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Own up: Which ones of you did google that one up?
Yes, it means "scraper", by which you should however not imagine that the subject is stingy, cheap, or reduced by fate to scrounge a living from more fortunate folks.
Take it literatly. That guy (that particular Apoxyomenos is a guy. For a female version see this wonderful painting by Alma Tadema) is scraping his own skin clean (or thereabout) after a bout at the gym.
Of course, if the Greek athletes had not been silly enough to cover their body in oil before frolicking in the dust (and I'd like to see the statistiques on skin cancer in ancient Greece or Rome; for all its virtues, olive oil does NOT include a sun block), they would not need to scrape all that mixture of sweat, oil and dirt after the exercise (yuck).
And, strangely enough, we would be missing some seriously beautiful pieces of art.
Mind you, this one has lost his strigil, so it does look a bit like he's dancing the Macarena (or some other one hit wonder summer dance) instead:
And have a look at the back stage...
Now THAT wasn't an easy feat although there was plenty of space to actually walk around our scraper and ascertain that he wasn't actually dancing or doing anything equally as frivolous: Tons of people wanted to have their pictures taken, or take pictures of their beloved - including their kids - in front of that guy, so finding a quiet moment to stray around the statue was a difficult task.
But turn around it I did, so I could enjoy my type of perspective...
Nice shadow play, isn't it?
I got a few startled looks but by and large I do find my choice of subject far healthier than the seven or eight years olds I saw posing in front of the statue...
The mind sizzles: Why couldn't they take picture of the kids in the front of a nice Egyptian sarcophagus instead? It would have been far cooler for the victims...
Meh.
Anyway.
There was finally an opening and I managed to assert my point of view.
I think it is important to be able doing so.
Don't you?
Ooooh. Look! Love handles!
Hem.
...
Quite.
Next bit: The Octogonal Courtyard.
Yes, it means "scraper", by which you should however not imagine that the subject is stingy, cheap, or reduced by fate to scrounge a living from more fortunate folks.
Take it literatly. That guy (that particular Apoxyomenos is a guy. For a female version see this wonderful painting by Alma Tadema) is scraping his own skin clean (or thereabout) after a bout at the gym.
Of course, if the Greek athletes had not been silly enough to cover their body in oil before frolicking in the dust (and I'd like to see the statistiques on skin cancer in ancient Greece or Rome; for all its virtues, olive oil does NOT include a sun block), they would not need to scrape all that mixture of sweat, oil and dirt after the exercise (yuck).
And, strangely enough, we would be missing some seriously beautiful pieces of art.
Mind you, this one has lost his strigil, so it does look a bit like he's dancing the Macarena (or some other one hit wonder summer dance) instead:
And have a look at the back stage...
Now THAT wasn't an easy feat although there was plenty of space to actually walk around our scraper and ascertain that he wasn't actually dancing or doing anything equally as frivolous: Tons of people wanted to have their pictures taken, or take pictures of their beloved - including their kids - in front of that guy, so finding a quiet moment to stray around the statue was a difficult task.
But turn around it I did, so I could enjoy my type of perspective...
Nice shadow play, isn't it?
I got a few startled looks but by and large I do find my choice of subject far healthier than the seven or eight years olds I saw posing in front of the statue...
The mind sizzles: Why couldn't they take picture of the kids in the front of a nice Egyptian sarcophagus instead? It would have been far cooler for the victims...
Meh.
Anyway.
There was finally an opening and I managed to assert my point of view.
I think it is important to be able doing so.
Don't you?
Ooooh. Look! Love handles!
Hem.
...
Quite.
Next bit: The Octogonal Courtyard.
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