Ludovisi Gaul

A standing male figure is represented in the act of stabbing his neck with a short sword while supporting with his left hand a dying woman who falls forward at his side. The two figures, easily identified by their long curly hair and by the woman's oriental stule of dress, rest on typical Celtic arms: an oval shield and the sheath of a sword. The intrpretation of the two characters as Gauls (or Galatians) a Celtic people of Asia Minor, has linked his work to the famous scultpure of the Dying Gaul now in the Capitoline Museums. They could have both belonged to a single sculptural group, a marble copy of the original bronze by the famous artist Epigonos, commissioned by King Attalus I to celebrate his victory over the Gauls in 240 BC. The two sculptures the Gaul killing himself and his wife and the dying gaul probably come from the area of the Villa Ludovisi where in Roman times werre llocated the gardens of Sallust, formerly of Caesar. The place of their discovery very close to the residence of Caesar, suggests that they are to be considered symbolic copies commissioned by Caesar in memory of his victories over the Gauls,a Celtic people od the west.作品呈现一名站立男性，正以短剑刺向自身颈部，同时左手搀扶着身侧前倾倒下的垂死女性。二人凭借长卷发与女性的东方风格服饰可轻易辨识，其基座为典型凯尔特武器：椭圆形盾牌与剑鞘。将二人判定为高卢人（加拉太人）——小亚细亚的凯尔特族群，这一解读将该作品与现藏于卡比托利欧博物馆（Capitoline Museums）的著名雕塑《垂死的高卢人》（Dying Gaul）联系起来。二者或同属一组雕塑群，即著名艺术家埃皮戈诺斯（Epigonos）原作青铜像的大理石复制品，由阿塔罗斯一世（Attalus I）国王委托创作，用以纪念公元前240年他战胜高卢人的战绩。这两件雕塑——《自刎的高卢人与亡妻》与《垂死的高卢人》，大概率出自路德维西别墅（Villa Ludovisi）区域——古罗马时期此处曾坐落着萨卢斯特（Sallust）的花园，而该花园原属凯撒（Caesar）。雕塑的发现地紧邻凯撒居所，这表明它们实为凯撒委托制作的象征性复制品，用以纪念他击败西欧凯尔特族群高卢人的战功。