Greek Sculpture

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Greek Sculpture
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Goddess or Maiden?Probably originally from
Crete is a limestone statuette of a goddess or
maiden (kore plural, korai) popularly known as
the Lady of Auxerre

• 5-7 Lady of Auxerre, statue of a goddess or kore,
  ca. 650-625 B.C. Limestone, approx. 2' 11/2"
  high. Louvre, Paris.

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Orientalizing ArtContact with the East through
trade and colonization in the seventh century
exposed Greek artists to new ideas and motifs in
sculpture and painting.
Greek artists also exhibited an interest in
showing the anatomy of figures in greater detail.

• Mantiklos Apollo, statuette of a youth dedicated
  by Mantiklos to Apollo, from Thebes, ca. 700-680
  B.C. BRONZE, APPROX. 8" HIGH.

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Mantiklos Apollo
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Greek kouroi and Egyptian statues Archaic
period the Greeks developed a monumental stone
sculpture for the representation of life-size,
nude, young men (kouroi) and life-size, clothed,
young women (korai). The kouroi, which were
evidently made to serve a funerary purpose at a
gravesite, emulate the frontal pose of standard
Egyptian statues, During the sixth century, are
carved with increasingly more realistic anatomy.
Faces, however, retain the conventional "Archaic
smile." Korai, shown wearing contemporary
fashionable clothing, evidently stood as votive
offerings in temple sanctuaries.
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Archaic smile

• used by Greek Archaic sculptors, possibly to
  suggest that their subject was alive

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Kouros

• 5-8 Kouros, ca. 600 B.C. Marble, approx. 6' 1/2"
  high. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

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Developing to more realism middle and late 6th
Century
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A smiling calf bearer A generation later is the
statue of a moschophoros, or calf bearer, found
on the Athenian Acropolis in fragments.

• 5-9 Calf Bearer (Moschophoros), dedicated by
  Rhonbos on the Acropolis, Athens, ca. 560 B.C.
  Marble, restored height approx. 5' 5". Acropolis
  Museum, Athens.

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A statue for a hero's grave Sometime around 530
B.C., a young man named Kroisos died a hero's
death in battle, and his grave at Anavysos, not
far from Athens, was marked by a kouros statue.

• 5-10 Kroisos, from Anavysos, ca. 530 B.C. Marble,
  approx. 6' 4" high. National Archeological
  Museum, Athens.

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Korai from the sack of the acropolis A
stylistic "sister" to the Anavysos kouros is the
statue of a kore wearing a peplos, a simple,
long, woolen belted garment that gives the female
figure a columnar appearance.

• 5-11 Peplos Kore, from the Acropolis, Athens, ca.
  530 B.C. Marble, approx. 4' high. Acropolis
  Museum, Athens.

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• Peplos

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• 5-12 Kore, from the Acropolis, Athens, Greece,
  ca. 510 B.C. Marble, approx. 1' 9 1/2" high.
  Acropolis Museum, Athens.

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A new way to stand The single most important
change from the Archaic to the Classical period
is the introduction of the weight-shift, or
contrapposto, A stance in statues of standing
figures making them appear more relaxed and
natural-looking. The figures also achieve a
more natural sense of motion in space through a
dynamic asymmetrical "counterbalancing" of the
parts of the body. At the same time, figures are
also idealiized.
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Contrapposto
Slide 11 of 19
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Bronze statues rescued from the sea The
innovations of the Kritios Boy were carried even
further in the bronze statue of a warrior found
in the sea near Riace, Italy

• 5-34 Warrior (front and detail of head), from the
  sea off Riace, Italy, ca. 460-450 B.C. Bronze,
  approx. 6' 6" high. Archeological Museum, Reggio
  Calabria.

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The high technical quality of the Riace warrior
is equaled in another bronze statue set up a
decade or two earlier to commemorate the victory
of the tyrant Polyzalos of Gela (Sicily) in a
chariot race at Delphi.

• 5-35 Charioteer, from a group dedicated by
  Polyzalos of Gela in the Sanctuary of Apollo,
  Delphi, Greece, ca. 470 B.C. Bronze, approx. 5'
  11" high. Archeological Museum, Delphi.

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Charioteer
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• 5-36 Zeus (or Poseidon?), from the sea off Cape
  Artemision, ca. 460-450 B.C. Bronze, approx. 6'
  10" high. National Archeological Museum, Athens.

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Zeus
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A Greek discus thrower for a Roman patron A
bronze statue similar to the Artemision Zeus was
the renowned Diskobolos (Discus Thrower) by
Myron, which is known only through marble copies
made in Roman times.

• 5-37 Myron, Diskobolos (Discus Thrower). Roman
  marble copy after a bronze original of ca. 450
  B.C. 5' 1" high. Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome.

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The quest for ideal form One of the most
frequently copied Greek statues was the
Doryphoros (Spear Bearer) by Polykleitos, a work
that epitomizes the intellectual rigor of
Classical statuary design.REMEMBER Greeks asked
WHY and sought the IDEALIZED
How might I know this is a Roman Copy?

• 5-38 Polykleitos, Doryphoros (Spear Bearer).
  Roman marble copy from Pompeii, Italy, after a
  bronze original of ca. 450-440 B.C. 6' 11" high.
  Museo Nazionale, Naples.

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 Political upheaval and the rise of Macedon The
Peloponnesian War, which left Athens defeated and
drained of resources, ushered in a period of
political unrest in Greece. Disillusioned and
alienated by the collapse of the ideals of the
fifth century, artists focused more on the
physical appearance and state of mind of the
individual.
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SculptureStatues carved in the Late Classical
period are more worldly and sensuous, and express
more human feelings
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Dewy eyes and sensuous languor Although
shocking in its day, the Aphrodite of Knidos is
not openly erotic (the goddess modestly shields
her pelvis with her right hand), but she is quite
sensuous.

