IV.

Sculpture

There are three major categories of Greek sculpture: free-standing statues, architectural sculpture (on pediments, metopes, and friezes), and nonarchitectural reliefs (such as carved gravestones). The principal subjects of Greek sculpture are gods, heroes of legend, and athletes, youths, or maidens intended to demonstrate ideals of beauty. From the 4th century bc on, portraits of historical persons also became commonplace. Also common were sculpted images of animals such as horses or lions and imaginary monsters such as sphinxes. Statues and reliefs (sculpted forms that project from a flat background) were created from a variety of materials. Stone and bronze were the most widely used materials, but the Greeks also created many images in wood, clay, gold, ivory, and silver.

Whatever the subject, category, or material, the typical Greek sculpture was basically religious in function. Most statues and reliefs were dedicated as offerings in sanctuaries to please or thank divinities, or stood as markers over graves, while architectural sculpture was carved essentially only for temples, treasuries, or tombs.

A.

Early Greek Sculpture

Although many of the earliest Greek sculptures must have been made of wood, the earliest surviving pieces are figurines of terracotta (baked clay), bronze, and in rare cases, ivory. One of the earliest surviving pieces of Greek sculpture is a skillfully modeled terracotta centaur (creature that is part horse, part human), made about 900 bc at Lefkandi on the island of Euboea (Erétria Museum, Euboea). Its subject testifies to the attraction of myth as early as the close of the Dark Age. More typical examples of sculpture from the Geometric period (950 to 750 bc) are small, bronze, and in the form of horses, cattle, warriors, musicians, or artisans (rather than mythological subjects). Many are small enough to fit easily in the palm of one’s hand, and were either attached to the rims and handles of large bronze cauldrons or offered to gods or goddesses in sanctuaries. Less usual were mythological subjects, although a small bronze from about 725 bc shows a hero fighting a centaur (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City) and indicates that myth still occasionally interested sculptors. The earliest surviving cult statues may be a series of three relatively large figures thought to represent the gods Apollo and Artemis and their mother, Leto (700? bc, Archaeological Museum, Herakleion). The two female figures of Artemis and Leto are about 40 cm (16 in) tall, and the male Apollo figure is 80 cm (32 in) tall. They were made of hammered bronze and found in a temple at Dreros on the island of Crete.

The formative phase of Greek sculpture closes with a bronze statuette of a youth dedicated to the god Apollo in Thebes about 700 to 675 bc (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts). The statuette is about 20 cm (7.9 in) tall and stands stiffly with one leg forward. It is meant to be viewed principally from the front, a quality known as frontality. This stance—frontality and an advanced left leg—predominates in later monumental (large-scale) statues in Greece and so initiates the Archaic period.

B.

Archaic Sculpture

The characteristics of Archaic sculpture began to define themselves after 675 bc, in the so-called Daedalic style. Named after the legendary Greek artist Daedalus (meaning 'Skilled One'), the style in fact derives some of its elements from Syrian and Phoenician models. The typical Daedalic relief or statuette depicts a frontal figure (most often female) standing stiffly with a low forehead and a U-shaped face framed by heavy triangular wedges of hair. Around 650 bc the Daedalic style was used for the first large-scale stone statues in Greece, which show the influence of Egyptian statuary. The earliest known Daedalic statue is a marble figure from Delos (650? bc, National Museum, Athens); inscriptions on the statue reveal that a woman named Nikandre dedicated this female figure to the goddess Artemis. The figure’s hair, dress, and pose are all treated very formally; that is, they adhere to established forms and patterns rather than resembling the hair, dress, and pose of an actual person. The formality of the Daedalic style became a characteristic feature of Archaic sculpture.

B.1.

