The Procession of Twelve Deities is a piece of Greek art found in the permanent collection of The Walters Art Museum. It came from Tarentum, Italy and was created during the first century BCE, or late Hellenistic period of Greek art (The Walters). There is no known artist. This paper will include an in depth description of the Procession of Twelve Deities as a whole and figure by figure. It will also put this piece into context based on style, culture, and time and place of origin.
But let’s first discuss this artwork as a whole. The “Procession of Twelve Deities” is a low relief frieze that had been carved into penteiic marble. It measures approximately 15 inches tall, 47 inches wide, and just over 2 inches thick (The Walters). The use of marble is as expected of its Greek heritage, as well as it’s Hellenistic roots, because marble was a readily available resource within their society. The marble used in this instance is unpolished and very rough looking.
Its wash consists of varying shades of tans to medium browns with areas of grey visible. Due to the wash of the marble, as well as aging, some of the figures have lost much of their detail, however most others are well preserved. Likely also due to aging is the lack of a ground line. There probably was one once but it has since broken off from the whole. However, when it broke, it didn’t create an even break, but instead broke in a way that caused some of the figures to be Visible clear down to their ankles, and others only down to their knees, mid-shin or mid-thigh.
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Now that we’ve looked at the piece as a whole, let’s look at the general form of the figures. As the title would suggest there are twelve figures/deities within this frieze, From left to right they are Hestia, Hermes, Aphrodite, Ares, Demeter, Hephaestus, Hera, Poseidon, Athena, Zeus, Atermis, and Apollo (The Walters).
The artist for this piece actively organized them in a male, female, male, female pattern, though the reason for this is unknown and there doesn’t seem to be any logical order of importance within the arrangement of the figures. This piece provides no stage for the figures to “live” in and there is almost no sense of depth. Each figure is somewhat elongated with their legs being more than half their height, This is a reflection of Late Classical influence, which camejust before the Hellenistic period. The proportions in the figures here are similar to the proportions found in Praxiteles’ Hermes and infant Dinoysosr This is, however, where similarities with the Praxiteles piece end The figures all appear flat, with only incisions to indicate folds in their drapery, although, there is some idea of the body under the garment. There is some understanding of musculature, but far from that found in previous Late Classical and High Classical sculpturesr And each figure is adorned with a frontal eye while they all appear in either composite or three-quarter View, These are major points that make this piece seem unusual for its time period.
Hellenistic art is known for its baroque style of high-drama, high-contrast, wet drapery, and anatomically correct musculature, such as that found in Nike ofStruthmore. None of those iconic traits of the Hellenistic period are featured in this piece of am In fact, there are some forms of Egyptian Influence Visible in this piece; frontal eye and the beards of the men appear as an Egyptian pharaoh‘s would. All of that, along with its Italian origin, goes to show that this piece came from the provenances to the capital rather than the other way around (The Walters). Now that we’ve looked at the general form of the figures, we are now going [0 look at each figure individually. We will start from the left, with Hestia, and move on until we finally end with Apollo. The first figure we‘re going to discuss will be Hestia, goddess of hearth (The Walters). She is one of the figures whose legs are missing due to the way the marble broke so we can only view her down to mid-thigh.
She is carrying a scepter with her left hand firmly gripped around it with it being held perpendicular to the ground. She appears to us in three»quarter view while looking forward to the figure in front of her, Hermes. Her hair is long, though since it appears to be draped across her back we cannot tell how long, and straight. She wears her robe as a dress with it pinned back over both shoulders, The incisions to indicate folds in the drapery travel from her left shoulder down to her right hip then continue to fall to the ground. Her right hand is extended out under Hermes’ elbow with her palm facing upward as if she is waiting for something to be placed in it. Hermes, messenger of the gods, comes next (The Walters), He is another figure we can only see to mid-thigh. He is adorned with a cap and carries his staff with both hands, though there is a major loss of detail in his left hand, with his elbows pointed out.
