confrontation. There are no straight lines; the only clear shape is the roundness of the
shield. Otherwise the swirling composition cannot be resolved into a geometric
pattern; the viewer’s eye has no one point of rest. In the frieze as a whole one scene
meshes into the next and there is the confusion of a real gigantic struggle, in which
we are conscious of the pain and agony of the victims. The scene here has features
typical of the whole; dishevelled coils of snaky hair, deeply furrowed brows, straining
limbs and swirling drapery that gives physical depth and emotional turbulence to the
scene. This is most unlike the effect of the sculptures of the Parthenon.
In contrast to these scenes of mythological struggle are the records of historical
defeat represented in the dedicatory statues commemorating the victories of Attalus
I over the Gauls possibly located in the sanctuary of Athena. A marble Roman statue
of a dying Gaul, identified by the torque he wears round his neck, is reckoned to be
a copy of the lost original bronze. From the presence of the musical instrument at his
feet the figure is sometimes referred to as the dying Celtic trumpeter. Blood is draining
from a wound at his lower ribs. There is a pleasing harmony in the triangular
composition complemented by the rounded edges of the oval shield on which he is
lying. But the overwhelming effect to be appreciated by the spectator is not the
serenity and poise of the sculptor’s representation but the pathos of this moment of
defeat as the drooping head bent in submission yields to the inevitable. In the
ART 267FIGURE 71 The dying Gaul: Roman copy of bronze original c.230–220
Source:Musei Capitolini. Rome © 2014. Photo Scala, Florence – courtesy of Sovraintendenza di
Roma Capitale