The Human Figure: Kore and Kouros

The two principal types of Archaic free-standing statues are the standing, clothed female figure called a kore (meaning 'young woman'; plural, korai), and the standing male nude called a kouros (meaning 'young man'; plural, kouroi). One leg of the kouros, usually the left, strides forward, while he holds his arms stiffly at his sides. Most korai and kouroi served as dedications in sanctuaries, although some stood as markers over graves. For the most part they did not represent specific individuals, but rather ideal figures of youth, beautiful objects that might please the gods to whom they were offered.

One of the best-known features of Archaic figure sculptures is their subtle, enigmatic smile. This smile is not a sign of joy or well-being so much as a masklike feature preventing the viewer from perceiving a thinking or feeling being beneath the surface. The Archaic figure lacks an inner character or self-consciousness and seems unable to respond to things outside itself, just as it seems incapable of breaking out of its blocklike stance.

Styles differed from region to region: Kouroi from the Cycladic islands (see Cycladic Culture), such as the so-called Apollo of Melos (550? bc, National Museum, Athens), are less muscular than those from Athens, such as the Anavyssos Kouros (530? bc, National Museum, Athens). Although the rigid pose and blocklike shape of the kouros lasted until the end of the Archaic period, its anatomy gradually became more naturalistic, as seen in the Strangford Apollo from Anaphe (500? bc, British Museum, London). The evolution of the Archaic kore figure is slightly different: Early sculptors concentrated on the kore’s clothing, showing folds in the cloth at first as regularly incised lines and later as more varied and deeply cut. By the close of the Archaic period, artists had begun to pay more attention to the shape of the body beneath the folds and to render figures with greater individuality.

In addition to the kouros and kore, sculptors in the Archaic period produced a wide variety of figure statues in stone. These included draped male figures, seated or reclining figures, horsemen, warriors, figures bearing animals to be sacrificed, warriors, figures of Nike (Victory), and imaginary creatures such as sphinxes.

B.2.

Other Archaic Sculpture

In addition to figures in stone, Archaic artisans also produced large-scale statues in bronze and smaller figurines in terracotta and bronze. These represent many of the same subjects as stone sculpture—divinities, kouroi, korai, athletes, warriors, horsemen, and animal-bearers. Terracotta plaques with myths or scenes of everyday life depicted in relief formed another important category of offering to the gods.

Relief sculpture became a major category of Greek art in the 6th century bc. Grave reliefs from this period typically showed the deceased (warrior, mother, or child, for example). But the scenes carved on pediments, metopes, and the friezes of temples and treasuries best illustrate the history of Greek relief sculpture.

The first large-scale stone pediment in Greek sculpture decorated the Doric Temple of Artemis on the island of Corfu (580? bc). Its carved figures range dramatically in size and subject matter. Carved in shallow relief at the center is a gigantic Medusa, a mythological figure who had snakes for hair and whose gaze turned men to stone. She is flanked by tiny figures of her two children: a winged horse named Pegasus, and Chrysaor, a boy who sprang from her severed neck when she was beheaded. Large reclining leopards to each side provide a transition to the narrow corners of the pediment, which contain miniature figures from apparently unrelated myths. Over the course of the Archaic period, artists sought to unify the pediment in both composition and theme. By the beginning of the 5th century bc, pediments depicted a single myth, with figures of roughly the same size, usually carved in the round.

Mythological figures and scenes were also popular for the decoration of Doric metopes, especially in Magna Graecia on the temples at Paestum in southern Italy and Selinus in Sicily . At Delphi, the metopes of several buildings were also decorated with mythological subjects. The Athenian Treasury at Delphi (490? bc), for example, displayed the exploits of Heracles and Theseus, and a battle between Greeks and Amazons. Delphi also boasted the finest Archaic example of an Ionic frieze: a continuous relief that wrapped around the top of the Siphnian Treasury (525? bc). Although the precise subjects of two sides are uncertain, the east side of the Siphnian Treasury frieze showed a debate between the gods and a battle between Greeks and Trojans, and the north side depicted a battle of gods against giants.

C.

