Mother and son

Two people in close and friendly contact with each other. For hundreds of years it has been debated which people this represents. Is it the young Roman Papirius who brushes off his mother's questions about what was said in the Senate with made-up stories? Is the motif taken from the Greek drama and shows Orestes with his sister Elektra, who plans to avenge the murder of his father? Is it the wandering Odysseus' patiently waiting wife Penelope with her son Telemachus? Or is it simply a general image of friendship and peace? The sculpture nevertheless stands out from the majority of plaster casts in the Academy of Arts in that it shows neither gods nor muscular grown men. The age difference between the two people still means that the title mother and son is not completely unreasonable. The original plaster of the Academy of Arts could be seen in the 1600th century at the Ludovisi family in Rome. However, they were not particularly fond of letting others cast their fine antique sculpture. Really old copies are thus rare, and the fact that this copy came to Sweden as early as 1698 is rather strange. The sculpture group has existed at the Art Academy since 1780. According to the custom of the time, it was ranked in the so-called second class among sculptures, after top numbers such as the Laocoon group and the Apollo Belvedere. Being part of art's B team was not as bad as it might sound today - even second-class antiques were important. And the less significant received no ranking at all. The sculpture was highly valued in ancient times. Many who had the opportunity to see it attached themselves to the feelings and the contact between the people expressed in the work. It is up to each viewer to consider whether it can speak to us even today?