Art Final ... yes.. I said FINAL =S

We have seen more art over the last 7 weeks than I would be willing to almost guarantee I have seen in the previous 20 years combined. We have seen works from all the big, world renowned artists such as Raphael, Michelangelo, da Vinci, and Donatello (the Turtles I call them) to works by artists that were unknown and will remain that way. One statue that keeps coming to the surface of my pool of thoughts about artwork is The Belvedere Torso which we saw in the Vatican Museum. The date it was originally discovered is unknown, well uncertain; however knowledge of it began to surface in the 1430’s. By 1500 it was a well known construction of interest. Originally it was believed to be an original sculpture from the 1st century BC, but now is believed to be a recreation of an older construction from approximately the 2nd century BC. Although there are many theories as to where or why the sculpture originated one thing that is apparently certain is the sculptor himself. He made it a point to blatantly sign his work ‘Apollonius, son of Nestor, Athenian’ but nothing is actually known about him or the purpose of his work. Some scholars believe that his signature can be found on other works from the same projected time, however I have found that of all that believe this, just as many scholars disagree.
Just as Leonardo said in our tour of the Vatican Museum, one of the most popular candidates for the whole of the original statue is Hercules due to its proportion and muscularity. It was thought that it was intended to be Hercules sitting on the skin of the Nemean Lion but after further research it was found that if it is indeed an animal hide then it’s consistent of panther, not lion. It was always just sort of assumed that it was the mighty Hercules, but if the skin is of a panther then it doesn’t really make any sense for it to be Hercules. The newer theories are that it may be Polyphemus or Marsyas or even still Hercules, but we can never really know who or what Apollonius, son of Nestor intended. For all we know he could have made it the way it appears today as a joke. How hilarious would that be?

It is also important to note that ‘The Torso’, as it has come to be known, can be seen rather obviously in Michelangelo’s painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The Torso was inspiration for many artists who attempted to recreate or sketch it. I can relate to this because my imagination is inspired when I look at this sculpture. Not knowing exactly who or what it is makes my little brain just go crazy. I try to picture the completed statue in so many different ways. I have seen it with a head and arms that bear a striking resemblance to my Papaw then a minute later I imagine a goat head and something like monkey arms or duck feet. As outrageous as that sounds, it’s not completely impossible and I have an outrageously vivid imagination so I can actually picture it like that. I am always looking for reasons why and explanations for those things that can’t be or haven’t been explained no matter how nonsensical my fabricated explanations may be. I assume that is why I am so drawn to The Torso, because it lets my imagination go wild instead of having a concrete (or marble in this case) story or explanation. It’s mysterious and powerful because no person can say they know everything about it. It more or less can’t be beaten by even the most knowledgeable human on earth and to me that is absolutely beautiful.