'The Dying Gaul' at the National Gallery of Art

On my January visit to the National Gallery of Art, I became reacquainted with 'The Dying Gaul', displayed in the rotunda of the East Building in a special one-work exhibition.

'The Dying Gaul' installed in Rotunda of National Gallery of Art East Building,
photo from National Gallery of Art website

We had originally seen this world famous sculpture at the Capitoline Museums in Rome, where it sits in the center of a gallery surrounded by other statues from Roman antiquity.

'The Dying Gaul' at the Capitoline Museum, Rome, photo by Blomme/McClure 2001

'The Dying Gaul' from the rear in the Capitoline Museum, Rome, photo by Blomme/McClure, 2001

In both settings it is a splendid work of art from the first or second century A.D.  It was dug up around 1621-23 in the gardens of the Villa Ludovisi in Rome.  Experts believe that it is a copy of even earlier Greek bronze thought to be created to honor the victory of the king of Pergamon over the Gauls in the third century B.C.  The Gauls were known for fighting nude with only their weapons, so the depiction of the wounded warrior naked except for a sword, a trumpet and a necklace has been deemed an accurate portrayal of a Gaul dying on the battlefield.

Following its discovery, it became such a famous sculpture that Napoleon's armies took it to Paris for display in the Louvre from 1797 to 1816.  Upon its return to Rome, the Capitoline museum became a featured stop on the 'grand tour' during the 18th and 19th centuries, wherein European gentlemen furthered their appreciation of the antiquities.

Isolated in the National Gallery's rotunda with better lighting, I was more keenly aware of both the extraordinary realism and incredible beauty of this wonderful, justly famed work.

'The Dying Gaul' on loan from the Capitoline Museum, Rome, marble, 2nd or 3rd century A.D.
 on display in the Rotunda of the National Gallery of Art, photo by McClure, 2014