He appears to us in composite view since his thighs and face appear to the viewer in profile and his torso in full frontal. He is looking back in line at Hestia, as if they are in conversation. Hermes is the first example of the Egyptian pharaoh style beard present in this image, and that was likely done in order to imply power and importance. He wears his robe pinned back over his right shoulder so his right arm is bare and the left arm is covered only to his elbow The hem of his shawl has a triangular geometric pattern that we will see again. The incisions in his drapery travel from where he has it pinned to where it rests on his left arm, and then continues to fall to the floor. Since Hermes appears to us in composite view there is an unnatural transition from his overly plump buttocks to his lower back. This helps to show the artists imperfect understanding of musculature Next appears Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty, adorned with a veil (The Walters).
She appears to us in three—quarter view, and again can only be seen to her mid- thigh. The veil has deeper incisions than most other incisions in this piece, likely to imply a more freely flowing motion, The veil ends just above her breast and gives Aphrodite a more feminine touch then the other women depicted in this image, which is fully appropriate based on her godship. She is looking forward to the figure, Ares, in front of her. Her right hand and left lazily rested under her breasts. Aphrodite wears a shawl that is draped over both shoulders; her drapery also has the triangular geometric pattern to it The incisions here are very light, likely to imply that she is wearing a light material, also adding to her femininity.
Ares, god of war, appears next, wearing his helmet and carrying a spear (The Walters). He appears to the viewer in composite view, with his face and legs in profile view and his chest in full frontal. He is another of the figures we can only see to his mid-thighr He is looking back at Aphrodite, as if in conversation the same way Hestia and Hermes are, Ares is also featured with an Egyptian pharaoh-style beard, again to signify power and importance. His helmet is adorned with a large fan atop that starts at his hairline and ends at the top of his shoulders He also appears to be wearing a breastplate. The war garb the artist dressed him in helps the viewer to guess that this figure is the god of war, without the help of the description. The Walters provides. Ares also wears a shawl that he has wrapped around his elbows and would cover his backside if it were seen.
His right hand holds his staff, which he rests on his right shoulder in a way that creates a downward diagonal across his body His left hand is raised to his neck level, with the palm facing the viewer in a high-five kind of motion. The next figure in line is Demeter, goddess of agriculture (The Walters) She is the first figure that we have View of down to mid-shin due to the way the marble broke. She is looking forward in line, and appears to the viewer in three»quarter view. Demeter wears a robe that has been thrown over her shoulders and is worn over a dress Her hair appears to be pinned up in a bun of some fashion. She carries her scepter in her left hand with her thumb and forefinger pointed upward in a pincer grip motion, And in her right hand a sheaf of wheat (The Walters), The wheat she carries helps the viewer to understand that this figure is the goddess of agriculture without needing to read the description. The Walters providesi Hephaestus, god of fire and metalworking, comes next. He carries his staff and not much more (the Walters).
He appears to the viewer naked and facing forward in three-quarter viewr Hephaestus is the first figure in this image that we can see all the way down to his ankles, Again he is adorned with the Egyptian pharaoh-style beard to signify his power and importance. He has shoulder length wavy hair and wears only a shawl that he has wrapped around his elbows in the same manner Ares did. The hem of his shawl also has a triangular geometric pattern. He grips his staff with his left hand and holds it perpendicular to the ground. And he rests his right hand on his breast in a way that we today would interpret as the pledge of allegiance. Next comes Hera, queen of gods, carrying her scepter (The Walters). She is looking forward to the figure, Poseidon, in front of her, and appears to us in three-quarter View. She is another of the figures that we can see down to the ankles. She has long, straight hair and wears a shawl over her shoulders with a dress underneath.
