Lecture 11: The transformation of Greek sculpture in the early Classical period. The case of original vs copy

The Kritios Boy, preserved height: 1.17 metres, Athens Acropolis Museum, circa 485-480 BC.

Just before the Persian sack of Athens (480 BC) the sculpted male freestanding figure witnessed a radical development: the symmetricality and frontality of the standing male was brought to an end by the shift of the figure's weight onto one leg, accompanied by a corresponding rise in the hip positioned over the flexed leg. Here we see the beginning of the contrapposto stance. In the Kritios Boy the shift in weight does not yet, however, follow through to the level of the shoulders.

'Blond Boy' head, Athens Acropolis Museum, circa 485 BC.

Though only the head of this figure survives, the statue was clearly contemporary with the Kritios Boy: in both pieces, complete frontality is avoided by the slight inclination of the head towards the right shoulder.

The Tyrannicides, height: 1.85 metres, copy in Naples, National Museum of a lost work of 477/6 BC  by Kritios & Nesiotes.

The early Classical style of sculpture, circa 480-450 BC, involved much experimentation on the part of the sculptors. Once freed of the rigid kouros type, they experimented with twisting anatomies and movement. This style is also sometimes known as the "Severe" style, due to the serious facial expression of the figures and a move away from ornate surface treatment of hair and draperies to concentrate on form and movement.

Hollow-cast bronze statue of Zeus or Poseidon, found in the sea off Cape Artemision on Euboia, height 2.09 metres, circa 460 BC, possibly the work of the sculptor Kalamis, Athens National Archaeological Museum.

This experimentation with action poses and movement was made possible largely as a result of the development of the hollow bronze casting technique, since hollow bronze is a far lighter material than solid stone and also possesses greater tensile strength. Made of an alloy of copper and tin, bronze statues were kept polished and shiny: lips, and sometimes also eyebrows and nipples, were often inlaid with copper or silver, and the eyes were inset with glass paste and stones.

Attic red-figure cup decorated by the Foundry Painter circa 480 BC, Berlin Staatliche Museum.

This Attic red-figure cup depicts a bronze workshop. On the left a man stokes the smelting furnace while a boy works the fire with bellows. To the right, a bronze statue is being assembled. On the walls of the workshop hang tools, relief bronze plaques, bronze heads and statue feet, and a bow.

"Choiseul-Gouffier" Apollo (left, height: 1.78 metres, British Museum) and "Omphalos Apollo" (right, height 1.76 metres, Athens National Archaeological Museum). Roman marble copies of a Greek bronze original of circa 470 BC.

Only a few Greek bronze originals survive, and we are dependent in large part on later Roman marble copies for our knowledge of fifth century BC Greek sculpture on later Roman marble copies. Since stone is a far heavier material than hollow-cast bronze, these marble copies usually had to be supported by added struts which often, as here, take the form of a tree trunk. It is important to study the Roman copies of original Greek sculptures with caution, since we cannot be sure how faithful these later Roman copies are to the originals. Take, for example the "Choiseul-Gouffier" and "Omphalos Apollo" figures: although both are Roman stone copies of the same original Greek bronze statue of circa 470 BC, the Omphalos Apollo displays somewhat lighter proportions than the Choiseul-Gouffier Apollo.

For a step-by-step account of the technique of hollow bronze casting see R.M. Cook, Greek Art: Its Developments, Character and Influence (London 1972), 79-81.