The Stoics were some of the keenest admirers of human greatness. Marcus Aurelius opens his Meditations with seventeen entries—nearly ten percent of the book—reflecting upon the various influential individuals in his life. Nearly every other page thereafter has at least one quote or one story or one mention of a story about his heroes: Socrates, Plato, Epictetus, Hadrian, Augustus, Heraclitus, Pythagoras, Diogenes—“When you need encouragement,” he wrote, explaining this practice, “think of the qualities the people around you have.”
Marcus was constantly thinking of the qualities of the greats. And clearly, this had an effect on him as a person—somehow, despite facing incredible temptations and pressures, he too became a great man, worthy of the countless statues made of his likeness (many of which survive to this day).
Recently, we had a discussion with the sculptor, E.S. Schubert, who we commissioned to design the original portrait bust of Marcus for DailyStoic.com. Given that E.S has spent his life shaping people’s likeness into clay and marble and other materials, he seemed like the right person to ask: Why do statues matter?
We all need Lodestars, and we all need constant, daily, hourly, and minute by minute reminders of how we want to act in the world. Obviously, portraits and monuments of great thinkers, philanthropists, and innovators are a great way to do that… And then more broadly, there is joy to be found in things that exist for no “definably productive” purpose. In a culture increasingly focused on measuring everything and supremely valuing “productivity,” it is difficult to quantify why we should spend money on art, both publicly and privately. But… this isn’t a race. There isn’t an end goal, just an end, so how we enjoy the journey matters. Beautiful things that exist just because they exist make the journey better. It’s okay for us to just want to look at beautiful things.
Even the Stoics who were not much for material possessions seem to have made a special exception for beautiful statues. As Seneca wrote, “Our predecessors have worked much improvement… Why should I not keep statues of great men to kindle my enthusiasm? Why should I not continually greet them with respect and honour?” And as we have written about before, Matthew Arnold spoke about the symbolism of Marcus’ bust, as it wasn’t a mere depiction of a deceased Emperor, but a humble reminder of “the passage of a great man upon the earth.”
Life is short and the good life is easy to miss. That’s why art is so important. It inspires us. It calls us to greatness. We can look at it, touch it, and be looked at and touched in return by it. That’s a special thing.
P.S. This was originally sent on June 4, 2020. Sign up today for the Daily Stoic’s email and get our popular free 7-day course on Stoicism.
