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1972 Review of L'arte della Magna Grecia: Arte greca in Italia meridionale e Sicilia, by Ernest Langlotz Brunilde S. Ridgway Bryn Mawr College, [email protected]

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Custom Citation Ridgway, Brunilde S. Review of L'arte della Magna Grecia: Arte greca in Italia meridionale e Sicilia, by Ernest Langlotz. Archaeology 25 (1972): 242-243.

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For more information, please contact [email protected]. says (page 135) that it is for the en­ In spite of the unfavorable criticism sion one owns. In some cases th trance of the soul to the land of the above, this book will obviously be of tional notes cite recent bibliograp~ addj. dead. Again it must be his concern with value to those interested in symbolism. often they mention earlier pubr Y, bill symbolism which causes him to ignore And it will be of some use to those with not mc. I u d e d'm t h e ongmal" text ICati",,_-... . . , Or t... the fact that both Chinese and western a casual interest in things Chinese be­ to answer pomts raised by re' ., scholars have published detailed studies cause it does give limited information of the German edition, most VIt\yel'l on the technical aspec Is of the casting on some sites and artifacts, including a Prof. E. Sjoqvist in AJA 69 (196~)tab~ of these vessels and have come to the few recent finds, ranging from the Neo­ 79-80 and W. Fuchs in Gymnasium.PP. conclusion that these holes were made lithic down to the third century after ( 1965) 144-147. It is perhaps in 0 72 by supporting rods which held the clay Christ. But those who are seriously t? a.dd furt~er to the adder.da by ~~ core in exact register during the pouring interested in Chinese archaeology are tlOllIng the Issue of Palladio (N.S n of the bronze. advised to read the works of scholars I-IV: 1967) entirely devoted to si:~1a. This is a popular book and hence no like K. C. Chang and T. K. Cheng. architecture, and the recovery in 196~ footnotes are provided or expected, but RICHARD C. RUDOLPH of the stolen Selinus bronze 8 youtIJ one should at least be supplied with an University of California, Los Angeles (plate 81). One also regrets that adequate bibliography. But even for the new bibliography fails to acknev~ such a work the bibliography is quite edge Prof. Cambitoglou's collabora~\V poor. While his own works are fully rep­ L'Arte della Magna Grecia: Arte with Trendall in his researches : resented, others are conspicuous by their Greca in Italia Meridionale e South Italian vases. absence, notably those (among others) The book is by now so well kno Sicilia .. \VIi of Alfred Salmony who also published tath an extensive review seems supe,. by ERNEST LANGLOTZ . Photographs by on early Chinese symbolism. Another fluous; since however it has not reCeived MAX HIRMER. Revised edition 322 pages, frustration one encounters in this work 168 black and white plates, 20 color previous mention in this periodical, sollie is his selection of material. For example, plates, 10 text figures. L'ERMA DI BRET' general comments may be of interest to three pages are devoted to an accidental SCHNEIDER, Rome, 1968 30.00 L. ARCHAEOLOGY readers. By Magna find of early bronzes at Hsin-cheng, Graecia Langlotz means the Greek ter. Honan, in 1923 which was published There has often been a marked ten­ ritories in both South Italy and Sicily. shortly thereafter in both English and dency among scholars to attribute to The illustrations therefore present side Chinese, but he fails to mention numer­ Magna Graecia every ancient Greek by side works from both areas, regard. ous recent finds of great importance work of difficult interpretation, either in less of the considerable geographical which are not well known. terms of style or of content. Though distance, historical background and partly justified by the very nature of ethnic substratum. These factors are m. Magna Graecian art, so open to various stead properly stressed in the introdllCo influences and strange cults, this ten­ tion and the captions and one marvel! dency is however largely determined by at the assurance with which LanglOll DICTIONARIES our imperfect knowledge of the West­ recognizes Spartan, Corinthian or Nax­ ern Greeks. Any book on this particular ian influences on objects which he thea WEBSTER subject therefore fulfills a very real attributes to various local workshoJII. need, and especially a book by an expert In many cases these attributions, aud Library size, 1971 edition, brand connoisseur of ancient art such as Lang­ the assessment of the influences at won, new, still in box. Cost new: $45.00. lotz and a master photographer such are difficult to follow and it is espe­ as Hirmer. cially helpful when Langlotz points 0111 The first edition of this work, in iconographic traits typical of Magna Will Sell for$15 German, appeared in 1963 as Die Kunst Graecia, such as the peculiarly shaped Deduct 10% on orders of 6 or more der Westgriechen, and immediately re­ eyes with pronounced lacrimal duct, the ceived wide acclaim. I t was followed lines at the corners of mouth and nOt Mail to by an English translation by A. Hicks trils, the prominent Venus rings in the published in 1965 as The Art of Magna necks. North American Graecia by Thames and Hudson, Ancient Because of his larger acceptation 01 Greek Sculpture of South Italy and the term, Langlotz arranges Map Liquidators Sicily by Abrams. Three years later this Graecian art chronologically rathel 1450 Niagara Falls Blvd. Italian version saw the light, in a good than geographically. This system cawel Dept. W-1271 though not always faultless translation a certain unbalance, since historical rea' Tonawanda, New York 141 SO from the German by Luisa dell'Orto sons and the chance of the finds favOi Franchi. Because of the lapse of time the archaic period. This impression ~ C.O.D. orders enclose $1 .00 good from the original publication, the increased by the fact that several piece! will deposit. Pay balance plus author has had the opportunity to revise presumably copy, in smaller scale.OI C.O.D. shipping on delivery. Be his work, but this revision takes the cheaper medium, cult statues of earliel satisfied on inspection or return form simply of additional notes ap­ date. Langlotz stresses the need of \hi within 10 days for full refund. No pended to the introductory remarks colonists to reproduce the cult ima&fl dealers, each volume specifically stamped not for resale. Please add and the comments to the plates. The of their mother town and points ouI $1.25 postage and handling. New basic text and illustrations remain the individual cases of imitation of wood York State residents add appli­ same, with the positive result that ref­ or bronze, as well as the "moderm:; cable sales tax. erences to any specific piece can be tion" of terracottas from earlier 1110 tracked down regardless of the ver­ with added heads in later styles.