• 5-60 Praxiteles, Aphrodite of Knidos. Roman
  marble copy after an original of ca. 350-340 B.C.
  APPROX. 6' 8" HIGH. VATICAN MUSEUM, ROME.

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Nike adjusting her sandal
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• 5-61 Head of a woman, from Chios, ca. 320-300
  B.C. Marble, approx. 1' 4" high. Museum of Fine
  Arts, Boston.

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• 5-62 Praxiteles, Hermes and the infant Dionysos,
  from Temple of Hera, Olympia, Greece. Marble copy
  after an original of ca. 340 B.C., approx. 7' 1"
  high. Archeological Museum, Olympia.

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In the Archaic period - Classical periods, Greek
sculptors generally shared common goals Late
Classical period of the fourth century B.C.,
distinctive individual styles emerged.
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• 5-63 Head of Herakles or Telephos, from the west
  pediment of the Temple of Athena Alea at Tegea,
  Greece, ca. 340 B.C. Marble, approx. 1' 1/2"
  high. (Stolen from) Archeological Museum, Tegea

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• Grave stele of a young hunter, found near the
  Ilissos River, Athens, Greece, ca. 340-330 B.C.
  Marble, approx. 5' 6" high. National
  Archeological Museum, Athens.

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The athletes and heroes of Lysippos The third
great Late Classical sculptor, Lysippos of
Sikyon, was so renowned he was selected by
Alexander the Great to create his official
portrait.
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Weary Herakles

• 5-66 Lysippos, Weary Herakles (Farnese Herakles).
  Roman marble copy, signed by Glykon of Athens,
  after a bronze original of ca. 320 B.C. Approx.
  10' 5" high. Museo Nazionale, Naples.

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• 5-65 Lysippos, Apoxyomenos (Scraper). Roman
  marble copy after a bronze original of ca. 330
  B.C., approx. 6' 9" high. Vatican Museums, Rome.

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• 5-81 Epigonos(?), Dying Gaul. Roman marble copy
  after a bronze original from Pergamon of ca.
  230-220 B.C., approx. 3' 1/2" high. Museo
  Capitolino, Rome

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• 5-80 Epigonos(?), Gallic chieftain killing
  himself and his wife. Roman marble copy after a
  bronze original from Pergamon of ca. 230-220 B.C.
  Approx. 6' 11" high. Museo Nazionale Romano,
  Rome.

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Hellenistic sculpture exhibits a "baroque"
exaggeration of form and emotional intensity.
Physical movement and gesture are given an
almost theatrical pathos and drama. Moreover,
statues are made to interact with their
environment, sometimes as part of a tableau,
which heightens the illusion of their presence
and actions. Both female and male figures
display a heightened erotic sexuality as the body
is explored both in action and repose.
Hellenistic sculptors also expanded the range
of subject types by drawing from the lower social
classes and including more realistic portraits
and images of children and old people.
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One of the masterpieces of the Hellenistic
baroque style was not created for the Attalid
kings rather, it was set up in the sanctuary of
the Great Gods on Samothrace.
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• 5-82 Nike alighting on a warship (Nike of
  Samothrace), ca. 190 B.C. Marble, figure approx.
  8' 1" high. Louvre, Paris.

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Hellenistic eroticism Bold steps in redefining
the nature of Greek statuary had already been
taken in the fourth century B.C. in different
ways by Praxiteles, Skopas, and Lysippos.

• 5-83 Alexandros of Antioch-on-the-Meander, Venus
  de Milo (Aphrodite from Melos), ca. 150-125 B.C.
  Marble, approx. 6' 7" high. Louvre, Paris.

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• 5-84 Aphrodite, Eros, and Pan, from Delos, ca.
  100 B.C. Marble, 4' 4" high. National
  Archeological Museum, Athens.

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Sleep and intoxication Archaic statues smile at
their viewers, and even when classical statues
look away from the viewer, they are always awake
and alert. Hellenistic sculptors often portrayed
sleep or drunk.
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• 5-85 Sleeping satyr (Barberini Faun), ca. 230-200
  B.C. Marble, approx. 7' 1" high. Glyptothek,
  Munich.

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The aged and the ugly The realistic bent of
much of Hellenistic sculpture-the very opposite
of the Classical period's idealism-is evident
above all in a series of statues of old men and
women from the lowest rungs of the social order.

• 5-87 Old market woman, ca. 150-100 B.C. MARBLE,
  APPROX. 4' 1/2" HIGH. METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART,
  NEW YORK.

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• 5-88 Polyeuktos, Demosthenes. Roman marble copy
  after a bronze original of ca. 280 B.C. 6' 7 1/2"
  high. Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen.

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Greek mythology, Roman statuary One such work
is the famous group of the Trojan priest Laocoon
and his sons, discovered in Rome in 1506 in the
presence of the great Italian Renaissance artist
Michelangelo.
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• 5-89 Athanadoros, Hagesandros, and Polydoros of
  Rhodes, Laocoön and his sons from Titus's palace,
  Rome, Italy, early first century A.D. Marble,
  approx. 7' 10 1/2" high. Vatican Museums, Rome.

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Homeric themes in a Roman grotto The work seen
by Pliny and displayed in the Vatican Museums
today was made for Romans rather than Greeks.
Hellenistic-style groups illustrating scenes
from Homer's Odyssey.

• 5-90 Head of Odysseus, from Tiberius's villa,
  Sperlonga, Italy, early first century A.D.
  Marble, approx. 2' 1" high. Museo Archeologico,
  Sperlonga.

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