than they did to the 5th century Greeks. We find a certain heaviness in his female characters that makes it difficult to distinguish them from males.
Copies of his spearman (Doryphoros) and victor (Diadoumenos, figs. 36, 37) have long been recognised in galleries. While we understand their excellence, they inspire no enthusiasm; they are fleshier than modern athletic figures and lack charm. Ancient critics reproached Polykleitos for his lack of variety, though his talent remained unsurpassed.
38. Anonymous, Apollo, known as Apollo Parnopios, copy after a Greek original created by Phidias, c. 450 BCE.
Marble, height: 197 cm. Staatliche Museen, Kassel.
Apollo was the god of music, poetry, medicine, archery, and prophecy; and was always shown as young and beautiful. Here, he has the idealised body of a young male athlete. The naturalism of his anatomy, with his sculpted muscles and graceful movement, is expressed through the relaxed, contrapposto stance. His expression is thoughtful but emotionless. This statue is transformed into Apollo by the addition of the elaborately curled long hair, and his attributes, the bow and laurel wreath, which he would have held in each hand.
39. Anonymous, Riace Bronze B, Roman copy after a Greek original created by Phidias, c. 450 BCE.
Ancient Greek. Bronze, height: 197 cm. Museo Nazionale, Reggio Calabria.
A sunken treasure, this bronze statue was pulled from the sea, having been lost in a shipwreck during the Classical period. Ironically, its loss in the sea resulted in it being one of the few bronze statues to survive from the era, since it was never melted down for its valuable metal. The warrior is one of a pair that has been attributed to the 5th century BCE, or High Classical Period. In this piece we can see the ideals of High Classical period sculpture fully realised. At the same time realistic and idealistic, the sculpture shows a lifelike, but perfect, body, each muscle articulated, the figure frozen in a relaxed, life-like pose. The solid, athletic body reflects the ideal of a young athlete, although this figure represents an older warrior, who once would have held a spear and a shield. The nudity of the figure also alludes to the athlete, who in Greece would have practised or competed in the nude, and also to the mythical hero, a reminder that the man represented here was no ordinary warrior, but a semi-divine hero, an appropriate offering for one of the great sanctuaries of the Greek world.
Son of Charmides, universally regarded as the greatest of Greek sculptors, Phidias was born in Athens. We have varying accounts of his training. Hegias of Athens, Ageladas of Argos, and the Thasian painter Polygnotus, have all been regarded as his teachers.
The earliest of his great works were dedications in memory of Marathon, from the spoils of the victory. On the Acropolis of Athens he erected a colossal bronze image of Athena, visible far out at sea. Other works at Delphi, at Pellene in Achaea, and at Plataea were appreciated; among the Greeks themselves, however, the two works of Phidias which far outstripped all others – providing the basis of his fame – were the colossal figures in gold and ivory of Zeus at Olympia and of Athena Parthenos at Athens, both of which date to about the middle of the 5th century.
Plutarch gives in his life of Perikles a charming account of the vast artistic activity that went on at Athens while that statesman was in power. For the decoration of his own city he used the money furnished by the Athenian allies for defence against Persia. “In all these works,” says Plutarch, “Phidias was the adviser and overseer of Perikles.” Phidias introduced his own portrait and that of Perikles on the shield of his Parthenos statue. And it was through Phidias that the political enemies of Perikles struck at him.
It is important to observe that in resting the fame of Phidias upon the sculptures of the Parthenon we proceed with little evidence. What he was celebrated for in Antiquity was his statues in bronze or gold and ivory. If Plutarch tells us that he superintended the great works of Perikles on the Acropolis, this phrase is very vague.
Of his death we have two discrepant accounts. According to Plutarch he was made an object of attack by the political enemies of Perikles, and died in prison at Athens. According to Philochorus, he fled to Elis, where he made the great statue of Zeus for the Eleans, and was afterwards put to death by them. For several reasons the first of these tales is preferable.
Ancient critics take a high view of the merits of Phidias. What they especially praise is the ethos or permanent moral level of his works as compared with those of the later “pathetic” school. Demetrius calls his statues sublime and at the same time precise.
40. Anonymous, Diomedes, Roman copy after a Greek original, c. 430 BCE.
Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 102 cm. Glyptothek, Munich.
41. Anonymous, Aphrodite (Venus Genitrix), Roman copy after a Greek original created by Callimachus, end of 5th century BCE.
Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 164 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
An ancient sculptor and engraver, Callimachus was nicknamed “katatxitechnos” – “the perfectionist.” He left behind no writings, but we know his life through the works of Pausanias and Vitruvius, although today certain of their accounts seem doubtful. It is known that he contributed to the decoration of the Erechtheion. For this temple he created, among other things, a magnificent golden lamp, above which was mounted a bronze palm branch, which trapped the smoke. Several beautiful sculptures were also ascribed to him: a group of Lacedemonian dancers and a statue of the seated Hera made for the Heraion of Plataea. What characterises Callimachus more than anything else is his painstaking attention to detail; hence the nickname. Purportedly, he was the first to use a drill for shaping marble. He modelled his work on the tradition of the old masters and pioneered the Archaic style.
Callimachus also has a place in the history of architecture. He is considered the inventor of the Corinthian capital. According to the legend told by Vitruvius, he got the idea while looking at the acanthus blossom wrapped around a basket which had been placed on a child’s tomb.
42. Anonymous, Male Torso, in the style of the Diadoumenos, copy after a bronze original created by Polykleitos, c. 430 BCE.
Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 85 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
43. Anonymous, Hermes Tying his Sandal, Roman copy after a Greek original created by Lysippos, 4th century BCE.
Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 161 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
The Greek sculptor, Lysippos, was head of the school of Argos and Sicyon in the time of Philip and Alexander of Macedon. His works, some colossal, are said to have numbered 1500. Certain accounts have him continuing the school of Polykleitos; others represent him as self-taught. He was especially innovative regarding the proportions of the human male body; in contrast to his predecessors, he reduced the head size and made the body harder and more slender, producing the impression of greater height. He also took great pains with hair and other details. Pliny and other writers mention many of his statues. Among the gods he seems to have produced new and
