan is Zeus They're
1:20	·	about to get it on It's a whole thing
1:22	·	More importantly though we see these are
1:23	·	not actually identical The swan's head
1:26	·	is in a different place The neck is
1:28	·	differently warped And uh the goddess's
1:31	·	head is differently arked These are not
1:33	·	copies These are illusions to a widely
1:36	·	known original This dude is a dishan uh
1:39	·	more specifically a barbarian prisoner
1:42	·	displayed probably in or around Trajan's
1:44	·	forum in Rome It was unfinished probably
1:47	·	never installed Maybe it was an extra
1:48	·	statue We can tell it is dation from his
1:51	·	peaked cap and outrageous mustache Um
1:54	·	this was meant to be a garnish um a
1:56	·	trophy of victory um in Tra's great
1:58	·	conquest in what are now
2:01	·	Romania This is one of the few surviving
2:04	·	bronze statues from antiquity It shows
2:06	·	the imperial prince Germanicus around
2:08	·	the first century with his fine
2:10	·	Augustine style bull haircut Um it's
2:13	·	mostly original which is pretty
2:14	·	remarkable for antiquity Most bronzes
2:16	·	melted down Let's go over here
2:21	·	In the second century for reasons that
2:23	·	aren't quite clear the Romans abandoned
2:25	·	cremation and went over to inhumation
2:27	·	that is of burying their wealthy dead at
2:30	·	least in these are very elaborate
2:31	·	sarcophagi This is what we call the
2:33	·	struggleated type Looks like you direct
2:35	·	a struggle one of these bronze sticks
2:37	·	used to clean yourself on the edge of
2:39	·	the marble creating this wavy pattern
2:41	·	with these fine lines on either side
2:44	·	which has to be buried in Follow me
2:49	·	please Husband and wife Very touching
2:52	·	One thing you'll notice about all the
2:53	·	statues here is they look good They're
2:55	·	not battered and broken like you expect
2:57	·	a statue 2000 years old to be That's
2:59	·	because the Tony Tonia family in good
3:02	·	19th century fashion had them all
3:04	·	restored So many of these statues are
3:07	·	only part antique The torsos typically
3:09	·	and the more fragile bits the uh the
3:12	·	limbs the heads and whatnot are restored
3:15	·	um more or less well two different
3:22	·	Okay this is a really magnificent
3:25	·	sarcophagus um before a wealthy couple
3:28	·	whom we'll meet in just a moment Um we
3:31	·	see here here the labors of Hercules um
3:34	·	all laid out in this case the Nan
3:38	·	lion So I was forced to stop filming by
3:41	·	a guard I'll do the rest from photos
3:44	·	trying to keep the same off-the-cuff
3:46	·	narrative style I had going so bear with
3:49	·	me As I was saying before I was so
3:52	·	abruptly interrupted the sarcophagus
3:54	·	shows the first five labors of Hercules
3:57	·	Note how the hero gets older from left
3:59	·	to right gradually acquiring his
4:01	·	trademark beard The labors besides
4:04	·	looking good on a sarcophagus are
4:06	·	metaphorical They serve as emblems of
4:08	·	the Roman occupants achievements and
4:11	·	hint that they will be crowned by
4:13	·	immortality Hercules after all conquered
4:16	·	death itself by joining the
4:19	·	gods The lid of the sarcophagus is
4:21	·	displayed beside it It was produced in
4:24	·	Asia Minor and shipped to Rome
4:26	·	unfinished with the occupants faces just
4:28	·	roughed out to be customized to the
4:30	·	client once it was purchased
4:33	·	Across the room on the mortuary theme is
4:36	·	this gravestone of gas marus cresens who
4:40	·	died at the tender age of 14 years and 9
4:44	·	hours That indication of hours speaks
4:47	·	the influence of astrology at this time
4:50	·	His parents were almost certainly former
4:52	·	slaves Their Greek cognoma give it away
4:56	·	Freedmen and their families are
4:57	·	disproportionately represented on Roman
5:00	·	tombstones both because they often
5:02	·	became wealthy and because they were
5:03	·	exceptionally motivated to commemorate
5:05	·	their accomplishments and their
5:07	·	legitimate free
5:09	·	families Note that abbreviation at the
5:11	·	end
5:13	·	HMHNS which means this monument will not
5:16	·	pass to my heir A bit of Roman legal
5:19	·	boilerplate
5:21	·	There are a number of images of gods and
5:23	·	goddesses in the same room The most
5:26	·	remarkable of these is the so-called
5:28	·	Hestia
5:30	·	Justiniani It isn't actually Hestia more
5:33	·	probably Juno or
5:35	·	Demeter The statue is a Roman imitation
5:38	·	of the Greek severe style classical
5:41	·	original a style favored in the
5:42	·	Augustine era for its austere appearance
5:45	·	which seemed to suggest traditional
5:47	·	virtue It's probably based on a lost
5:52	·	masterpiece On the other side of this
5:54	·	exhibition hall is an impressive
5:56	·	collection of portraits focused on the
5:59	·	second century emperors and their
6:01	·	wives Roman portraiture of the
6:03	·	Republican era was famous for its
6:05	·	realism We'll see a well-known example
6:08	·	shortly But after Augustus imperial
6:12	·	portraits were always idealized to a
6:14	·	degree They have an ageless quality as
6:18	·	though their subject ceased to age the
6:20	·	moment he became emperor In the center
6:23	·	of this picture we have Hrien and
6:25	·	Antonyinus Pas Hadrien was in his 40s
6:29	·	and 50s as emperor Antonyinus Pas was in
6:33	·	his 60s and 70s but neither shows any
