Gay or Dreaming? - The bust in ‘The Six Thatchers’
Remember that bust in TST?
No, not that one!
This one!
The one in the workshop in those Tbilissi scenes with Ajay.
Over the years, I have seen people in this fandom take a stab in the dark a few times, guessing vaguely that it might be some bust of Antinous, the lover of the Emperor Hadrian.
The problem with this guess is that it’s neither entirely correct nor entirely wrong because:
a) it is a very specific sculpture and
b) the idea that it’s Antinous is…well, actually wrong, but also not quite…
It kind of is him, but it also really, really isn’t!
Let me explain.
It’s a very famous sculpture often referred to by art historians as the ‘Capitoline Antinous’ from the Capitoline Museums in Rome (originally found in the Villa Adriana at Tivoli)
Here’s what it looks like in the (reduced) form of a bust (as in the above screenshot):
The chap is usually very easy to recognise by the soft curve of his cheeks.
Here’s the thing, though:
Despite its commonly used, art-historical name, this sculpture IS NOT ANTINOUS!
Most art-historians today agree that who we see depicted here is actually THE GREEK GOD HERMES. (Suffice it to say that the discrepancies between his facial features and the ones of known accurate depictions of Antinous are just too numerous to ignore.)
So, what am I trying to say here?
Three things:
1) A Sherlock mirror
On the show, this bust is almost certainly meant to be read as a mirror for Sherlock. And not just because of the pretty curls. Remember that this bust…is not actually a bust. The original in the Capitoline Museums is an entire statue!
The BBC show ‘Sherlock’ uses a copy that is reduced to a bust, like so:
The show has done this countless times before, and whenever it ‘cut off the head’ of some world-famous statue, it was meant to be read as Sherlock.
Remember the bust in Magnussen’s mind palace in series 3?
It is actually an entire statue: Antonio Canova’s ‘The Dancer’ (also known as ‘Erato – the Muse of the Dance of Love’). I had written about this one previously here: x.
The same was done to the famous ‘Apollo Belvedere’ statue. The show had simply cut off its head and used it in 1x02 ‘The Blind Banker’:
I had written about this previously here: x. (You have to scroll down a bit to paragraph 4.)
Presumably the show is ‘cutting off heads’ like this to show us what has happened to the iconic character of Sherlock Holmes over the past century: Sherlock has become (or rather has been forced to become) a head without a body, a mind without physical urges, a brain without sexual/romantic desires.
It’s high time for Sherlock’s head to be re-united with his body!
Anyway, this is what the show did in ‘The Six Thatchers’, too. Sherlock, once again, is presented as the head without a body in the ‘Capitoline Antinous’ bust.
Also, keep in mind that, in the Georgian workshop in TST, we see three (!) copies of this bust. “My husband is three people,” comes to mind.:) So, it’s Sherlock, yeah?
2) The Antinous aspect of the ‘Capitoline Antinous’
Obviously the sculpture is called Antinous. So, if the makers of ‘Sherlock’ just wanted any old Hermes statue to represent Sherlock, they could have used a different one. They specifically used this one, though. One that, despite actually being Hermes, has a centuries-old art-historical reading as Antinous attached to it.
So, if you want to read this bust in TST as Antinous, feel free to do so.
This is also not the first time the show has used an Antinous sculpture. A statue of Antinous, the male (!) lover of the Emperor Hadrian, was used in ‘The Blind Banker’ (TBB) where it stood proudly between Sherlock and John:
Keep in mind that Antinous was deified by Hadrian. So, what we have here is quite literally a GAY GOD standing right between Sherlock and John. I had written about this sculpture in one of my first metas in the ‘Sherlock’ fandom a few years ago here: x.
So, once again, series 4 (‘The Six Thatchers’ to be precise) invokes a gay god, as part of this story. In TST, it also uses his bust as a Sherlock mirror. What might we deduce from that? Hm…Yep, Sherlock is gay, my friends. Tell me something new.:)
3) Hermes – ruler of the unconscious
Here comes the cool part, though. As I already mentioned, this sculpture in TST, is NOT actually Antinous. It’s the Greek god Hermes.
