In the splendid setting of the Palazzo Altemps, in the museum hosts in this amazing renaissance building of Rome, we find one of the most famous statues of the Ludovisi collection, an immense number of works of art that belonged to one of the noble families most in vogue in the Rome of the XVII century: the so-called Ares Ludovisi. Ready to discover more about a real masterpiece? Ready to follow a local tour guide who is waiting to be here, in front of this work of art, with you?

First of all try to understand how, often, the great works that we admire today in public museums once belonged, in private form, to this or that family, to this or that king, this or that emperor. Imagine, then, the real artistic treasure that men and women of high rank have owned, in the course of the centuries. And try, then, to conceive how many wonders, many museums in the world, today we can look at. The so-called Ares Ludovisi is only one of the most shining examples of what I just described. Ludovisi is simply the name of the noble family that, four centuries ago, owned this masterpiece (like another one, always located in this museum, that if you would like to know you should click here).

Let us now describe this extraordinary Ares (the Greek God of War and not only): we see a young beardless man, with a large sword that rests upon, the fair, on his left leg, and with a shield resting, instead, on the right. This impressive marble statue is a roman copy of the II century a.D., probably inspired by the original sculpture, attributed to Skopas, or Lysippos. After all, for the Romans, the Greeks, and their mature art, became a real model to replicate and imitate, and this marble statue is no exception. Rediscovered in 1622, the Ares is many things: in the first place, you can understand how, centuries ago, to the discovery of a statue it was used to place restorations that often the imaginative. After all, not always, and especially in the past, you had the absolute certainty of the character or of the deity represented by a statue, for example. In the absence of the iconographic attributes that are very precise, or in the absence of some kind of documentation or archaeological evidence, is not always possible to determine precisely who is what! And in this case, in fact, to legitimize the idea that this young man could really be Ares (for others, in fact, we'd be in front of Achilles), were added attributes such as the small Cupid (Ares and Venus' child) that plays between her legs, added by Bernini. A way to understand how even the greatest masters were called to perform tasks seemingly minor, such as the one to restore ancient works of art.

After all, however, this is also part of the study and training for sculptors, speaking of statues, they had to have. To be able to really call themselves masters, in the XVII century, you had to get in touch with the one that represents the model for excellence: an original from the greek-roman time. What remains, surely, is the look, sure of the figure, his muscles are well sculpted, the hair thick and curly, as well as the objects that are around you, that tell us how we're facing a warrior. Perhaps it is not the case that Winckelmann, the one who is recognized as the father of modern art history, two centuries ago it moved him to declare that this statue "It is the most beautiful Mars of ancient times". Well, I think that we can be agree. And I think that now you have one more reason to visit the Palazzo Altemps Museum in Rome.