6:36	·	sign of age In this photo we have Marcus
6:39	·	Aurelius and just behind him his
6:42	·	shiftless co-emperor Lucius
6:44	·	Varys The second century was the age
6:47	·	when sculptors most exploited the stone
6:49	·	drill as you can see from the impressive
6:51	·	volume of Varys's beard and curls
6:54	·	Hadrien had been the first emperor to
6:56	·	wear a beard After him it became
6:59	·	fashionable Finally we have Commodus
7:01	·	with Septimius Seis and Julia Damna
7:04	·	behind Nobody has much good to say about
7:07	·	Cometus though this portrait is rather
7:09	·	fine Note Simeia Seis's forked beard
7:13	·	inspired by images of the god Sapus
7:16	·	Julia Damna has her trademark wig-like
7:19	·	hairstyle which makes her instantly
7:21	·	recognizable and any statue or coin In
7:24	·	the final exhibition space we have
7:26	·	another Hercules
7:28	·	sarcophagus Here the labors merge into
7:30	·	one another the Nean lion the slaying of
7:33	·	the hydra the Armanthian boar the hind
7:36	·	of Cerna the slaying of the styal birds
7:39	·	the retrieval of the belt of Hippala and
7:42	·	finally the golden apples from the
7:44	·	garden of the
7:46	·	Hisperities Note again how Hercules ages
7:49	·	as he progresses through his
7:51	·	labors Beside it is the Tolonia Nile As
7:55	·	the name suggests this is a
7:57	·	personification of the River Nile as we
8:00	·	can tell from a few visual clues Namely
8:03	·	the crocodile at his feet the cornucopia
8:05	·	symbolizing the fertility brought by the
8:07	·	river and a sphinx which emphasizes the
8:10	·	Egyptian setting This is a Roman copy of
8:13	·	a famous Hellenistic sculpture later
8:15	·	brought to Rome Here we have the old man
8:18	·	of Otraoli one of the most famous works
8:21	·	in the Toonia collection This is an
8:24	·	excellent example of the hyper realism
8:27	·	of Roman portrait sculpture in the late
8:29	·	Republican era Every wrinkle is etched
8:32	·	almost to the point of
8:34	·	caricature The purpose is to emphasize
8:36	·	the experience and wisdom of the sitter
8:38	·	and to make him instantly recognizable
8:40	·	to friends and
8:42	·	clients This sculptural habit may recall
8:45	·	the Roman aristocratic practice of
8:47	·	keeping imagines the wax death masks of
8:51	·	ancestors in their atria
8:54	·	Next up Sylvester Stallone Actually this
8:57	·	is Euphitimus of Bactria or so it has
9:00	·	long been assumed Euthitus was a famous
9:03	·	king of the remote Greek realm of
9:05	·	Bactria centered in what are now
9:07	·	Afghanistan in Usbekistsan We don't know
9:10	·	who this sculpture actually represents
9:13	·	A recent theory is that it shows a
9:15	·	companion a courtier of some helenistic
9:21	·	dynasty In any case a remarkable
9:24	·	portrait Yet another highlight in this
9:26	·	room is the maiden of Vulti This
9:30	·	portrait dates probably to the final
9:32	·	years of the Roman Republic The eyes
9:35	·	were originally rendered in glass paste
9:38	·	Gold leaf and jewels were pressed into
9:40	·	the hair All of that is gone but this
9:44	·	portrait of a young girl is still very
9:46	·	striking Perhaps my favorite statue in
9:49	·	the whole exhibition is the resting goat
9:52	·	This is a Roman statue that was heavily
9:54	·	restored in the 17th century by the
9:56	·	great Jean Lorenzo Bernini who created
9:59	·	the wonderfully expressive face So it's
10:02	·	really more a masterpiece of Baroque
10:04	·	sculpture than of ancient art but I
10:06	·	won't hold that against it Last but
10:09	·	certainly not least is the Portis Relief
10:12	·	I tried to take pictures but was
10:14	·	defeated by the reflection of the glass
10:16	·	case So here's a
10:18	·	drawing Originally the Portis Relief was
10:22	·	richly colored It still bears a few
10:24	·	traces of pigment Poris was the huge
10:27	·	artificial harbor built by Claudius and
10:29	·	remodeled by Trajan at the mouth of the
10:32	·	Tyber Here we see a ship coming into the
10:34	·	harbor with a host of wonderful details
10:38	·	In the background is the huge stepped
10:40	·	lighthouse of
10:42	·	Portis We see also a monumental arch
10:45	·	with an elephant quadrea on its attic
10:48	·	There are other traces of realism
10:50	·	probably in the picture of Ramulus and
10:53	·	Remis on the sail of the ship and the
10:55	·	device in the ship's
10:56	·	hall But this plaque was never meant to
10:59	·	be just representation of what Poris
11:02	·	looked like It was we think a captain's
11:05	·	vote of offering to
11:07	·	Liberate Bakis for his safe return from
11:10	·	a voyage So we see among the actual
11:13	·	background of Portoris and the ship that
11:16	·	this captain sailed figures of Neptune
11:18	·	and Bacus and an epotropeic evil eye
11:22	·	Note also the figure in the upper left
11:24	·	with a crown that looks like a
11:26	·	lighthouse This is a personification of
11:29	·	Portis The Tronia collection is a feast
11:32	·	for the eyes but the pieces in this
11:35	·	traveling exhibition also nicely
11:38	·	accentuate the many purposes of Roman
11:40	·	sculpture Roman statues were never just
11:44	·	decoration The point was display of your
11:47	·	wealth of your cultural competence of
11:50	·	your ability to play the game of
11:52	·	illusions and analogies that defined
11:55	·	taste For all these reasons Roman art
11:58	·	never gets old
12:00	·	Thanks for watching