The art of ancient Greece became the support and foundation on which the entire European civilization grew. The sculpture of Ancient Greece is a special topic. Without ancient sculpture, there would be no brilliant masterpieces of the Renaissance, and it is difficult to imagine the further development of this art. In the history of the development of Greek antique sculpture, three major stages can be distinguished: archaic, classical and Hellenistic. Each has something important and special. Let's consider each of them.
archaic art. Features: 1) static frontal position of the figures, reminiscent of ancient Egyptian sculpture: arms lowered, one leg forward; 2) The sculpture depicts young men ("kuros") and girls ("koros"), on their faces a calm smile (archaic); 3) Kouros were depicted naked, barks were always dressed and the sculptures were painted; 4) Skill in depicting strands of hair, in later sculptures - folds of draperies on female figures.
The archaic period covers three centuries - from the 8th to the 6th centuries BC. e. This is the period of formation of the foundations of ancient sculpture, the establishment of canons and traditions. The period very conditionally denotes the framework of early ancient art. In fact, the beginnings of the archaic can be seen already in the sculptures of the 9th century BC, and many signs of the archaic can be seen in the monuments of the 4th century BC. The masters of early antiquity used a variety of materials for their work. Sculptures made of wood, limestone, terracotta, basalt, marble and bronze have been preserved. Archaic sculpture can be divided into two fundamental components: kora (female figures) and kouros (male figures). The archaic smile is a special type of smile used by Greek archaic sculptors, especially in the second quarter of the 6th century. BC e. , perhaps to demonstrate that the subject of the image is alive. This smile is flat and looks rather unnatural, although it is a sign of the evolution of sculptural art towards realism and its quest.
Kore Common, for almost all female statues, is the angle. Most often, the bark appears frontally erect, the arms are often lowered along the body, rarely crossed on the chest or holding sacred attributes (spear, shield, sword, wand, fruit, etc.). There is an archaic smile on his face. The proportions of the body are sufficiently conveyed, despite the general schematic and generalized images. All sculptures must be painted.
Kuros Male sculptures of the period are characterized by a strict frontal pose, often the left leg is pushed forward. The arms are lowered along the body, the hands are clenched into a fist, sculptures with arms stretched forward, as if holding out a sacrifice, are less common. Another indispensable condition for archaic male statues is the exact symmetry of the body. Outwardly, male sculptures have much in common with Egyptian statues, which indicates the strong influence of Egyptian aesthetics and tradition on ancient art. It is known that the earliest kuros were made of wood, but not a single wooden sculpture has survived. Later, the Greeks learned how to process stone, so all the surviving kouroi are made of marble.
Classic art. Features: 1) Completed the search for a way to depict a moving human figure, harmonious in its proportions; the position of "counterpost" was developed - the balance of movements of body parts at rest (a figure standing freely with support on one leg); 2) The sculptor Poliklet develops the theory of contrapposta, illustrating his work with sculptures in this position; 3) In the 5th c. BC e. the person is portrayed as harmonious, idealized, as a rule, young or middle-aged, the facial expression is calm, without mimic wrinkles and folds, the movements are restrained, harmonious; 4) In the 4th c. BC e. there is a greater dynamism, even sharpness in the plastic of the figures; in sculptural images they begin to display the individual features of faces and bodies; a sculpture appears.
The 5th century in the history of Greek sculpture of the classical period can be called a "step forward". The development of the sculpture of Ancient Greece in this period is associated with the names of such famous masters as Myron, Policlet and Phidias. In their creations, the images become more realistic, if one can say even “alive”, the schematism that was characteristic of archaic sculpture decreases. But the main "heroes" are the gods and "ideal" people. Most of the sculptures of this era are associated with ancient plastic art. The masterpieces of classical Greece are distinguished by harmony, ideal proportions (which indicates excellent knowledge of human anatomy), as well as internal content and dynamics.
Polikleitos, who worked in Argos, in the second half of the 5th c. BC e, is a prominent representative of the Peloponnesian school. Sculpture of the classical period is rich in his masterpieces. He was a master of bronze sculpture and an excellent art theorist. Policlet preferred to portray athletes, in whom ordinary people have always seen the ideal. Among his works are the statues of "Doryfor" and "Diadumen". The first work is a strong warrior with a spear, the embodiment of calm dignity. The second is a slender young man, with a bandage of a winner in competitions on his head.
Myron, who lived in the middle of the 5th century. BC e, is known to us from drawings and Roman copies. This ingenious master perfectly mastered plasticity and anatomy, clearly conveyed the freedom of movement in his works (“Disco Thrower”).
The sculptor tried to show the struggle of two opposites: calm in the face of Athena and savagery in the face of Marsyas.
Phidias is another prominent representative of the sculptor of the classical period. His name sounded brightly during the heyday of Greek classical art. His most famous sculptures were the colossal statues of Athena Parthenos and Zeus in the Olympic Temple, Athena Promachos located on the square of the Acropolis of Athens. These masterpieces of art are irretrievably lost. Only descriptions and reduced Roman copies give us a faint idea of the magnificence of these monumental sculptures.
The sculpture of ancient Greece displayed the physical and inner beauty and harmony of man. Already in the 4th century, after the conquests of Alexander the Great in Greece, new names of talented sculptors became known. The creators of this era begin to pay more attention to the internal state of a person, his psychological state and emotions.
A famous sculptor of the classical period was Scopas, who lived in the middle of the 4th century BC. He innovates by revealing the inner world of a person, tries to depict emotions of joy, fear, happiness in sculptures. He was not afraid to experiment and portrayed people in various complex poses, looking for new artistic possibilities for depicting new feelings on a human face (passion, anger, rage, fear, sadness). The statue of Maenad is an excellent creation of round plastic art; now its Roman copy has been preserved. A new and multifaceted relief work is the Amazonomachia, which adorns the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus in Asia Minor.
