Il Fidelino

The Boy with a thorn in his foot (Il Fidele or Il Fidelino) was a well known subject in Greek and Roman sculpture. The first known version was a Greek bronze created between the 5th and 3rd centuries BCE which is now in the Musei Capitolini here in Rome. Various versions of it in bronze and marble were made from Roman times onwards and can be found in collections in Firenze, London, New York and this one at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin which dates from the time of Augustus.

He is part of the exhibition Die Rückkehr der Götter (The Return of the Gods) - a fascinating collection of classical pieces that had been taken from Berlin to Moscow and St Petersburg for "safe keeping" in 1958. The collection of Roman and Greek art was returned and has been restored and some pieces are being displayed for the first time in a decades.

The name Il Fidelino (The Faithful Boy)comes from the apocryphal story created to give what was a simple Grecian theme a more grandiose civic purpose in Rome. Legend says he was a shepherd boy who ignored the pain of a thorn lodged in his sole to deliver a message to the Senate. It was only after his task had been accomplished that he applied himself to removing the hurtful barb.
Some how this does not look like the face of a boy who has run miles to bring a message but simply a young lad, perhaps a Shepard, concentrating on removing that bothersome thorn.


Though those beautifully sculpted hands and feet don't look like those of a young man who has tromped through fields or climbed rocks in search of his sheep.

What ever his purpose in life he was a fitting subject for the unknown sculptor's hammer and chisel.

29 novembre - San Saturnino di Tolosa

Bits of Byzantium

Though not as spectacular as the Byzantine Museum in Athens the Bode Museum does house a very fine collection of artifacts from the glory days of Byzantium. There are some intriguing examples of ivory carving and stone work from the days of the Empire of the East.

These lovely miniatures reflect the remarkable skill of the ivory carvers of Constantinople and the Empire.
(From top right to bottom left.)These rather saucy dragons adorned the head of a staff of a court official. A head fragment and a saint showing traces of paint that would have adorned some of the figures. The Archangel Michael girds for battle. The 40 saints (and yes there are 40 - I counted) are set out on the frozen river to die.
This lovely diptych dates from the 6th or 7th century. It would have been joined by silver hinges which have long since disappeared, possibly in one of the lootings as Western Crusaders "liberated" Byzantium.

The stone carvings are equally as remarkable.
The top marble is a fragment of a Chancel screen from the 8th century. It found its way from Constantinople to Venice at some point.

16 novembre - Santa Margherita di Scozia