The young Philopoemen, Achaean warrior, citizen of Megalopolis in Arcadia, fought during the Battle of Sellasia, in 222 BC, against the troops of Sparta.
Wounded, he removed the shaft of a javelin, which had crossed both thighs, to continue the battle and defeat the Spartan troops.
Plutarch, in the Parallel Lives, celebrated him as “the last of the Greeks”.
The theme, quite rare in 19th century sculpture, was addressed by Bernard Lange in 1829 – in the image – and by David d’Angers in 1836-1837. Everything is in antithesis between the two works: where Lange creates a sculpture with significant body language, largely inspired by models of antiquity, particularly in the treatment of the torso and muscles, David d’Angers will focus on strengthening the symbolic dimension as “the last of the Greeks”.
Lange instead faithfully follows the precepts of neoclassicism, choosing heroic nudity for his hero – his breastplate rests at his feet. On the base of the statue the marks left by the fragments of the broken javelin, now missing Marble, Musée des Augustins, Toulouse.
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