New-York tribune., 1880-02-22
TUEpERGAMON SCULPTURES.

r,,p MOST IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES OF RECENT
TIMFs.
TO the Edttor OF The Trtoune'
SIN. All the intelligence Of the German capitai
o,d the oennlne Berlincr will tell you that TINS
co,npreheuds the whole city-is just now hockihg
to see and to wonder at the massive fragments VI
Greek sculpture discovered on the site OF the an
cient Pergamon or our English clasSica dict'o"-
aries have il. Pergamosl. i'll ASIA Minor. lhey arc
not vet arranged, hut lie spread out on tue n"oi ~
on MANY extemporzed tables in the weli-KhoWn
G0ttersaal OF Hall OF the Gods. III the oid Museum
or still packed IN cases, but uncovered, III the large
adjoining room Many fragments are yet on ther
vay htber but the greater portion may now oe d.
least superfcially examined by the studehV VI
Crock art II was INV good fortune W
nav nv first visit to these Teinark"pIo ~
mains under the guidance OF the 'e"i"o"
historian of Greece. Professor Curuus'
whose kind and patient calculations am 'aisoiS
indebted for the account winch follows ana na'o
since had an opportunity TO learn IN deial 'ie 't"S
entertained concerning the sculptures, their oiis
and object their character and position III tue MS
tory of ancient art by the able director of the col
lection of sculptures and casts Professor ConZe' WIZ
WAS not only largely instrumental in securing the
paroome,ion works for the museum under his
charge but has already made them the subject OF
much careful study.
The story of this fnd"-with which 10 other in
recent history can compare, either III magnitude
and number of the works 1t has yielded, or III It's
artistic importaace-has been already toid. MARI
Uumann an intelligent German engineer, reslc-
inc in SMYRNA, having occasion 10 NIst the
modern town of Bergama while maKlGg sur
yeys for road as far back as 1860, was struck py
seeing some sculptured fragments mbedded ID d
wall erected as part of tOrttcation III TIC md"ie
ages oD the site of the AcropOs OF ancient Perga
mop Securing few Of.theSe he first eEhlDlted
them to the German Consul at smyrna, at whose
advice they were, in 1872, sent TO the Royal Mu-
scum for examination. Their value was at once ap-
parent. The Crown, upon application, lmmcd'atey
resolved to advance the means with winch hu-
mann was requested to undertake thorough cH-
poration; and the German Ambassador at COhStan-
tinople was instructed to procure trom The sultan
the necessary authorization. A German gunboat
was little later placed at llumann's disposal All
these details were very quickly managed partly lest
the yaclatIng Turkish authorities should Interfere
partly to avoid Intervention on the part OF other
powers. For some years the art-word was thuS kept
in Ignorance of the discovery and Its results hu-
mann a. his labors advanced found that the huge
wall which was largely constructed of the precious
objects he sought. had been long used as lime
quarry by the people living IN the vicinity Many
Of the marbles had thus Deeh ouihV !"
kilns and DESTROYED, Others had suffered
in the process of Incorporating them IN tue wall.
All had been imbedded IN plaster or cement, which
had hardened with age, and which still adhercs TO
the surface of the reliefs from which it must be
moved by the slow aud cautious use of the chisel.
The cement has however done good service III PIE
serving the more delicate parts of the sculptor 5
work
ORIGIN OF TIE SCULPTURES.
Ii is known that Attalus the First, the wailike
King of Pergamon (241-197 Is. c. erected several
votive structnres at Athens and elsewhere to com
memorate his victories gained over the Asiauc
Gauls or Galatians (who however, according to a
view lately expressed by Karl Wieseler, were not
Gallo but Gernanic tribe; and among them, as
Amp,lius. an ancient writer living in the latter
half of the second century, A. d., tells u.s. was
grand altar at Pergamon, forty feet in height
decorated with vast mass of sculpture, represent
n qigantomachy or battle of the giants and gods.
Professor Come Is of the opinion that the altar
dates not from the reign of Attalus, but from that
of his successor Eumenes the Second tl07-159 B
C0 q great patron of art and letters. lie that
as IL may it is certain that Pausanas
whose descriptions Of the old Greek world
are so vivid and minute, meut'ons
the work as one OF the principal ornaments Of the
Perpamenian capital. Ii is the freze OF this lofty,
temple like altar which, alnost exactly 1000 years
after it was carved ny Greek chses, has now come
10 light. The work belongs to that postc!as
scbool of Hellenic art which. after the decay of
Greek culture at home aud the loss of Greek
Independence. sprang up at places like Rhodos
and Pcrganon-a school which 1t has been
TOO much the fashion TO decry as the
outgrowth of a period of decadence. This epoch,
and the chIsels of the Asiatic-GreCk sculptOrs
which it produced, certainly created some oil the
most striking works now to lie found In the world
museums The LAGOON itself has been ascribcd to
this time date which it Will be difficult to doubt
after even a cursOry glance nc the bold bg'
ures and strongly rked anatomical expression
which characterize the PergamOn marbles; and
the Dying Gaul tsO long known as TIE
Diving Gladiator in the museum of the Capitol at
Rome. IS universally acknowledged TO be the work
of the school, as is that powerful group of the Vila
Ipdovisi which portrays another Asiatic eau
slay,ng himself after having killed his wife. TO il
belong also the rich carvings Of that exquisite ano
still perfect temple which strikes all travel
lers as the most interesting OF the struc
turcs at Baabeck This school, 1t Is
true substituted bold reahSm-remindinG
us of Michael Angeo-iOr the simple ideallsm oi It's
classic progenitor. but knew how to enhance the
effects it sought TO produce by the use of improved
technical facilities. large part OF the importance
of these newly found remains consists I'D the faci
that they must lead 10 Il revision of the views
hitherto held in regard to the history OF Greek
plastic art.
CHARACTER OF THE WORKS.
The fr;czs Of the votivc altar of Attalus or Eu
mcnes was made up of very thick and heavy slabs
OF plates of marble. nearly 72 feet in height. witt
breadth varying from to 4 feet. On these ar
carved gigantic figures. one and half times the siz
ler orr N order
continuous picture OF the conflict between the re
belous Titans and their Divine oppoDents-the vast
rude. uncomfortable powers of nature against thos
c,,ltrrn the lai tie