Praxiteles was an outstanding sculptor of the classical period who lived in Athens around 350 BC. Unfortunately, only the statue of Hermes from Olympia has come down to us, and we know about the rest of the works only from Roman copies. Praxiteles, like Scopas, tried to convey the feelings of people, but he preferred to express more “light” emotions that were pleasant to a person. He transferred lyrical emotions, dreaminess to sculptures, sang the beauty of the human body. The sculptor does not form figures in motion.
Among his works, it should be noted "The Resting Satyr", "Aphrodite of Cnidus", "Hermes with the Infant Dionysus", "Apollo Killing the Lizard".
Lysippus (second half of the 4th century BC) was one of the greatest sculptors of the classical period. He preferred to work with bronze. Only Roman copies give us the opportunity to get acquainted with his work.
Among the famous works are "Hercules with a doe", "Apoxiomen", "Hermes Resting" and "Wrestler". Lysippus makes changes in proportion, he depicts a smaller head, a leaner body and longer legs. All his works are individual, the portrait of Alexander the Great is also humanized.
Small sculpture in the Hellenistic period was widespread and consisted of figures of people made of baked clay (terracotta). They were called Tanagra terracottas, after the place of their production, the city of Tanagra in Boeotia.
Hellenistic art. Features: 1) Loss of harmony and movements of the classical period; 2) The movements of the figures acquire a pronounced dynamism; 3) Images of a person in sculpture tend to convey individual features, the desire for naturalism, a departure from the harmonization of nature; 4) In the sculptural decoration of the temples, the former “heroic” remains; 5) The perfection of the transfer of forms, volumes, folds, "vitality" of nature.
In those days, sculpture adorned private houses, public buildings, squares, acropolises. Hellenistic sculpture is characterized by the reflection and disclosure of the spirit of unrest and tension, the desire for pomp and theatricality, and sometimes crude naturalism. The Pergamon school developed the artistic principles of Scopas with his interest in violent manifestations of feelings, the transmission of swift movements. One of the outstanding buildings of Hellenism was the monumental frieze of the Pergamon Altar, built by Eumenes 2 in honor of the victory over the Gauls in 180 BC. e. Its plinth was covered with a 120 m long frieze, made in high relief and depicting the battle of the Olympian gods and rebellious giants with snakes instead of legs.
Courage is embodied in the sculptural groups "The Dying Gaul", "The Gaul Killing Himself and His Wife". An outstanding sculpture of Hellenism - Aphrodite of Milan by Agesander - half naked, strict and sublimely calm.
ancient greek sculpture classic
Ancient Greek sculpture of the Classical period
Speaking about the art of ancient civilizations, first of all, we remember and study the art of Ancient Greece, and in particular its sculpture. Truly in this small beautiful country, this kind of art has risen to such a height that to this day it is considered the standard all over the world. The study of the sculptures of Ancient Greece allows us to better understand the worldview of the Greeks, their philosophy, ideals and aspirations. In sculpture, as nowhere else, the attitude towards man, who in ancient Greece was the measure of all things, is manifested. It is sculpture that gives us the opportunity to judge the religious, philosophical and aesthetic ideas of the ancient Greeks. All this makes it possible to better understand the reasons for such a rise, development and fall of this civilization.
The development of Ancient Greek civilization is divided into several stages - eras. First, briefly, I will talk about the Archaic era, since it preceded the classical era and "set the tone" in sculpture.
The archaic period is the beginning of the formation of ancient Greek sculpture. This era was also divided into early archaic (650 - 580 BC), high (580 - 530 BC), and late (530 - 480 BC). Sculpture - was the embodiment of an ideal person. She extolled his beauty, physical perfection. Early single sculptures are represented by two main types: the image of a naked young man - a kuros and a figure dressed in a long, tight-fitting tunic of a girl - a kora.
The sculpture of this era was very similar to the Egyptian. And this is not surprising: the Greeks, getting acquainted with the Egyptian culture and the cultures of other countries of the Ancient East, borrowed a lot, and in other cases found similarities with them. Certain canons were observed in the sculpture, so they were very geometric and static: a person takes a step forward, his shoulders are straightened, and his arms are lowered along the body, a stupid smile always plays on his lips. In addition, the sculptures were painted: golden hair, blue eyes, pink cheeks.
At the beginning of the classical era, these canons are still in effect, but later the author begins to move away from static, the sculpture acquires a character, and an event, an action often occurs.
Classical sculpture is the second era in the development of ancient Greek culture. It is also divided into stages: early classic or strict style (490 - 450 BC), high (450 - 420 BC), rich style (420 - 390 BC .), late classic (390 - c. 320 BC).
In the era of the early classics, there is a kind of life rethinking. The sculpture takes on a heroic character. Art is freed from those rigid frameworks that fettered it in the archaic era, this is the time of searching for a new, intensive development of various schools and trends, the creation of heterogeneous works. The two types of figures - kuros and kore - are being replaced by a much greater variety of types; sculptures tend to convey the complex movement of the human body.
All this is happening against the backdrop of a war with the Persians, and it was this war that so changed ancient Greek thinking. The cultural centers were shifted and now they are the cities of Athens, the Northern Peloponnese and the Greek West. By that time, Greece had reached the highest point of economic, political and cultural growth. Athens took a leading place in the union of Greek cities. Greek society was democratic, built on the principles of equal activity. All men inhabiting Athens, except for slaves, were equal citizens. And they all enjoyed the right to vote, and could be elected to any public office. The Greeks were in harmony with nature and did not suppress their natural aspirations. Everything that was done by the Greeks was the property of the people. Statues stood in temples and squares, on palestras and on the seashore. They were present on the pediments, in the decorations of temples. As in the archaic era, the sculptures were painted.
