BCE. Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 100 cm. The British Museum, London.
162. Anonymous, Nike, balustrade, Temple of Athena Nike, Athens, c. 420–400 BCE. Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 101 cm. Acropolis Museum, Athens.
The Nike, or Winged Victory, was a companion to Athena, often shown following the goddess, or holding her hand. This figure is from the Temple to Athena from a frieze along the balustrade, or low wall surrounding the temple. Along this long frieze, the Nike figure was shown repeatedly in a variety of poses, setting up trophies and offering sacrifices. This fragment captures Nike in an unguarded moment, adjusting her sandal. This casual action is indicative of how the Greeks saw their gods – humanlike, imperfect, and subject to foibles and folly. Here, her movement also provides the sculptor with the opportunity to emphasise the elaborate folds of drapery that gather over her arm and across her bent legs.
163. Anonymous, Iris, west pediment, Parthenon, Athens, c. 438–432 BCE. Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 125 cm. The British Museum, London.
164. Anonymous, Horse of Selene, east pediment, Parthenon, Athens, c. 438–432 BCE. Ancient Greek. Marble, length: 83.3 cm. The British Museum, London.
165. Anonymous, Chimera of Arezzo, c. 380–360 BCE. Ancient Greek. Bronze, height: 80 cm. Museo Archeologico di Firenze, Florence
The Chimera was a mythical creature, a composite of a lion’s head and body, a snake for a tail, and a second head, of a goat, emerging from its back. A powerful monster, it was thought to bestow evil upon anyone who saw it. Its origin was Lycia in Asia Minor, but this depiction of the monster comes from Etruria in Italy, which had been greatly influenced by the cultures of the Near East via trade and exchange. It showcases the metalworking talent of the Etruscans. The artist has captured the animal in a fierce roar, writhing in pain as it attacks itself, the snake-tail biting the goat-head, blood pouring from the wound. The realism of the lion’s body, with its tensed muscles and ribcage jutting through the skin, is contrasted by the decorative quality of the lion’s mane and tufted back, the fur forming a textured pattern along its body.
166. Anonymous, Diadoumenos, the Young Athlete, copy after the bronze original created around 430 BCE by Polykleitos. Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 186 cm. National Museum, Athens.
Polykleitos is one of the best-known sculptors of the 5th century BCE, known especially for his athletic dedications, such as this one. The figure binds his hair with a tie in preparation for sport. His clothes rest next to him on a low branch, since Greek athletes exercised in the nude. Polykleitos’ Doryphoros, or Canon, sought to illustrate the ideal male figure. In the piece shown, we see the same proportions the sculptor established with his Canon, and the same attention to anatomical realism. The Polykleitan ideal is a heavy, muscled, somewhat stocky body, especially in comparison to the more gracile figures of the next century.
Polykleitos was a contemporary of Phidias, and in the opinion of the Greeks his equal. He made a figure of an Amazon for Ephesus regarded as superior to the Amazon of Phidias made at the same time; and his colossal Hera of gold and ivory, which stood in the temple near Argos, was considered worthy to rank with the Zeus of Phidias.
It would be hard for a modern critic to rate Polykleitos so high, for reasons of balance, rhythm, and minute perfection of bodily form, the great merits of this sculptor, which appeal less to us than they did to the 5th century Greeks. He worked mainly in bronze.
His artistic activity must thus have been long and prolific.
Copies of his spearman (Doryphorus) and his victor winding a ribbon round his head (Diadoumenos, fig. 166) 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. They are chiefly valuable for showing us the square forms of body affected by Polykleitos, and the scheme he adopted, for throwing the body’s weight (as Pliny says of him) onto one leg.
The Wounded Amazon of Polykleitos survives in several copies (fig. 157). Here again we find a certain heaviness, and the Amazon’s womanly character scarcely appears through her robust limbs.
The masterpiece of Polykleitos, his Hera of gold and ivory, has of course totally disappeared. The Argos coins give us only the general type. Ancient critics reproached Polykleitos for the lack of variety in his works. We have already observed the slight variety in their attitudes. Except for the statue of Hera, which was the work of his old age, he produced hardly any notable statue of a deity. His field was narrowly limited; but in that field he was unsurpassed.
167. Anonymous, Aphrodite, type “Venus Genetrix”, Roman copy after a Greek original created at the end of the 5th century BCE by Callimachus (?). 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.
168. Anonymous, Nereid 909, Nereid Monument, Xanthos (Turkey), c. 400 BCE. Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 140 cm. The British Museum, London.
In Greek mythology, the Nereids were a set of 50 sisters, sea-nymphs who were helpful to sailors in the Mediterranean Sea during storms. The Nereid Monument was a temple-tomb erected in Xanthos, on the coast of Asia Minor. It was a small, Ionic-style building with a carved relief on a frieze wrapping around it. Above, between the columns of the colonnade, were statues of numerous Nereids clothed in sheer chitons. The tomb was built by the local Lycian elite, but the sculpture reflects the international culture of the Hellenistic Period. In the typically dramatic style of the Hellenistic, the chiton worn by this nymph is blown by the wind and the sea, and clings to her body. Each nymph was in a different pose, seemingly captured in movement, frozen perpetually in the wind blowing off the sea.
169. Anonymous, Maenad, copy after a Greek original created around c. 370–330 BCE by Skopas. Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 45 cm. Skultpturensammlung, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Dresden.
Skopas was one of the great sculptors of the 4th century BCE. He was
