1999 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Laocoon and the Aesthetics of 18 Century
Project/Area Number |
10610495
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Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
Section | 一般 |
Research Field |
独語・独文学
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Research Institution | Nagoya University |
Principal Investigator |
ARIKAWA Kantaro Nagoya University, Faculty if Language and Culture, Professor, 言語文化部, 教授 (90033232)
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Project Period (FY) |
1998 – 1999
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Keywords | Laocoon statue / Hellenistic Art / Pergamon alter / Plinius / Ludwig Pollak / Virgil / G. E. Lessing |
Research Abstract |
1) To place the date of the Laocoon statue in Vatican offers some difficulties. We aimed to examine the theory of Bernard Andreae and showed that his thesis was highly probable. Investigation from several aspects confirmed the fact that the Laocoon statue in Vatican is a marble copy of the original bronze statue in Pergamon. With regard to this, we pointed out some philologic problems concerning the text of Plinius. 2) The exact place where the statue was discovered in Rome in 1506 is difficult to locate. Some topographical materials showed that it can be located the Trajan thermae. 3) In the restoration of the statue, the greatest of many problems was about the right arm of Laocoon. Through Ludwig Pollak's discovery of it (1903) this problem was finally solved. After giving an outline of his life, we presented his important paper in translation : "The right arm of Laocoon". 4) In order to define the meaning of the statue for the Roman 'res publica', we analyzed Virgil's "Aeneis" and confirmed the probability of the idea of "sacrificium". 5) We analyzed the text of Lessing's "Laocoon" and clarified contrasted views on Lessing and Wincekelmann. This is important because their dispute stirred up an intellectual interest for aesthetics in the 18th century in Germany. 6) A list of important Web sites on the Internet follows as an appendix, giving many possibilities for our studies of the classic.
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