Unfortunately, Greek sculpture has come down to us mainly in fragments. Although, according to Plutarch, there were more statues in Athens than living people. Many statues have come down to us in Roman copies. But they are very crude compared to the Greek originals.
One of the most famous sculptors of the early classics is Pythagoras Rhegius. Few of his works have come down to us, and his works are known only from references to ancient authors. Pythagoras became famous for his realistic depiction of human veins, veins and hair. Several Roman copies of his sculptures have been preserved: “The Boy Taking Out a Splinter”, “Hyacinthus”, etc. In addition, he is credited with the famous bronze statue “Charioteer” found in Delphi. Pythagoras Regius created several bronze statues of Olympic and Delphic Games winners. And he owns the statues of Apollo - the Python-killer, the Abduction of Europe, Eteocles, Polyneices and the Wounded Philoctetes.
It is known that Pythagoras Regius was a contemporary and rival of Myron. This is another famous sculptor of that time. And he became famous as the greatest realist and expert in anatomy. But with all this, Miron did not know how to give the faces of his works life and expression. Myron created statues of athletes - winners of competitions, reproduced famous heroes, gods and animals, especially beautifully portrayed difficult poses that looked very realistic.
The best example of such a sculpture of him is the world-famous Discobolus. Ancient writers also mention the famous sculpture of Marsyas with Athena. This famous sculptural group has come down to us in several of its copies. In addition to people, Myron also depicted animals, his image of the “Cow” is especially famous.
Myron mainly worked in bronze, his works have not been preserved and are known from the testimonies of ancient authors and Roman copies. He was also a master of toreutics - he made metal goblets with relief images.
Another famous sculptor of this period is Kalamid. He performed marble, bronze and chryselephantine statues, and depicted mainly gods, female heroic figures and horses. The art of Calamis can be judged by the copy of a later time that has come down to us with the statue of Hermes carrying a ram he executed for Tanagra. The figure of the god himself is executed in an archaic style, with the immobility of the pose and the symmetry of the arrangement of the members characteristic of this style; but the ram carried by Hermes is already distinguished by a certain vitality.
In addition, the monuments of ancient Greek sculpture of the early classics include the pediments and metopes of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. Another significant work of the early classics is the so-called Throne of Ludovisi. This is a three-sided marble altar depicting the birth of Aphrodite, on the sides of the altar are hetaeras and brides, symbolizing different hypostases of love or images of serving the goddess.
High classics is represented by the names of Phidias and Polykleitos. Its short-term heyday is associated with work on the Athenian Acropolis, that is, with the sculptural decoration of the Parthenon. The pinnacle of ancient Greek sculpture was, apparently, the statues of Athena Parthenos and Zeus Olympus by Phidias.
Phidias is one of the best representatives of the classical style, and it is enough to say about his significance that he is considered the founder of European art. The Attic school of sculpture headed by him occupied a leading place in the art of high classics.
Phidias possessed knowledge of the achievements of optics. A story has been preserved about his rivalry with Alkamen: both were ordered statues of Athena, which were supposed to be erected on high columns. Phidias made his statue in accordance with the height of the column - on the ground it seemed ugly and disproportionate. The neck of the goddess was very long. When both statues were erected on high pedestals, the correctness of Phidias became obvious. They note the great skill of Phidias in the interpretation of clothes, in which he surpasses both Myron and Polikleitos.
Most of his works have not survived; we can judge them only from the descriptions of ancient authors and copies. However, his fame was colossal. And there were so many of them that what is left is already a lot. The most famous works of Phidias - Zeus and Athena Parthenos were made in chrysoelephantine technique - gold and ivory.
The statue of Zeus in height, together with the pedestal, according to various sources, was from 12 to 17 meters. Zeus's eyes were the size of a grown man's fist. The cape that covered part of the body of Zeus, the scepter with an eagle in the left hand, the statue of the goddess Nike in the right and the wreath on the head are made of gold. Zeus sits on a throne, four dancing Nikes are depicted on the legs of the throne. Also depicted were: centaurs, lapiths, the exploits of Theseus and Hercules, frescoes depicting the battle of the Greeks with the Amazons.
Athena Parthenon was, like the statue of Zeus, huge and made in chrysoelephantine technique. Only the goddess, unlike her father, did not sit on the throne, but stood to her full height. “Athena herself is made of ivory and gold ... The statue depicts her in full growth in a tunic to the very soles of her feet, she has the head of Medusa made of ivory on her chest, in her hand she holds the image of Nike, approximately four cubits, and in her other hand - - a spear. At her feet lies a shield, and near the spear is a snake; this snake is probably Erichthonius. (Description of Hellas, XXIV, 7).
The helmet of the goddess had three crests: the middle one with a sphinx, the side ones with griffins. According to Pliny the Elder, the battle with the Amazons was minted on the outside of the shield, the struggle of the gods with the giants on the inside, and on the sandals of Athena there was an image of a centauromachy. The base was decorated with a Pandora story. The goddess's chiton, her shield, sandals, helmet and jewelry are all made of gold.
On marble copies, the hand of the goddess with Nika is supported by a pillar, whether it existed in the original is the subject of numerous disputes. Nika seems tiny, in reality her height was 2 meters.