Now, I’m sure you’re all as adept at using wikipedia as I am, so I needn’t say that Hermes is the god of merchants, messengers, thieves, and tricksters, etc. You can read up on all of that yourself.
What I would like to point out, though, is that, in art history, Hermes has been used, for a very long time, as a symbol for something else, too.
Since Hermes is the guider of souls to the Underworld, he has long been seen as a symbol of the unconscious.
Do you see where I’m going with this?
Some of us read chunks of series 4 as something that’s happening in John’s mind (‘John’s Mind Bungalow’ theory). Others read parts of it (or even the whole of series 4) as something that’s happening in Sherlock’s mind (‘Sherlock’s Extended Mind Palace’ theory).
Regardless which side of the debate you’re on, this bust is basically begging us to pay attention to the fact that SOMEBODY IS UNCONSCIOUS here.
What we’re seeing is most likely not real.
Hermes is the lord of dreams.
In other words, what is happening here is in someone’s head. It’s a dream!
What’s more, it’s not just any old dream. Hermes is the guider of souls to the underworld, the one who helps dying people get to the other side.
SOMEBODY IS DYING! What we’re seeing is the dream of a dying man.
This is how art history treats the god Hermes frequently, anyway.
Here, have a painting by Jan Styka of the god Hermes leading souls into the Underworld:
(Just to give you an example…)
Conclusion: Gay or Dreaming? Antinous or Hermes?
So, in conclusion: What is it that we have in TST? A sculpture of Antinous or one of Hermes?
And was it included in this Georgian workshop scene in TST to be read as yet another metaphor for Sherlock’s homosexuality or as a hint that these scenes aren’t real, that this is happening in somebody’s unconscious as that somebody is dying?
In short, is it gay or is it a case of dream-as-you’re-dying?
See, here’s the cool thing about art (not just about paintings and sculptures, but about films and TV shows, too): YOU DON’T HAVE TO CHOOSE.
I always feel slightly uncomfortable when people say, “Oh, you have to pick a meaning for yourself. You decide if it means A) or B).”
Because…Who says that you have to choose? It doesn’t have to be one or the other! In art, it can be BOTH THINGS AT THE SAME TIME! Both meanings can be true.
After all, if the makers of ‘Sherlock’ wanted to highlight the gay aspect only, they could have literally chosen any of the many, many other unambiguous depictions of the gay god Antinous.
Like the one they already chose to include in ‘The Blind Banker’, which we’ve discussed here: x.
If, on the other hand, the makers of ‘Sherlock’ had only the unconscious/dreaming/dying aspect in mind, why not choose an unambiguous depiction of the god Hermes? Like, say, this lovely chap by Ernst Gustav Herter from Vienna:
(Just to give you an example…)
No, Mofftiss specifically went with the famous, yet very ambiguous ‘Capitoline Antinous’. And so, we’re stuck with this double meaning of Antinous or AND Hermes:
Because, in art, two things can be true at the same time.
——
All screencaps were taken from: http://kissthemgoodbye.net/sherlock/
My Sherlock meta can (mostly) be found on my Master Meta Page here: x or (in more comprehensive form) under my Sherlock meta tag here: x.
Tagging a few people: @gosherlocked @ebaeschnbliah @sarahthecoat @possiblyimbiassed @thepersianslipper @tjlcisthenewsexy @sherlockshadow @spenglernot @88thparallel @fellshish @elldotsee @loveismyrevolution @inevitably-johnlocked @loudest-subtext-in-tv @the-7-percent-solution @monikakrasnorada @raggedyblue
I've always held out hope for Mind Bungalow, because of the mirror of Sherlock having John narrate his drug dream and Sherlock narrating TST. @sagestreet Thank you for your research! I love this.