Early Classical Sculpture (480-450 bc)

Early Classical sculptors, unlike their Archaic predecessors, began to explore the inner character and the emotions of their subjects. At the same time they began to create statues that broke from the rigidity of the Archaic kouros by assuming a relaxed but balanced pose known as contrapposto (counterpose). In this pose, the body turns slightly to one side and its weight rests mainly on one leg. The pose first appears in a marble figure known as the Kritios Boy (480-475 bc, Acropolis Museum, Athens). In contrast to a stiff and unthinking Archaic figure, the Kritios Boy seems to twist and tilt in response to what he is thinking. The Early Classical figure also no longer mechanically smiles but seems lost in its own thoughts. The bronze Charioteer of Delphi (478 or 474 bc, Museum, Delphi), for example, seems to be contemplating his victory in the chariot race just ended.

Many Early Classical figures are openly emotional, displaying anger or suffering, as is a Wounded Warrior from the east pediment of the Temple of Aphaia in Aegina (490?-480? bc, Staatliche Antikensammlungen, Munich, Germany). Although this sculpture dates from slightly before the Classical period, the emotions that it expresses place it as an Early Classical work. Early Classical sculpture is also characterized by a new simplicity—for example, the drapery of female figures is plainer than the elaborate clothing of Archaic korai. Simplicity of ornament allowed greater concentration on the character of the figure itself.

Bronze became the favorite medium of Early Classical sculptors, partly because it was better suited to action poses. The limbs of a marble figure, if extended too far, might break off or throw the statue off balance. In works such as the Discobolus (“Discus-Thrower,” 460-450? bc), the sculptor Myron depicted an athlete at the moment of greatest potential energy: just before the tensed figure hurled his discus. (Myron’s original bronze is lost, but the sculpture is known through Roman copies in marble.) The statue’s composition depends on the repetition of circles and semicircles: the discus, the head of the athlete, and the semicircle of his arms. This repetition of movement as pattern creates a rhythm that became a leading aesthetic principle of Greek art.

One of the greatest monuments of the Early Classical period was the Temple of Zeus at Olympia (470?-456? bc). Inside this temple sat another of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, a gigantic gold-and-ivory statue of a seated Zeus (435? bc, now lost) by the sculptor Phidias. Twelve metopes over the front and back entrances to the temple show the Labors of Heracles (better known by his Roman name, Hercules), displaying the hero’s character and emotions as he defeats various beasts and holds the world on his shoulders. The west pediment was filled with a rowdy battle between Lapiths (a civilized Greek tribe) and monstrous Centaurs, while the east pediment showed the preparations for a chariot race between a wicked king, Oenomaus, and a young hero, Pelops. The pediments have justice as a unifying theme: The god Apollo directs the Lapiths in their struggle with the Centaurs, and Zeus, god of justice, stands at the center of the eastern pediment, guaranteeing the eventual restoration of order.

D.

High Classical Sculpture (450-400 bc)

Of primary concern to the Greek sculptor was achieving a harmonious relationship of the parts of a statue to one another and to the whole. In the High Classical period this sense of harmony reached new heights in the work of Polyclitus of Árgos. Polyclitus wrote a book outlining his theories and, about 440 bc, made a bronze statue of a nude Doryphorus (Spear-bearer) to illustrate them. This statue, which survives in many Roman copies, shows an athlete caught at the moment he begins to take a great stride forward, turning his head to one side and slightly down, and shifting his weight from one leg to the other. A harmonious balance is achieved as straight limbs balance bent ones, and tensed muscles counter relaxed ones. Polyclitus devised a precise numerical scheme to determine the proportions of the statue. The Doryphorus represents a highly idealized conception of the male figure. Its sharply defined muscles do not mimic those of a real man; rather, they are intended to be better than their counterparts in the human body. Polyclitus sought to represent the perfect male nude, an ideal to which real men can only aspire.

