In this small bronze, a centaur faces a man. A centaur is a beast that is part man and part horse. The figures hold each other with the ceremony of greeting or a dance, but if you look at the centaur’s left flank, you see a shaft sticking out, part of a spear the man has driven in. This quiet-looking encounter is in reality a scene of battle. The centaur is already stricken, and the man certain to win out.
The two combatants are evenly matched; neither compromises his dignity by fighting with the other. Both have the same headdresses, similar faces, and human bodies composed of the same shapes. The centaur is of a very early kind, with human front legs and a horse’s hind parts. From the man’s perspective, he must look much like a man, with his animal parts obscured behind. The figures stand on a base. The triangular patterns on the base may describe the quality of the terrain where the man and centaur are standing.
The centaur is a favorite creature throughout Greek art. Indeed, pairs of men and centaurs in combat appeared in the sculptures of the Parthenon in classical Athens. Many other images of centaurs and men in battle are depicted on vases on display in the Greek galleries.
The man and centaur was cast using the lost wax method. The craftsman modeled the figures and their base in wax, then he encased them in clay, and heated the clay-covered model to melt the wax. The hollow left in the clay then served as a mold, which the craftsman filled with molten bronze, heated to a very high temperature, to cast the final piece. The process is both technically and conceptually demanding, and suggests the sophistication of the craft behind the man and centaur’s simplicity.
Click on the floor plan for information about the galleries.  |
