Bronze at the Royal Academy

This exhibition does what is says- it consists of objects made of the alloy bronze, and information on techniques. It’s a valuable curatorial theme, as it lets items from Picasso’s baboon to ancient Luristanian objects be displayed in the same space, with the same focus.

Sure, there are plenty of Classical bronzes here, but the strata the RA is excavating is not chronological but by taxonomy (figures, animals, objects, reliefs, gods, heads). This means we get exciting juxtaposition, and get to see work from many continents.

This is a curious haul for that reason- many of the items don’t have known artists or exact timescales, so instead of the biographical focus we get archaeology instead. The Dancing Satyr ( displayed in the gloomth of the first room so it can be seen in the round) is a perfect monument to discontinuity, covered with the patina of age and now only to be interpreted formally. Many other objects are the same, and the information has a light touch (unlike the exhibition catalog, which is formidable historical scholarship, sliced up by region).

These odd relics bring the more modern work into focus, and provide some of the jewels in this collection- the Seeland chariot with its sun disc, the Ife leopards, and the head of a king from Thrace and the tiny figure of Ptah. There is a lot of metal on display too- much Classical nakedness (like Bellini’s relentlessly misogynistic giant Perseus, a very homoerotic Hercules, and a bronze Laocoon) and some actual pornography, in the form of satyrs in a surprisingly athletic embrace.
 
A brave break from the normal biographically centred approach from the RA, and one that has yielded results.