Athena Promachos - a colossal image of the goddess Athena, brandishing a spear, on the Athenian Acropolis. Erected in memory of the victories over the Persians. Its height reached 18.5 meters and towered over all the surrounding buildings, shining over the city from afar. Unfortunately, this bronze goddess did not survive to this day. And we know about it only from chronicle sources.
Athena Lemnia - a bronze statue of the goddess Athena, created by Phidias, is also known to us from copies. This is a bronze statue depicting a goddess leaning on a spear. Named - from the island of Lemnos, for the inhabitants of which it was made.
Wounded Amazon, the runner-up statue in the famous sculpting competition for the Temple of Artemis of Ephesus. In addition to the above sculptures, Phidias is also credited with others, according to style similarities: a statue of Demeter, a statue of Kore, a relief from Eleusis, Anadumen (a young man tying a bandage around his head), Hermes Ludovisi, Tiber Apollo, Kassel Apollo.
Despite the talent, or rather the divine gift, Phidias, his relationship with the inhabitants of Athens was not at all warm. As Plutarch writes, in his Life of Pericles, Phidias was the main adviser and assistant to Pericles (Athenian politician, famous orator and commander).
“Since he was a friend of Pericles and enjoyed great authority with him, he had many personal enemies and envious people. They persuaded one of Phidias' assistants, Menon, to denounce Phidias and accuse him of theft. Envy for the glory of his works weighed on Phidias ... When analyzing his case in the National Assembly, there was no evidence of theft. But Phidias was sent to prison and there he died of an illness.
Polikleitos the Elder - an ancient Greek sculptor and art theorist, a contemporary of Phidias. Unlike Phidias, he was not so large-scale. However, his sculpture has a certain character: Policlet liked to depict athletes at rest, he specialized in depicting athletes, Olympic winners. He was the first to think of giving the figures such a statement that they rested on the lower part of only one leg. Polikleitos knew how to show the human body in a state of balance - his human figure at rest or slow pace seems to be moving and animated. An example of this is the famous statue of Polikleitos "Dorifor" (spear-bearer). It is in this work that Poliklet's ideas about the ideal proportions of the human body, which are in numerical ratio with each other, are embodied. It was believed that the figure was created on the basis of the provisions of Pythagoreanism, therefore, in ancient times, the statue of Doryphoros was often called the "canon of Poliklet." The forms of this statue are repeated in most of the works of the sculptor and his school. The distance from the chin to the crown in the statues of Polykleitos is one seventh, while the distance from the eyes to the chin is one sixteenth, and the height of the face is one tenth of the whole figure. Polykleitos is strongly associated with the Pythagorean tradition. "Canon of Polykleitos" - a theoretical treatise of the sculptor, created by Polykleitos for other artists to use it. Indeed, the Canon of Polykleitos had a great influence on European culture, despite the fact that only two fragments of the theoretical work have survived, information about it is fragmentary, and the mathematical basis has not yet been finally deduced.
In addition to the spear-bearer, other works of the sculptor are also known: “Diadumen” (“Young man tying a bandage”), “Wounded Amazon”, a colossal statue of Hera in Argos. It was made in the chrysoelephantine technique and was perceived as a pandan to Olympian Zeus Phidias, "Discophorus" ("Young Man Holding a Disc"). Unfortunately, these sculptures have survived only in ancient Roman copies.
At the “Rich Style” stage, we know the names of such sculptors as Alkamen, Agoracritus, Callimachus, etc.
Alkamen, Greek sculptor, pupil, rival and successor of Phidias. It was believed that Alkamen was not inferior to Phidias, and after the death of the latter, he became the leading sculptor in Athens. His Hermes in the form of a herm (pillar crowned with the head of Hermes) is known in many copies. Nearby, near the temple of Athena Nike, there was a statue of Hecate, which consisted of three figures connected with their backs. On the acropolis of Athens, a group belonging to Alkamen was also found - Prokna, who raised a knife over her son Itis, who seeks salvation in the folds of her clothes. In the sanctuary on the slope of the Acropolis there was a statue of a seated Dionysus belonging to Alkamen. Alkamenes also created a statue of Ares for the temple in the agora and a statue of Hephaestus for the temple of Hephaestus and Athena.
Alkamen defeated Agoracritus in a competition to create a statue of Aphrodite. Even more famous, however, is the seated Aphrodite in the Gardens, at the northern foot of the Acropolis. She is depicted on many red-figure Attic vases surrounded by Eros, Peito and other embodiments of the happiness that love brings. Often repeated by ancient copyists, the head, called "Sappho", was probably copied from this statue. The last work of Alkamen is a colossal relief with Hercules and Athena. It is probable that Alkamen died shortly thereafter.
Agorakrit was also a student of Phidias, and, as they say, a favorite. He, like Alkamen, participated in the creation of the frieze of the Parthenon. The two most famous works of Agoracritus are the cult statue of the goddess Nemesis (remade after the duel with Alkamen Athena), donated to the Ramnos temple and the statue of the Mother of the Gods in Athens (sometimes attributed to Phidias). Of the works mentioned by ancient authors, only the statues of Zeus-Hades and Athena in Coronea undoubtedly belonged to Agoracritus. Of his works, only part of the head of the colossal statue of Nemesis and fragments of the reliefs that adorned the base of this statue have survived. According to Pausanias, young Helen (daughter of Nemesis) was depicted on the base, with Leda who nursed her, her husband Menelaus and other relatives of Helen and Menelaus.
The general character of late classical sculpture was determined by the development of realistic tendencies.
Scopas is one of the major sculptors of this period. Skopas, preserving the traditions of the monumental art of high classics, saturates his works with drama, he reveals the complex feelings and experiences of a person. The heroes of Scopas continue to embody the perfect qualities of strong and valiant people. However, Scopas introduces into the art of sculpture the themes of suffering, internal breakdown. These are the images of wounded soldiers from the pediments of the temple of Athena Alei in Tegea. Plasticity, a sharp restless play of chiaroscuro emphasizes the drama of what is happening.
