Portrait herm of Socrates
Marble.
Roman copy from an original by Lysippos of the second half of the 4th century BCE. Inv. No. 6415.Naples, National Archaeological Museum

Portrait herm of Socrates.

Marble.
Roman copy from an original by Lysippos of the second half of the 4th century BCE.
Inv. No. 6415.

Naples, National Archaeological Museum
(Napoli, Museo archeologico nazionale).

Private collection, Farnese.
Description:

Italiano 2. 176. Socrate, erma

Inv. 6415; Numero della scheda dal catalogo Guida illustrata del Museo Nazionale di Napoli, a cura di A. Ruesch, 1908, no. 1118.
Da orig. della seconda metà del IV sec. a. C.
Bibl.:
G. M. A. Richter, The portraits of the Greeks, I—III, London 1965, con Supplemento (1972), p. 113, n. 12, fìgg. 483, 500—501, 503;
L. A. Scatozza Höricht, Il volto dei filosofi antichi, Napoli 1986, p. 87, fìg. 29.

Tipo “B”. Copia da originale di Lisippo? Restauro: naso, metà inf. dell’erma.

Le Collezioni del Museo Nazionale di Napoli (1989)

Herm of Socrates

inv. 6415

According to the descriptions of Xenophon, Socrates was rather stocky, with broad shoulders and a protruding belly, a massive face with a squat nose and a wide mouth with thick lips. All in all, not what one would call an elegant physique; the philosopher himself would joke on his appearance, defining it “Silenic” Diogenes Laertius reports that, long after his death, the Athenians entrusted Lysippus with the fabrication of a bronze seated statue of the philosopher, and placed it in the Pompeion. Lysippus allegedly emphasised this rather coarse appearance, projecting onto it the new significance that the Dionysiac cultural trend was taking on in contemporary Athens. This Farnesian herm is a replica of this Lysippean type (another, a standing statue, existed).

On its pillar it bears an ancient quotation from Plato’s Cratilus: “not today for the first time, but always it has been my custom to submit my will to nothing else of myself but the force of what seems to me to be the best reasoning”.

Stefano De Caro (1989)
Credits:
© 2013. Photo: Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei.
© 1989. Description (1): Le Collezioni del Museo Nazionale di Napoli. I, 2, p. 180, cat. n. 2. 176.
De Luca Edizioni D’Arte — Leonardo, Napoli, 1989.
© 1989. Description (2): Stefano De Caro, “The National Archaeological Museum of Naples”.
Soprintendenza Archeologica di Napoli e Caserta. Electa, Napoli, 2001, p. 319.
THE GALLERY OF ANCIENT ART
Keywords: epigraphia epigraphy inscription iscrizione epigrafia epigraphik epigrafik inschrift épigraphie γλυπτική sculptura sculpture sculptural scultura skulptur ρωμαϊκό roman romana romano romani römisch römische römisches römischen römischer romain romaine romains romaines ελληνική φιγούρα greek figures greeks figura greca figure greche greco greci griechische figur figuren grieche griechen grecque grecques grec grecs ρωμαϊκό αντίγραφο copy copia kopie copie herma herm term erma herme hermès απεικόνιση portrait portraiture ritratto ritrattistica porträtmalerei porträt φιλόσοφος σωκράτης socrates sokrates philosopher filosofo socrate philosoph philosophe of a man male maschile uomo männliches mann masculin un homme porträtherme porträt-herme marble marmo marmor marbre μάρμαρο barba barbatum beard bearded barbuto bart bärtiger barbe barbu γενειάδα γενειοφόρος άνθρωπος from the farnese collection collezione sammlung farnèse lysippus lysippos sikyon lisippo sicione lysipp aus lysippe λύσιππος ig xiv 1214 inv no 6415
History of Ancient Rome