Such idealization of the human form is typical of High Classical art and is also present in the sculptures of the Parthenon. Noble figures carved on the Parthenon's exterior metopes (447 To 438 bc) represent battles between the forces of civilization and barbarity, between order and disorder. Metopes on the west show scenes from the Battle Between the Greeks and the Amazons; on the north, from the Trojan War; on the south, from the Battle Between the Lapiths and Centaurs; and on the east, from the Battle Between the Gods and the Giants. These mythical battles can be interpreted as allegories for Greece’s then-recent victory over Persia.

Each of the Parthenon’s two pediments contained more than 20 larger-than-life marble statues. The east pediment depicted the birth of the goddess Athena, while the west pediment showed a legendary competition between Athena and Poseidon, god of the sea, over rights to Athens.

A remarkable feature of the Parthenon is a continuous frieze decorating the top of the cella walls. The frieze is usually thought to represent the Panathenaic Procession, an annual event that culminated in the presentation of a new robe to Athena's ancient wooden statue. The scene is indeed an impressive parade of figures riding on horseback, driving chariots, or proceeding on foot toward a group of seated gods. Some scholars believe the relief may represent not simply the Panathenaic Procession but Athenian sacred life in general. In the frieze, handsome Athenians—some resembling Polyclitus’s statue of Doryphorus—occupy the same space as their gods. The idealization of human beings on the frieze suggests that the ancient Greeks perceived any difference between gods and mortals to be of degree, not of kind.

The Parthenon sculptures and other works from the Acropolis also illustrate changing attitudes toward the display of the female body. Figures such as the goddesses from the Parthenon's east pediment (now known as the Elgin Marbles, British Museum, London) are covered with drapery that seems wet, and so reveals each curve of breast, stomach, and thigh beneath. Using a similar device, the sculptor Paionius depicted Nike (420? bc, Olympia Museum, Olympia, Greece) as if she were caught in a strong wind that pressed the cloth against her body and revealed the forms underneath.

E.

Late Classical Sculpture (400-323 bc)

Until the 4th century bc no goddess or heroic female figure was depicted completely naked in Greek art. The first great female nude was a statue of Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, by Praxiteles. Known as the Aphrodite of Cnidus (340? bc, destroyed; Roman copy in Vatican Museums, Vatican City), it was the most famous Greek statue of its time. Through gentle curves and relaxed poses, Praxiteles introduced gracefulness and sensuality in his works. Even his male figures, such as Hermes Holding the Infant Dionysus (340? bc), seem soft and less manly than the hard-bodied athletes of Polyclitus. Praxiteles also displays uncommon wit. The Aphrodite of Cnidus, for example, is nude because she has been bathing. She covers herself with her hand, as if we, her viewers, have come upon her unexpectedly. Praxiteles has turned us into Peeping Toms.

Another important sculptor of the 4th century bc was Lysippus, who revised the ideal proportions of High Classical works such as the Doryphorus by making the heads of his statues smaller in relation to the body. In works such as the Apoxyomenos (Youth Scraping Himself Clean, 330 bc, destroyed; Roman copy, Vatican Museums), Lysippus extended the statue’s arms forward, making the body more three-dimensional and ensuring that the spectator could appreciate the work from every angle, not just from the front. His portraits of the charismatic Alexander the Great, famed for capturing the lionlike character and expressive eyes of the subject, established a major new type of sculpture, the so-called personality portrait.

Just as the Temple of Zeus and the Parthenon were the major monuments of the Early and High Classical periods, so the great monument of the Late Classical period was the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, built about 350 bc. Ancient sources indicate that one of the famous sculptors of the era who worked on this massive, multilevel building was Scopas, known for conveying intense emotion through facial expressions and energetic postures. The Mausoleum was decorated with many free-standing monumental statues, scenes carved in relief, and a continuous frieze representing several stories, among them, a Battle of Greeks and Amazons now housed in the British Museum in London.

F.

