Sculpture in Pergamon and in Rome

Abstract This chapter reconsiders the relationship between Pergamon and Rome in the sphere of sculpture. It demonstrates that a baroque artistic current cannot be attributed exclusively to Pergamon, since it was present in Greek figurative culture already in the third century bc (e.g. the Gizeh Gaul). Moreover, many question marks hang over Pergamene sculpture: it is not certain that the so-called ‘Great Dedication’ was made by Pergamene artists, and the Ludovisi and Capitoline Gauls cannot be securely connected with any surviving base from Pergamon. Rome’s relationship with Pergamene art also needs rethinking: many works in Rome may seem at first glance to have been produced by Pergamene artists (e.g. the Juno Cesi or the Farnese Bull), but none of them can be attributed to that school with absolute certainty. Rather, the Roman Republican artistic scene was dominated by artists from Athens, Rhodes, and other centres of Asia Minor.