Scopas preferred to work in marble, almost abandoning the favorite material of the high classics - bronze. Marble made it possible to convey a subtle play of light and shadow, various textural contrasts. His Maenad (Bacchante), which has survived in a small damaged antique copy, embodies the image of a man possessed by a stormy outburst of passion. The dance of Maenad is swift, her head thrown back, her hair falling in a heavy wave over her shoulders. The movement of the curved folds of her tunic emphasizes the impetuous impulse of the body.
The images of Scopas are either deeply thoughtful, like a young man from the gravestone of the Ilissus River, or lively and passionate.
The frieze of the Halicarnassus mausoleum depicting the battle of the Greeks with the Amazons has been preserved in the original.
The impact of the art of Scopas on the further development of Greek plastic art was enormous, and it can only be compared with the impact of the art of his contemporary Praxiteles.
In his work, Praxiteles refers to images imbued with the spirit of clear and pure harmony, calm thoughtfulness, serene contemplation. Praxiteles and Scopas complement each other, revealing the various states and feelings of a person, his inner world.
Depicting harmoniously developed, beautiful heroes, Praxiteles also reveals connections with the art of high classics, but his images lose that heroism and monumental grandeur of the works of the heyday, but acquire a more lyrically refined and contemplative character.
The mastery of Praxiteles is most fully revealed in the marble group “Hermes with Dionysus”. The graceful curve of the figure, the relaxed posture of rest of the young slender body, the beautiful, spiritual face of Hermes are conveyed with great skill.
Praxitel created a new ideal of female beauty, embodying it in the image of Aphrodite, who is depicted at the moment when, having taken off her clothes, she is about to enter the water. Although the sculpture was intended for cult purposes, the image of the beautiful naked goddess was freed from solemn majesty. "Aphrodite of Cnidus" caused many repetitions in subsequent times, but none of them could compare with the original.
The sculpture "Apollo Saurocton" is an image of a graceful teenage boy who aims at a lizard running along a tree trunk. Praxiteles rethinks mythological images, features of everyday life, elements of the genre appear in them.
If in the art of Skopas and Praxiteles there are still tangible connections with the principles of high classic art, then in the artistic culture of the last third of the 4th century. BC e., these ties are weakening more and more.
Macedonia acquires great importance in the socio-political life of the ancient world. Just like the war with the Persians, it changed and rethought the culture of Greece at the beginning of the 5th century. BC e. After the victorious campaigns of Alexander the Great and his conquest of the Greek policies, and then the vast territories of Asia, which became part of the Macedonian state, a new stage in the development of ancient society begins - the period of Hellenism. The transitional period from the late classics to the Hellenistic period itself is distinguished by peculiar features.
Lysippus is the last great master of the late classics. His work unfolds in the 40-30s. 5th century BC e., during the reign of Alexander the Great. In the art of Lysippus, as well as in the work of his great predecessors, the task of revealing the experiences of a person was solved. He began to introduce more clearly expressed features of age, occupation. New in the work of Lysippus is his interest in the characteristically expressive in man, as well as the expansion of the pictorial possibilities of sculpture.
Lysippus embodied his understanding of the image of a man in the sculpture of a young man who scrapes sand off himself after competitions - “Apoxiomen”, whom he depicts not at a moment of exertion, but in a state of fatigue. The slender figure of an athlete is shown in a complex turn, which forces the viewer to go around the sculpture. The movement is freely deployed in space. The face expresses weariness, deep-set shadowy eyes look into the distance.
Lysippus skillfully conveys the transition from a state of rest to action and vice versa. This is the image of the resting Hermes.
Of great importance was the work of Lysippus for the development of the portrait. In the portraits of Alexander the Great created by him, a deep interest in revealing the spiritual world of the hero is revealed. The most remarkable is the marble head of Alexander, which conveys his complex, contradictory nature.
The art of Lysippus occupies the border zone at the turn of the classical and Hellenistic eras. It is still true to classical concepts, but already undermines them from within, creating the ground for a transition to something else, more relaxed and more prosaic. In this sense, the head of a fist fighter is indicative, belonging not to Lysippus, but, possibly, to his brother Lysistratus, who was also a sculptor and was said to be the first to use masks removed from the model’s face for portraits (which was widespread in ancient Egypt, but completely alien to Greek art). It is possible that the head of the fist fighter was also made with the help of a mask; it is far from the canon, and far from the ideal ideas of physical perfection, which the Hellenes embodied in the image of an athlete. This fist fight winner is nothing like a demigod, just an entertainer for an idle crowd. His face is rough, his nose is flattened, his ears are swollen. This type of "naturalistic" images later became widespread in Hellenism; An even more unsightly fist fighter was sculpted by the Attic sculptor Apollonius already in the 1st century BC. e.
That which had previously cast shadows on the bright structure of the Hellenic world outlook came at the end of the 4th century BC. e .: the decomposition and death of the democratic policy. The beginning of this was laid by the rise of Macedonia, the northern region of Greece, and the actual capture of all Greek states by the Macedonian king Philip II.
Alexander the Great in his youth tasted the fruits of the highest Greek culture. His tutor was the great philosopher Aristotle, court painters - Lysippus and Apelles. This did not prevent him, having captured the Persian state and taking the throne of the Egyptian pharaohs, to declare himself a god and demand that he and in Greece be given divine honors. Unaccustomed to Eastern customs, the Greeks, chuckling, said: "Well, if Alexander wants to be a god, let him be" - and officially recognized him as the son of Zeus. However, Greek democracy, on which its culture grew, died under Alexander and was not revived after his death. The newly emerged state was no longer Greek, but Greco-Eastern. The era of Hellenism has come - the unification under the auspices of the monarchy of Hellenic and Eastern cultures.