Hellenistic Sculpture (323-31 bc)

After the conquests of Alexander the Great from 334 to 323 bc, the Greek world encompassed vast lands and peoples that were mostly non-Greek. The inhabitants of the Hellenistic kingdoms, such as Egypt and Syria, that made up the Greek world did not universally share legends, traditions, a religion, or other aspects of a common cultural heritage. Because Hellenistic sculpture had to speak to a far more diverse audience, the stylistic unity that had characterized the art of Classical Greece broke down. For the same reason, Hellenistic artists tended to choose subjects that all people could readily understand, regardless of nationality or ethnicity. For example, sculptors increasingly and realistically depicted figures that expressed a specific emotional or physical state, such as old age, anxiety, sleep, fatigue, drunkenness, or even deformity.

At the same time, Hellenistic sculptors developed further some of the trends established in the Late Classical period. Sculptors created numerous nude or seminude Aphrodites, such as the famous Venus de Milo (also known as Aphrodite of Melos, 150-100? bc, Louvre, Paris). It is also an era when numerous sculptures depicted the hermaphrodite, a person equipped with both male and female sexual organs (a logical conclusion of Praxiteles's feminization of the male figure). The emotionalism favored by Scopas was heightened in statues of exhausted boxers, dead or dying warriors, fierce giants and Amazons, and decrepit old men and women. But Lysippus left perhaps the strongest legacy to the Hellenistic period. The personality portrait is one of the leading sculptural genres of a period that is notable for its images of generals, rulers, poets, and philosophers. Hellenistic figures such as the powerfully projecting Nike of Samothrace (or Winged Victory, 200? bc, Louvre, Paris) show an unprecedented depth, insisting that the viewer study them from all sides.

A range of sculptural styles appeared during the Hellenistic period. For example, a highly academic style, which tells a story through a range of symbolic figures, was used in a relief carved by Archelaos of Priene, The Apotheosis of Homer (150? bc, British Museum, London). The relief was dedicated to the Muses or to Homer and shows the poet along with figures representing the World, Time, Homer’s great epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey, and other literary images and ideas.

But perhaps the most distinctive Hellenistic style is one sometimes called Baroque. Hellenistic Baroque, like the Baroque style of 17th-century Europe, is defined by its melodramatic, exaggerated effects. It is especially associated with the ancient city of Pergamum, and its masterpiece is the so-called Great Altar of Zeus built atop the city’s acropolis sometime from about 190 to 156 bc. (A reconstruction of the west facade of the Great Altar is housed in the Pergamum Museum in Berlin, Germany.) The monument may in fact be a shrine to Telephus, Pergamum's legendary hero and founder, rather than to Zeus. The life story of Telephus, from his birth to his exploits as a mature hero, unfolds in a continuous frieze inside the monument. A podium supports the monument and around it an even larger frieze recounts the Battle of the Gods and the Giants. Some figures seem ready to leap off the wall. Some even crawl up the sides of a staircase that visitors use to reach the altar. The muscles of the figures are taut and pronounced, the drapery sweeping and tumultuous, the poses violent and dramatic, the faces expressive and pained. In one scene, the goddess Athena has caught a giant by the hair; he gazes helplessly toward the sky as he tries to free himself from her grip. His expressive pose resembles that of a Trojan priest, Laocoön, in a later statue of Laocoön and his Sons (Vatican Museums), shown as he struggles to free himself from giant snakes.

Although the names of the sculptors of the Laocoön are known (Athanadoros, Hagesandros, and Polydoros of Rhodes), the exact date of the statue is a matter of dispute. Although it used to be dated around the time of the Pergamum altar, in the mid-2nd century bc, many scholars now believe the Laocoön is an early Roman work modeled after a Hellenistic original. In any case, it was clearly sculpted in the Baroque tradition of Pergamum. And even if it is a later reworking of a Hellenistic original, the Laocöon demonstrates that Greeks continued to produce important sculptures during the Roman era.