The Farnese Atlas is a marble sculpture depicting the titan Atlas, condemned by Zeus to carry the sky on his shoulders. It is a Roman copy of the 2nd century AD of an older Hellenistic work. What makes this statue unique is the globe that Atlas holds, on which are engraved the constellations of the night sky as they were known to the Greeks at that time.
A masterpiece of ancient sculpture
The Farnese Atlas was discovered in the Baths of Caracalla in Rome in the 16th century. It was acquired by Cardinal Farnese, who gave it his name and displayed it in his villa. The statue is 2.1 meters high and the globe has a diameter of 65 centimeters. It is preserved at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples.
The sculpture is very fine and expresses the suffering of the titan Atlas, whose muscles are tense and face is tense. The globe is also very detailed and shows the stars and mythological figures that make up the constellations.
A unique representation of the celestial sphere
The globe of the Farnese Atlas is the oldest known representation of the celestial sphere, that is, the projection of the sky on a spherical surface. It shows 41 constellations, of which 38 have been identified precisely, out of the 48 distinguished by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in his treatise on astronomy known as the Almagest, dating from the same period as our era.
The globe is therefore an exceptional testimony of ancient astronomy and of the world view of the Greeks. It illustrates their knowledge of the movements of the stars and their ability to represent them on a map of the sky. It also reveals their imagination and mythological culture, since each constellation is associated with a legend or a symbol.
A source of mystery and inspiration
The Farnese Atlas has aroused interest and curiosity among researchers and artists since its discovery. Some have tried to find the origin of the globe and to know if it was based on a lost star catalog attributed to Hipparchus, the greatest astronomer of ancient Greece. Others have sought to interpret the symbolic or philosophical meaning of the globe and the figure of Atlas.
The Farnese Atlas has also inspired literary or artistic works, such as Hesiod’s poem Works and Days, Homer’s Odyssey or Michelangelo’s painting The Creation of Adam. It remains today a symbol of human quest for knowledge and beauty.
