Lecture 12: Classical freestanding sculpture and Classical sculptors

Three great sculptors at work in the mid fifth century BC were MYRON, PHEIDIAS and POLYKLEITOS, whom we know to have competed fiercely among themselves for the richest and most desirable commissions of the day.

Riace Warrior A. Height: 1.98 metres.            Riace Warrior B. Height 1.7 metres.

The Riace bronze warriors, found in the sea at Riace in south Italy in 1972 and now housed in the Museo Nazionale at Reggio Calabria, date to 460-450 BC. They are attributed by some scholars to Pheidias, as part of the Offering of Marathon monument dedicated by the Athenians at Delphi some thirty years after the battle of Marathon (490 BC). Standing in relaxed contrapposto stance, Statue A represents an older male with mature physique; while Statue B depicts a younger man with lither body, tamer beard and a longer head from which the helmet is now missing. Both figures originally carried shield and spears.

Riace Warrior A - detail of head.

Note the figure's silver eyebrows, silvered teeth and eyes of glass paste.

The so-called Varvakeion Athena: a second century AD stone copy in miniature of the colossal fifth century BC chryselephantine statue of Athena Parthenos by Pheidias which stood in the Parthenon at Athens. Athens National Archaeological Museum.

Whether or not the Riace Warriors were the product of Pheidias' creation remains uncertain. And, indeed, though renowned for his work in antiquity, we face great problems in studying Pheidias' work today. He was, of course, the artistic creativity behind the Parthenon sculptures, responsible for their design and overall production though, with the exception of the chryselephantine cult statue of Athena Parthenos, he is unlikely to have been involved himself in the actual sculpting. Only later miniature copies of the Athena Parthenos survive as pale reflections of the colossal original which stood 11.54 metres high (including the statue base depicting Pandora's birth). In her lower left hand Athena steadied her shield and spear, and in her right held out a winged Nike figure. Note that the column supporting the Nike may not have been part of the original design. Within the shield curled the sacred snake of Erichthonios, while the shield interior itself carried in relief the figures of giants assaulting Olympos. The relief on the exterior of the shield depicted Amazons assaulting the Acropolis. Athena's sandals carried a centauromachy while her helmet displayed griffins on the cheek pieces, griffins and deer on the visor, and a sphinx and two Pegasoi as crest supports. On Athena's aegis was fixed the gorgoneion.

Other famous commissions of Pheidias, no longer extant, included the chryselephantine cult statue of Zeus at Olympia and the colossal bronze figure of Athena Promachos which stood on the Acropolis at Athens.

Roman marble copy of the Diskobolos (Discus Thrower) created originally in bronze by the sculptor Myron, circa 450 BC. Height: 1.55 metres. Museo Nazionale delle Terme, Rome.

Myron was perhaps best known in antiquity for his evocative talent of recreating the real world in sculptural form. Again, we know his work only from later copies, but what is clear is his penchant for depicting movement and experimenting with novel postures.

Roman copies of the Athena and Marsyas figures created by Myron circa 450 BC, Height: 1.73 metres and 1.59 metres respectively. Frankfurt and Rome.

The goddess having invented the pipes, was displeased by the distorted appearance of her face as she played them and threw them to the ground in disgust. In the original statue group, Marsyas beholds the pipes with surprise before seizing them.

Roman marble copy of the Doryphoros (Spear Bearer) created by Polykleitos circa 440 BC. Height: 2.12 metres. Museo Nazionale, Naples.

During the third quarter of the fifth century BC, the two great centres of sculptural development and production were Athens and Argos. While Pheidias and Myron were Athenians, Polykleitos originated from Argos. Again, we face the problem of knowing Polykleitos' work only through later copies.

Polykleitos was famous in antiquity for having written a treatise called the 'Canon' (or Rule), which set out a new formula for freestanding figures, based on empirical principles. Though, sadly, the 'Canon' does not survive, these principles seem to have consisted of mathematical measurements and proportions. The Doryphoros, a Polykleitos' creation in bronze, embodies these principles, depicting a figure perfectly balanced between tension and relaxation, action and stasis, youth and maturity.

Roman marble copy of the Diadoumenos by Polykleitos circa 430 BC. Height: 1.86 metres. Athens National Archaeological Museum.

The Diadoumenos presents us with an athlete tying a fillet about his head.

Detail from the Caryatid porch of the Erechtheion on the Athenian Acropolis. 420-406 BC.

Throughout the fifth century, the focus of attention for the sculptured female remains with the draped figure, with increasingly effective use of tumbling and clinging draperies being developed to lend shape and form to the feminine anatomy beneath the folds. As with the male figures the contrapposto stance is commonly employed, as here.

Roman copy of the Aphrodite of Knidos created by Praxiteles circa 350-340 BC. Height: 2.04 metres. Vatican Museum.

Not until the mid fourth century was the first freestanding female sculpted figure completely divested of her clothes by the Athenian sculptor Praxiteles. Working the figure in marble from the Cycladic island of Paros, Praxiteles was reported to have used a live model (his mistress Phryne) for the figure.