Stages of development of ancient Greek sculpture:
Archaic
Classic
Hellenism
BARK(from Greek kore - girl),
BARK(from Greek kore - girl),
1) among the ancient Greeks, the cult name of the goddess Persephone.
2) In ancient Greek art, a statue of an upright girl in long robes.
KOUROS- in the art of ancient Greek archaic
- a statue of a young athlete (usually naked).
Kouros
Sculptures of kouros
The height of the statue is up to 3 meters;
Embodied the ideal of male beauty,
strength and health;
The figure of an upright young man with
leg forward, hands clenched
into fists and extended along the body.
Faces lack individuality;
Exhibited in public places
close to temples;
Bark
Sculptures kor
Embodied sophistication and sophistication;
Postures are monotonous and static;
Chitons and cloaks with beautiful patterns from
parallel wavy lines and a border along
edges;
Hair curled into curls and intercepted
diadems.
On the face of a mysterious smile
1. A hymn to the greatness and spiritual power of Man;
2. Favorite image - a slender young man with an athletic physique;
3. Spiritual and physical appearance are harmonious, there is nothing superfluous, "nothing beyond measure."
Sculptor Polikleitos. Doryphorus (5th century BC)
chiasm,
in pictorial
art image
standing human
figures based on
one leg: in this case, if
right shoulder raised
the right thigh is drooping, and
vice versa.
Ideal proportions of the human body:
The head is 1/7 of the total height;
Face and hands 1/10 part
Foot - 1/6 part
Sculptor Miron. Discus thrower. (5th century BC)
The first attempt of Greek sculpture to break the captivity of immobility. Movement is transmitted only when considering the figure from the front. When viewed from the side, the athlete's posture is perceived as somewhat strange, and the expression of movement is guessed with great difficulty.
4th century BC.
4th century BC.
1. Strived for the transfer of vigorous action;
2. They conveyed the feelings and experiences of a person:
- passion
- sadness
- daydreaming
- falling in love
- fury
- despair
- suffering
- grief
Scopas (420-355 BC)
Scopas.
Maenad. 4th c. BC. Scopas.
Head of a wounded warrior.
Scopas.
Scopas.
Battle of the Greeks with the Amazons .
Relief detail from the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus.
Praxiteles (390 -330 BC)
Entered the history of sculpture as
inspirational female beauty singer.
According to legend, Praxiteles created two
statues of Aphrodite, depicting on one
one of them a goddess dressed, and in the other -
naked. Aphrodite in clothes
acquired by the inhabitants of the island of Kos, and
Nude was mounted on
one of the main squares of the island
Knidos, where from all parts of Greece
fans began to flock
the famous work of the sculptor,
enhancing the glory of the city.
Lysippos.
Lysippos.
Head of Alexander
Macedonian About 330 BC
Lysippos.
Lysippos.
"Resting Hermes".
2nd half of the 4th c. BC e.
Leohar
Leohar.
"Apollo Belvedere".
Middle 4th c. BC e.
HELLENISM
HELLENISM, a period in the history of the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean from the time of the campaigns of Alexander the Great (334-323 BC) to the conquest of these countries by Rome, which ended in 30 BC. e. subjugation of Egypt.
In sculpture:
1. Excitement and tension of faces;
2. A whirlwind of feelings and experiences in images;
3. Dreaminess of images;
4. Harmonic perfection and solemnity
Nike of Samothrace. Beginning of the 2nd c. BC. Louvre, Paris
At the hour of my nightly delirium
You appear before my eyes
Samothrace Victory
With outstretched hands.
Frightening the silence of the night,
Gives rise to dizziness
Your winged, blind,
Unstoppable desire.
In your insanely bright
look
Something is laughing, flaming,
And our shadows rush from behind
Not being able to catch up with them.
Agesander. Venus (Aphrodite) de Milo. 120 BC Marble.
Agesander. "The Death of Laocoön and His Sons". Marble. Around 50 BC e.
Crossword
Horizontally : 1. The person at the head of the monarchy (general name for kings, kings, emperors, etc.). 2. In Greek mythology: a titan holding the vault of heaven on his shoulders as punishment for fighting the gods. 3. Self-name of the Greek. 4. Ancient Greek sculptor, author of the "Head of Athena", the statue of Athena in the Parthenon. 5. Drawing or pattern of multi-colored pebbles or pieces of glass fastened together. 6. In Greek mythology: god of fire, patron of blacksmiths. 7. Market Square in Athens. 8. In Greek mythology: the god of viticulture and winemaking. 9. Ancient Greek poet, author of the poems "Iliad" and "Odyssey". 10. "A place for spectacles", where tragedies and comedies were staged.
Vertically : 11. A person with the gift of speaking. 12. Peninsula in the southeast of Central Greece, the territory of the Athenian state. 13. In Greek mythology: sea creatures in the form of a bird with a female head, luring sailors with singing. 14. The main work of Herodotus. 15. In ancient Greek mythology: a one-eyed giant. 16. Drawing on wet plaster with paints. 17. Ancient Greek god of trade. 18. Author of the sculpture "Venus de Milo"? 19. Author of the sculpture "Apollo Belvedere".
The sculpture of Ancient Greece occupied an important place in ancient Greek art and was the highest achievement in the culture of the ancient world.
Ancient Greek sculpture in all its manifestations has always remained deeply anthropocentric, expressing the religiosity and spiritual world of a person or a sacred act that the sculptor tried to capture and convey.
