Zum Ares Borghese

Abstract

The subject of this article is the statuary type of the Ares Borghese, which is based on a classical Greek statue and known in numerous Roman copies. A precise description of the condition of the eponymous and most complete copy and a detailed comparison of the extant replicas give a better idea of the lost original. Stylistic comparisons help in dating the original to the decade 430/420 B.C. The old attribution to Alkamenes can’t be substantiated, but it is noteworthy that the Ares Borghese is the only statue of this god from the 5th century B.C. which can be reconstructed with numerous copies, and that it is the most often copied non-Polycleitan type from this period. Concerning the reception of the type in the Roman Imperial period, there are several transformations, into portraits (of Imperial and ›private‹ persons) as well as into Herakles and Asklepios.