In her left hand she holds her staff with her thumb and forefinger pointed upward in the same pincer grip motion that Demeter usedi Again the staff is held perpendicular to the ground. Her right hand is picking up a piece of her dress fabric with her wrist resting on her hip. Her right thigh seems to be unnaturally thick, which again shows the artists imperfect understanding of musculature. Poseidon, god of the sea, comes next, carrying his trident (The Walters). He is looking back at Hera, and appears to the viewer in composite view, with his face and legs in profile view and his torso in full frontal. Poseidon, like Hephaestus, is naked, wearing only his shawl over his shoulders leaving his chest and forearms hare, He also has shoulder length wavy hair like Hephaestus‘. Again, we see the Egyptian pharaoh style beard to signify power and importance.
Poseidon holds his trident with both hands creating an upward diagonal across his body with the neck of the trident resting on his left shoulder. His right hand grips the handle firmly while his left hand is open with only his fingertips touching the handle, as if to provide support, His elbows are pointed outward. There is an unnatural transition from his buttocks to his lower back, much like with Ares. And much like Hera, his right thigh seems unnaturally thick, Both help to illustrate the artist’s imperfect understanding of musculature. The next figure we’re going to look at is Athena, goddess of wisdom and the arts. She is adorned with a helmet and carries an owl and spear with her (The Walters). She is the last figure that we are going to see down to the ankles of. Athena appears to us facing forward in three-quarter View, She has her ponytail pulled through the top of her helmet with what would appear to be some pieces framing her face. She wears a shawl over her shoulders with a dress underneath. She holds her spear in her left hand with a rather loose grip, as though she isn’t worried of dropping it.
On her right hand, which she has held in a pincer grip motion at chin level, perches an owl. The owl faces us, with wings spread open as if in flight in a way that makes it appear it might fly off the relief at the viewer, The owl would help the viewer to guess that this figure is the goddess of wisdom without having to read the description provided by The Walters, though the art half of her godship would need to be gained through the description. Zeus, king of gods, comes next, carrying his staff and a thunderbolt (The Walters). He appears to us in three-quaner view, and is facing forward. We can only see down to mid- shin of this figure. There is loss of detail from the armpits down and even more loss from the waist down, making this figure one of the hardest to read. Although, there is a clear outline of his body the finer details have been lost to time. Zeus is another of the men featuring the Egyptian pharaoh-style beard, however, his is the largest of all the men, which would lead us to believe the artist is using a form of beard hierarchy to show Zeus‘ utmost power and importance.
In his right hand Zeus grips his thunderbolt holding it so the uppermost tip is level with his right elbow and creates a small diagonal across his torso. In his left hand he holds his staff with his thumb and forefinger facing upward in the same pincer-grip type motion that Hera and Demeter used. Next in line is Artemis, goddess of hunt and the moon, carrying her bow and quiver (The Walters). Due to the way the marble broke we can only see this figure down to her kneesi Artemis appears to the viewer in three-quarter view and facing forward She wears a shawl that appears to be pinned back over her right shoulder. The incisions on her drapery have worn down with age, which makes them difficult to read. She holds her bow, positioned as if ready to load and strike at any second, with her left hand. She wears her quiver strapped to her back with the strap running diagonally from her right shoulder down to her waist.
The bow and quiver help the viewer to understand that this figure is the goddess of hunt without having to read the description The Walters provided, however the moon half of her godship would need to be read into. Her right hand is picking up a piece of fabric from her dress in the same way Hera did, Lastly, we’re going to look at Apollo, god of the sun, carrying a kithara (The Walters). He appears to us in three-quarter view and facing forwardi There seems to be less overall attention to detail in this figure, and the kithara takes away from readability Apollo rests his left hand on his stomach with his elbow pointed out while his right hand is busy being used to play his kitharai Apollo was likely intentionally placed in the front of the procession as to lead the rest of the gods with his music.
An In-Depth Description of the Greek Art, The Procession of Twelve Deities. (2023, Apr 09). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/an-in-depth-description-of-the-greek-art-the-procession-of-twelve-deities/