Most of the sculptures were made to be offered to shrines or as funerary monuments. The peculiarity of Greek art was that the master, creating works, tried to convey the beauty and perfection of the human body.
In the forms of the first statues, an attempt is made to balance the deity and man, in the expression of their emotions. The sculpture of Ancient Greece reached its highest flowering in the 5th century BC. e, while the origin of the sculpture of Ancient Greece can be attributed to the XII-VIII centuries BC. e.
Initially, Greek craftsmen used soft materials in their work - wood and porous limestone, later marble. Casting from bronze was the first to be used by the masters of the island of Samos.
The figurines of the Homeric period depicted gods or heroes; in the work of the masters, interest in the plasticity of the body is only outlined.
During the archaic period sculpture of ancient Greece, acquires an archaic smile, turning the faces of the sculptures more and more to take on the image of a person, the body acquires a harmonious balance of forms. The men were depicted naked, while the woman was clothed.
At this time, in the sculptural art of Ancient Greece, kouros were widespread - young boys, who were mainly made for memorial rituals. The masters portrayed the kuros as restrained, with good posture, a smile, with clenched fists, the kuros hairstyle resembled a wig. One of the most famous kouros sculptures is "Kouros from Tenea" (κούρος της Τενέας). The sculpture was found near Corinth, in Tenea, in the temple of Apollo. Now it is kept in the Museum of Munich.
Young girls or kors, the Greeks depicted in traditional clothes, in a tunic or peplos. Kora (κόρη) - a specific type of statue with female forms of the archaic time, namely from the second half of the 7th century BC. A rich hairstyle, fashionable jewelry and colored ornaments of clothes - this is how the sculptors of Ancient Greece depicted them.
The Classical Age is what we call the period that begins in 480 BC. and ends in 323 BC, that is, from the end of the Greco-Persian wars to the death of Alexander the Great. During this period there were important social changes and parallel innovations in the sculpture of ancient Greece. The ancient Greeks focus their attention on conveying spirit and passion. Artists study body language to reveal their innermost thoughts, to show body movement: the placement of limbs, head and chest.
The first statue, which essentially depicts the end of one era and the beginning of another, is the "Boy of Critias" (Κριτίου παίς), kept in the Acropolis Museum. This 1.67 m high statue of a naked teenager is one of the most beautiful and perfect examples of early classical art. The sculpture combines movement, plasticity, seriousness appears in facial expression.
The famous sculpture of the charioteer (chariot driver) belongs to the period of the early classics, is stored in the Delphi Museum. The statue of a young man is made of bronze, has a height of 1.8 m, wearing a chiton with sleeves, shows the muscular arm of the young man, in his hand he holds fragments of the reins. The drapery of the folds on the clothes, which correspond to the movements, is well transmitted.
In 450-420 years. BC e. classical period, the sculpture of ancient Greece is modified. Now the sculptures have more softness, plasticity and maturity. Features of classical art were represented by Phidias in the sculptures of the Parthenon.
At this time, other worthy sculptors appear: Agoracritos, Alkamen, Kolot, who were experts in making statues from gold and ivory. Callimachus, was one of the inventors of the Corinthian order, Policlet, who depicted athletes, was the first to write a theoretical text on sculpture, and others.
During the late classical period, in the sculpture of ancient Greece, tendencies appear in the study of the human form in three-dimensional space, there is more sensual beauty and drama.
The great sculptors of this time are: Kefisodot ("Eirena with a baby in her arms"), Πρaxiteles, who created the Marathon youth and Aphrodite of Cnidus, Ephranor, Silanion, Leocharus, Scopas and Lysippus, the last sculptors of the late classical period who opened the way to the era of Hellenistic art.
The Hellenistic era in the sculpture of Ancient Greece was reflected in a more differentiated interpretation of plastic forms, the complication of angles and the smallest details. Monumental sculpture develops, huge relief compositions, multi-figure groups, reliefs appear, which are an integral part of the expression of sculptural art, small plasticity is complicated by the vitality of the images.
The most famous works of this time: Pythokrit's Nika of Samothrace, 3.28 m high, Venus de Milo, 2.02 m high, made by the sculptor Alexander from Antioch, is kept in the Louvre, Laocoön and his sons by the Rhodes sculptors Agesander of Rhodes, Polydorus and Athenodorus, is located in the Vatican.
The ancient sculptures of Greece, together with the temples, the poems of Homer, the tragedies of the Athenian playwrights and comedians, made the culture of the Hellenes great. But the history of plastic art in Greece was not static, but went through several stages in development.
Sculpture Archaic Ancient Greece
In the Dark Ages, the Greeks made iconic images of the gods from wood. They were called xoans. It is known about them from the writings of ancient writers, samples of Xoans have not been preserved.
In addition to them, in the XII-VIII centuries, the Greeks made primitive figurines from terracotta, bronze or ivory. Monumental sculpture appeared in Greece at the beginning of the 7th century. The statues that were used to decorate the friezes and pediments of ancient temples are made of stone. Individual sculptures were made of bronze.
The earliest sculptures of the Archaic of Ancient Greece were found on Crete. Their material is limestone, and the influence of the East is felt in the figures. But a bronze statue belongs to this region " cryofor”, depicting a young man with a ram on his shoulders.
Sculpture archaic ancient Greece
There are two main types of statues of the Archaic era - kouros and barks. Kouros (translated from Greek as "youth") was a standing naked youth. One leg of the statue moved forward. The corners of the lips of the kouros were often made slightly raised. This created the so-called "archaic smile".
