Polykleitos and Praxiteles: masterworks of classical Greek sculpture

Greek Sculpture

A Timeline of Greek Sculpture

Polykleitos, Doryphoros (early fourth century BC)

As Paul Johnson (2003) records, this ancient example of Greek classicalism "epitomizes a canon of male beauty embodied in mathematical proportions" (p. 63). Showing the perfection of contraposto, Doryphoros (or the spear-carrier) is a balanced representation of the body's muscles. Polykleitos, a contemporary of Phidias, had his own school of young artists, which carried on into the third century BC. Polykleitos' works are treated on in his own treatise, called "The Canon," which gave explicit attention to symmetry, clarity, and wholeness. The Spear-carrier is one of the best examples of Polykleitos' teaching -- however, this example is a copy of his original, and is held in Naples -- a fitting representation of the art of Greek sculpting.

Praxiteles, Aphrodite of Knidos (mid-fourth century BC)

Praxiteles actually made two statues for Kos -- so the legend goes. One statue depicted Aphrodite (Venus), modestly clothed in draping garments -- the other boldly depicted the goddess in the nude. The modest Venus (as it has been called) has been lost to history, but the nude Aphrodite was set up in an open temple and could be viewed from every side. The Aphrodite of Knidos that survives today is believed to be a Roman copy. According to Paul Johnson, it is the first "fully-realized female nude statue in history, certainly in Greek monumental sculpture, and was evidently modeled on Phryne, as the bracelet on her left arm reveals" (p. 65). Praxiteles' Aphrodite serves as the basis for the cult of Venus "as the arch-image of female sexuality" (p. 65).

3. Praxiteles, Hermes and the Infant Dionysus (fourth century BC)

Again, like many ancient sculptures, the originality of this one is debated. Whether it is a Roman copy or an original by Praxiteles, this representation of Hermes is nonetheless still attributed to the Greek sculptor. It contains that special kind of reverence for emotion that the classical Greek sculptor appreciated and attempted to capture in stone (Haaren, 2000, p. 86). Here, Hermes is carrying Dionysus (an infant about to be raised by the nymphs to whom Hermes is delivering his charge). The power of the sculpture is in its grace and elegance: "The figure of Hermes as strong, active, and graceful, the face expressive of nobility and sweetness -- is most beautiful" (Ancient Greek Art).

4. Faun of Praxiteles (fourth century BC)

Although called the Faun of Praxiteles, this is another sculpture whose creator is debated. Famous for inspiring Nathaniel Hawthorne's romantic Roman novel The Marble Faun during his visit to Rome, this representation of the Greek satyr is less distinguished than the work of the major classical masters -- but it exhibits the type of aesthetic to which the period was given. Within the faun's features is seen a kind of mischievousness in his listless, lounging posture -- as though merely waiting for the opportunity to pounce or strike. The drama implicit in the sculpture would become fully realized in the coming centuries of Greek craftsmanship, beginning with the Farnese Bull of the next century.

6. Epigonos of Pergamon, The Dying Gaul (c. 225 BC)

This unique work of Greek art is singular for the fact that it is a kind of sympathetic gesture to what the Greeks would have considered a barbarian -- the warrior Gaul. Coming out of the end of the Hellenistic period -- that period of Alexander the Great (the Macedonian who subjugated nearly the entire known world before his young death but granted some of Greece a breadth of freedom to govern itself) -- and the beginning of the Roman invasion, The Dying Gaul displays all the sensitivity, tragedy, and pathos that Greek culture now emphasized. Its days of glory and idealism were over (they had flourished under the reign of Pericles, when the artist Phidias was at the height of his power developing the statue of Athena for the Parthenon). As Johnson says, "The earlier artists celebrated the ideal joys of man, the later ones his real tragedy" (p. 67).

7. Unknown, Winged Victory of Samothrace, (c. 200 BC)

This headless sculpture of the Greek goddess Nike is a Hellenistic tribute to skill that the Greek sculptor had acquired in representing the flowing draperies that would be mimicked in the High Renaissance: "The dramatic effect of her sweeping draperies and the swift movement of the figure are distinctive. In contrast to previous standing figures, this is an action pose, giving a sense of motion and wind at sea" (Ancient Greek Art). Not found until the nineteenth century on the island of Samothrace, it now resides in the Louvre in Paris. Its creator is unknown.

8. Agesander, Athenodorus, and Polydorus of Rhodes, Laocoon (second century BC)

Although the names of these three artists are carved onto the sculpture itself, modern scholarship believes Laocoon to be a copy. Pliny describes the work in his ancient historical account, stating that it was formed from a single block of marble -- but the extent copy is in no such condition -- it has been constructed piecemeal. Discovered during the High Renaissance, it was supposedly repulsed by Pope Adrian VI. Michelangelo, however, acknowledged it as a "marvel of art" (Agony -- The Famous Group of Laocoon). Percy Bysshe Shelley, likewise, exalted it, saying that "nothing in antiquity could surpass it." The sculpture illustrates Apollo's punishment as it is being inflicted upon a father and two sons, "crushed to death by serpents, [showing] the extremity of physical suffering as represented in sculpture" (Ancient Greek Art). As the sculpture shows ("the pride and joy of Pope Julius II and the centerpiece of his art collection" (Johnson, p. 66), it has been copied many times in both sculpture and painting.

9. Apollonios son of Nestor, Belvedere Torso (first century BC)

This Torso has only survived in fragment, but it served to spark the High Renaissance classical revival that greatly impressed sculptors like Michelangelo, whose own work would take inspiration from this antiquated piece, with its huge muscular legs and torso. The Torso is said to be a representation of the seated Hercules, but debate continues about the actual identity of the figure -- as well as the actual identity of its maker (despite the fact that a signature is found on the statue fragment). Uncovered in the 1400s in Rome, it now resides in the Vatican museum, surviving as a piece of art that prompted some of the greatest carvings to take place -- like those done by Michelangelo for Pope Julius II.

10. Aphrodite of Melos (150 BC)

Better known as the Venus de Milo, this sculpture is perhaps the most famous in the world of Greek sculpture. It has been copied in form, postcard, picture -- and in every medium imaginable. The merits of this particular sculpture are not well established -- however, its repetition in the public's consciousness has cemented its reputation. As Johnson says, "The lady's slipping vesture is ingeniously carved but the torso is of no great interest and the face is insipid…Why did people want to buy copies of this Venus in the first place? 'You may well wonder,' as Dr. Johnson said. Ignorance, perhaps" (p. 67). Nonetheless, no collection of Greek sculpture would be complete without this final representation of Greek art, before Greece was completely subjugated to the Roman Empire.

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