DISCOBOLOS GOES TO THE MOVIES: STATUE OF THE MONTH JUNE 2020
DISCOBOLOS GOES TO THE MOVIES: STATUE OF THE MONTH: JUNE 2020 What did Scarlet Overkill from the 2015 Minions movie have in common with Adolf Hitler (other than a desire for world domination)? The answer is that they both managed to acquire the same statue: a marble copy the Discobolos (the Discus-Thrower). In the Minions movie we get a glimpse of Scarlet Overkill’s stash of looted art treasures, a hoard of instantly-recognisable cultural icons: Michelangelo’s David , Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Can , one of the Easter Island moai – and, representing the art of the ancient world, the marble Discobolos . Unlike other pieces of ancient art, Discobolos doesn’t require any knowledge of the mythological or religious context in order to understand it. It’s obvious what’s going on here: it’s a nude guy (Greek athletic contests were held in the nude) in the process of throwing a discus. The statue is so widely-recognised by the public that it ha...