Bark (translated from Greek as “virgin”, “girl”) is a female sculpture. Ancient Greece of the 8th-6th centuries left images of kors in long chitons. The masters of Argos, Sikyon, the Cyclades preferred to make kouros. Sculptors of Ionia and Athens - Kor. Kouros were not portraits of specific people, but represented a generalized image.
Sculpture female ancient Greece The architecture and sculpture of Ancient Greece began to interact in the Archaic era. At the beginning of the VI century in Athens there was a temple of Hekatompedon. The pediment of the cult building was decorated with images of the duel between Hercules and Triton.
Found on the Acropolis of Athens Moschofor statue(of a man carrying a calf) made of marble. It was completed around 570. The dedicatory inscription says that it is a gift to the gods from the Athenian Ronba. Another Athenian statue - kouros on the tomb of the Athenian warrior Kroisos. The inscription under the statue says that it was erected in memory of a young warrior who died in the forefront.
Kouros, Ancient Greece classical era
At the beginning of the 5th century, the realism of figures grows in Greek plastic art. Masters carefully reproduce the proportions of the human body and its anatomy. The sculptures depict a person in motion. The successors of the former kouros - athletes statues.
Sculptures of the first half of the 5th century are sometimes referred to as the "severe" style. The most striking example of the work of this time - Sculptures in the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. The figures there are more realistic than the kouros of the Archaic. The sculptors tried to depict emotions on the faces of the figures.
Architecture and sculpture of ancient Greece The austere style sculptures depict people in more relaxed poses. This was done through "contraposta", when the body is slightly turned to one side, and its weight lies on one leg. The head of the statue was made slightly turned, in contrast to the kuros looking forward. An example of such a statue is Critias boy". The clothes of female figures in the first half of the 5th century are made simpler in comparison with the complex clothes of the kors of the Archaic era.
The second half of the 5th century is called the era of High Classics for sculpture. In this era, plastic and architecture continued to interact. Sculptures of ancient Greece adorn temples built in the 5th century.
At this time, a majestic Parthenon temple, for the decoration of which dozens of statues were used. Phidias, when creating sculptures of the Parthenon, abandoned the old traditions. The human bodies on the sculptural groups of the temple of Athena are more perfect, the faces of people are more impassive, the clothes are depicted more realistic. Masters of the 5th century paid the main attention to the figures, but not to the emotions of the heroes of the sculptures.
Doryphoros, Ancient Greece In the 440s, the Argive master Polikle t wrote a treatise in which he outlined his aesthetic principles. He described the digital law of ideal proportions of the human body. A kind of illustration to it was the statue " Doryphorus"("Spearman").
Sculptures of ancient Greece In the sculpture of the 4th century, old traditions were developed and new ones were created. The statues have become more naturalistic. The sculptors tried to depict the mood and emotions on the faces of the figures. Some statues could serve as personifications of concepts or emotions. Example, goddess statue Eirena's peace. The sculptor Kefisodot created it for the Athenian state in 374 shortly after the conclusion of another peace with Sparta.
Previously, the masters did not depict the goddesses naked. The first to do this was the 4th-century sculptor Praxiteles, who created the statue " Aphrodite of Knidos". The work of Praxiteles perished, but its later copies and images on coins have been preserved. To explain the nakedness of the goddess, the sculptor said that he depicted her bathing.
In the IV century, three sculptors worked, whose works were recognized as the greatest - Praxiteles, Scopas and Lysippos. With the name of Skopas, a native of the island of Paros, ancient tradition associated the image on the faces of figures of emotional experiences. Lysippus was a native of the Peloponnesian city of Sicyon, but lived for many years in Macedonia. He was friends with Alexander the Great and made his sculptural portraits. Lysippus reduced the head and torso of the figures compared to the legs and arms. Thanks to this, his statues were more elastic and flexible. Lysippus naturalistically depicted the eyes and hair of the statues.
The sculptures of Ancient Greece, whose names are known to the whole world, belong to the Classical and Hellenistic eras. Most of them died, but their copies, created in the era of the Roman Empire, have survived.
Sculptures of ancient Greece: names in the Hellenistic era
In the era of Hellenism, the image of emotions and human states develops - old age, sleep, anxiety, intoxication. The theme of sculpture can even be ugliness. Statues of weary wrestlers, furious giants, decrepit old men appeared. At the same time, the genre of sculptural portrait developed. The new type was “portrait of a philosopher”.
The statues were created by order of the citizens of the Greek city-states and the Hellenistic kings. They could have religious or political functions. Already in the IV century, the Greeks revered with the help of sculptures of their commanders. The sources preserved references to the statues that the inhabitants of the cities erected in honor of the Spartan commander, the winner Athens Lysandra. Later, the Athenians and citizens of other policies erected figures of strategists Konon, Khabria and Timothy in honor of their military victories. In the Hellenistic era, the number of such statues increased.
One of the most famous works of the Hellenistic era - Nike of Samothrace. Its creation dates back to the 2nd century BC. The statue, as researchers suggest, glorified one of the naval victories of the kings of Macedonia. To some extent, in the Hellenistic era, the sculpture of Ancient Greece is a presentation of the power and influence of the rulers.
Ancient Greece sculpture: photo Among the monumental sculptural groups of Hellenism one can recall Pergamon school. In the III and II centuries BC. the kings of this state waged long wars against the tribes of the Galatians. Around 180 B.C. in Pergamum, the altar of Zeus was completed. The victory over the barbarians was presented there allegorically in the form of a sculptural group of fighting Olympian gods and giants.
The ancient sculptures of Greece were created for different purposes. But, since the Renaissance, they have attracted people with their beauty and realism.
Sculptures of ancient Greece: presentation
