The Antiquity Collection

The open loggia, which was later covered to become an exhibition space for the Antiquity Collection, was completed in 1913. The room was used an as open-air studio by Carl Milles. The corner pavilion at the end of the room was used as a summer dining room. Although open, the loggia was furnished and paintings hung on the walls. At the end of the 1960s, the loggia was glazed-in, in order to accommodate the Antiquity Collection.

Carl Milles was always very interested in classical sculpture, which he regarded as a constant source of knowledge and inspiration. As soon as his income allowed, he began to collect Greek and Roman antiquities, at first marble sculptures, later smaller bronzes and ceramics, coins and gold jewellery. He called his collection "The Greek Collection" and used it in his sculp¬ture classes. He encouraged his students both at the Royal Art Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm and at the Cranbrook Art Academy, in the Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills, to gain an intimate knowledge of classical sculpture.

In addition to Greek and Roman works, Milles collected Egyptian, Etruscan and Chinese antiquities.

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Primavera On entering the room, the first thing one sees on the left is a female torso, which Milles called Primavera (Spring). Probably a Roman copy of a late classical original, it is unique in its style and no other copies are known to exist. Characteristic of Greek art of the 4th century B.C. is the way in which the costume closely follows the outline of the body, but the shape of the pleats at the front is unusual, as if they were made with broad brush strokes.

Hades Carl Milles purchased this male head with curly hair in Rome in 1939. What is unusual is that almost his entire nose is intact. It is probably a 2nd century A.D. copy of a bronze original from ca. 440 B.C. The arrangement of the hair indicates that the man represents a Greek hero or perhaps Hades, god of the underworld.

Torso The male torso is probably the only classical Greek original in the collection. The movement of the body up towards the left and the remains of the support for the back of the sculpture would suggest that is an acroterion, i.e. an architectural ornament on the corner or in the roof-ridge of a temple. The style is reminiscent of the Parthenon sculptures at the Acropolis in Athens, which would imply a date of around 440 B.C.

The Pantheon of the Gods Placed in the middle of the Antiquity Collection we have the pantheon of the gods, with Zeus, the king of the gods, in the centre, surrounded by Aphrodite born from the sea, Zeus' son Dionysus born from his father´s thigh, Zeus´ daughter Athena born from her father´s forehead and the twins Apollo and Artemis.

Zeus               Dionysos             Athena             Apollon Artemis

Marcus Aurelius Further into the Roman section of the gallery we find a well-preserved portrait of Caesar Marcus Aurelius, who reigned from 161 to 180 A.D. When Milles acquired it, it had recently been discovered and was originally a portrait bust of the Caesar in armour. This head was one of Milles? personal favourites. In a letter to a friend he wrote: "I love this head, filled with wonderful forms and spiritual expression."

Marble relief To the right of Marcus Aurelius we find a votive relief from Imperial Rome. Archaistic, its style is reminiscent of Greek archaic art of ca. 500 B.C. The relief represents Apollo playing the lyre (the kithara), while on his right the goddess of victory, Nike, makes a libation of wine from an oenochoe.

Roman portraits To the right of the votive relief there are five Roman portraits placed in chronological order on a shelf. Spanning a time period of almost 400 years, they provide the viewer with an opportunity to follow the development of style through the ages. The first head, A160, is realistic and displays a contemplativeness that is characteristic of late republican portraits. The male head next to it, found during dredging work in the Hudson River in the USA in January 1925, is more classical and stripped-down and was made at the time of the birth of Christ. The goddess to the right, A83, dated to the first century A.D., is an archaistic piece, which, like the votive relief to the left, relates to the early Greek sculptures hewn half a millennia earlier. The next portrait, A45, represents a youth and is dated to the 2nd century A.D. based on the small drill holes in the corner of the mouth, corner of the eye and the curls of the hair, which were characteristic of portraits from Hadrian?s rule and onwards. The male portrait furthest away, A35, is from the 3rd century A.D., a time of crisis when Rome was ruled by ruthless warlords such as Maximinus Thrax and Philip the Arab. The focus was on authority and character and much emphasis was placed on individual characteristics in the appearance.

A160                A38 A83                  A45 A35

Female torso One of Carl Milles´ first acquisitions to his beloved Antiquity Collection was this female torso. It is a Roman copy of a Hellenistic original. He tells of how he bought the draped torso for 5,000 SEK, and that it "was previously owned by a naval captain, who in his younger years, had found the torso on an island in the Greek archipelago."

Porphyry dish Furthest into the room we find a red Roman porphyry dish decorated with a centre relief of a crab. In two different epochs, that of Imperial Rome and of Sweden in the 18th and 19th centuries, porphyry, a volcanic rock, was almost exclusively reserved for the aristocracy for the manufacture of luxury objects. The dish is presumably from Pompeii, where the use of sea motifs was popular.

Urn Among the objects at the far end of the loggia we find a Roman cinerary urn. The inscriptions on the front, framed by Victorias that symbolise victory over death, relate how Flavius Brytto commissioned the urn for his sister who died aged 17. Despite the tragic subject matter the motif is festive. On the left side we see a satyr and a maenad with cymbals dancing and on the other side Pan is dancing with another maenad.

Apollo The final object Carl Milles acquired for his Antiquity Collection was this Apollo head that arrived at Millesgården the same day he died, on September 19, 1955. In Greek mythology Apollo is the god of musicians and poets. A skilled archer, he represented order and clarity. In the Temple of Apollo in Delphi there was an oracle that delivered cryptic prophecies. There are many myths about Apollo.

Venus/Aphrodite This is the goddess of love, who according to myth was born from the sea foam and put ashore in a shell. She was very beautiful and had a girdle that made her irresistible to all men. She was married to the god Hephaestus, who was a blacksmith and both lame and dirty. Aphrodite had many love affairs, and had children with the god of war, Ares/Mars.

The Plants of the Gods

Laurel Laurel is associated with Apollo. According to myth, Apollo fell in love with the beautiful nymph Daphne, who could neither hate nor love. She escaped from Apollo and in her distress she cried out to her father, the river god Peneus, to save her. Peneus turned his daughter into a laurel tree. Since then the laurel tree is the holy tree of Apollo and it is he who decides that laurel wreaths are bestowed on those who do some great deed. Exactly as it is today.

Ivy The god of wine, Dionysus, or Bacchus as he was called by the Romans, is associated with two plants: ivy and vine.

Olive Once the sea god Poseidon and the goddess Athena entered into a contest to become the patron of a nameless city. They competed to see which of them could give the inhabitants the best gift. Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and a spring sprang up. Unfortunately the water was salty. Athena created the first olive tree. The city dwellers preferred the olive tree, thus Athena won the competition and the city was named Athens.

Pomegranate In the myth of Persephone and her mother Demeter, Hades abducted Persephone to the underworld. Demeter, the goddess of harvest and fertility, was so unhappy that she let the earth´s plants wither and die. Zeus proclaimed that Persephone must leave the underworld and return to the earth so that Demeter would be happy and allow the earth to bloom. However, if one eats anything in the underworld one cannot leave. As Persephone had eaten a pip of a pomegranate, Hades had a claim on her. It was decreed that Persephone would spend half the year in Hades, during which time nothing flowers on earth and it is winter. The other half of the year she spends with her mother. Then the earth blooms and it is summer.

Myrtle Myrtle is associated with Aphrodite. According to myth, the goddess of love covered herself with myrtle branches when she arose from the sea. Bridal bouquets are still made of myrtle. Both the Greeks and the Romans used myrtle at weddings to decorate the bride.

The Artist´s home

The Small Studio

Sculptures on The Upper Terrace