L’Olympisme
24 avril – 16 septembre 2024
Le Discobole de Myron, un symbole olympique incontestéD’après Myron,
Discobole
Moulage, tirage intégral d'une copie d'après l'original grec, en bronze, de Myron (460-450 avant J.-C.)
Fin du XIXe siècle
Montpellier, musée des Moulages
Nous ne connaissons le Discobole du sculpteur grec Myron que par des copies, principalement en marbre. Cette célèbre statue, originellement en bronze, représentait un lanceur de disque en pleine action. Elle hérite du « style sévère », qui se caractérise dans la décennie 460-450 par une grande sobriété, par une représentation anatomique des corps humains et par des visages impassibles contrastant avec les visages souriants de la période archaïque. Mais déjà, en ce milieu du Ve siècle avant J.-C., cet athlète sans pareil fait partie des œuvres qui inaugurent la sculpture grecque classique.
When the ‘Severe Style’ Became Classical
Weight firmly on his bent right leg, which supports him, while he lifts his other leg on tiptoe, the discus thrower makes the discus-swinging gesture so characteristic of this sport in antiquity. He is about to transition into a movement of explosive extension, combined with a rotation that will propel the discus. While the sculpture retains from the ‘Severe style’ a certain stylisation of the torso’s muscles and a two-dimensional composition that suggests high relief, the illusion of movement and the anatomic detail of the figure are already announcing the canons of beauty of Greek classicism.
The Quintessence of Movement
Myron was celebrated in antiquity for his realism. Certainly the Discobolus shows a studied depiction of the human body unequalled in that era. But do not consider it a realistic artwork. Its composition is extremely formal, comprising four triangles and two circles. Apparently choosing the privileged moment when the discus thrower reverses his action, but in fact depicting several successive positions, the artist shows us an idealised athlete, thus revealing the quintessence of his art.
An Olympic Symbol Perverted by Nazism
From the beginning, this statue was one of the symbols of the Olympic Games. It appeared on two commemorative stamps from the first international Olympic Games (Athens, 1896) and on a commemorative postcard from the 1906 Mesolympics. However, for the 1936 Olympics, held in the Germany of the Third Reich, a propaganda film showed the Discobolus transforming into a living athlete, embodied by the German Erwin Huber. Nazi ideology appropriated a masterpiece of Greek sculpture to celebrate the supremacy of the Germanic race. Delighted by this, Hitler acquired the Lancellotti Discobolus in 1938, the most complete Roman copy of the Greek original, and presented it to the German people as an example of Aryan beauty. In 1948, the statue was finally returned to Italy. And on the poster for the London Olympics that same year, it was the British Museum’s copy that symbolised the Games, restoring Myron’s masterpiece to universality.
Le saviez-vous ?
L’œuvre de Myron la plus prisée dans l’Antiquité fut la représentation d’une génisse en bronze. Elle semblait si fidèle à la réalité que son veau s’y serait trompé.
Sélection d'œuvres
D’après Myron, Discobole. Moulage, tirage intégral. Fin du XIXe siècle. Montpellier, musée des Moulages
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