242 such cases dating becomes subjective dium may therefore correspond to the It and agreement is difficult to reach. The nationality of the master. Magna Grae­ IS author also attributes several terra­ cian sculptors specialized in the softer 'Y cottas to pedimental or group composi­ local poros, and the medium determined tions because of marked asymmetry in or magnified some local peculiarities, their features. I hesitate in accepting such as the interest in physiognomic the idea that sculptured pediments were traits and emotional renderings, or the frequent in Magna Graecia before the lack of interest in the representation of wave of influence from Greece after the naked human body. 480 B.C.; presumably asymmetries can Inevitably many comments are re­ s. be explained on other grounds, espe­ peated several times throughout the cially since they appear also in single text; in particular, the section on statuettes, where it is less likely that a Formal Evolution of Sculpture in Magna specific viewpoint was intended. Graecia seems somewhat repetitive after Though the general comments deal the chapters on the various statuary wi th various forms of artistic expression media, and some of the statements ap­ (architecture, painting, bronze, lime­ pear also in the notes to the plates. stone and marble sculpture, terracotta, However the book is meant as a work coins), the plates illustrate only plastic of consultation and as such each section works, of which a large number is is complete in itself, while each entry is r· naturally represented by terracottas be­ illustrated and discussed per se. This cause of the scarcity of local stone. arrangement makes the book a most Whenever possible, the comments to the valuable reference tool for every scholar illustrations mention the context in as well as a very intelligible account for which the objects were found and any layman. therefore pieces which could pass BRUNILDE SIS MONDO RIDGWAY simply as precious bibelots acquire spe­ Bryn Mawr College cial significance, such as the terracotta maenad of plate XI which was found clutched in the hand of a female skele­ ton, or the statuettes of satyrs and The Cultural History of dancers (plates 146-148) from Taren­ Marlborough, Virginia: An ssia and The Balkans tine tombs. Langlotz's remarks inevi­ Archeological and Historical tably point out how little we know about Investigation of the Port Town for the beliefs and cults of the Magna Stafford County and the Sept. 6-27, 1972 Graecians, which seem so different from Plantation of John Mercer, those of the motherland and require Including Data Supplied by Frank specific iconography and implements. M. Setzler and Oscar H. Darter The author also amusingly points out by C. MALCOLM WATKINS. viii, 224 pages, iconographic motifs which continue in space is still open in the 91 text figures, 89 line drawings, 13 ap­ much later times or find fortuitous pendices, map of endpapers. SMITHSON­ eological Institute's Art echoes in modern renderings. IAN INSTITUTION PRESS, Washington, Some of Langlotz's statements are D.C. 1968 $3.75 Architecture tour to Russia, most stimulating. He believes that not nia and Bulgaria. The all Attic vases found in Magna Graecia Rarely does good fortune permit the were imports, but that many must have planned and programmed investigation will be under the direction been produced by immigrants, especially of an historical site to begin-in ample by pupils of the Berlin and the Pan time-with historical documentation fol­ Professor A. D. McKenzie of Painters who established workshops in lowed by informed, problem-mindful :r University of Oregon. Sicily after 480 B.C. and gradually be­ analysis of expertly and completely ex­ came assimilated to the local inhabi­ cavated field evidence. In fact, it is al­ tants. Similarly he postulates a definite most commonplace that a site is "salv­ a detailed itinerary and wave of Attic artists to South Italy aged" as well and as completely as around 400 B.C., after the disastrous difficult circumstances permit. the Archae­ ending of the Peloponnesian War. In Once more we have the story of such cal Institute of America, the field of sculpture he stresses the a site. Briefly, it is this: In 1938 T. difficulty a stone carver experiences if Dale Stuart, then Curator of Physical West Broadway, New York, he has not been specifically trained to Anthropology at the Smithsonian began York 10013. work with crystalline marble; indige­ excavations at the Indian village site of nous masters, used to carving limestone, Patawomecke, and noted that the near­ could not have produced the marble by site of Marlborough Town, the Staf­ works found in Magna Graecia, which ford County seat which flourished fit­ therefore must have been imported at fully from 1691 through 1750, merited least partially finished. Within certain excavation as a logical step beyond his limits, the geological origin of the me­ own work. By 1956 Oscar H. Darter,

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