List of sculptures of ancient Greece. All the most interesting things in one magazine

There are many historical facts relating to Greek Statues (which we will not go into in depth in this collection). However, you don't need to have a degree in history to admire the incredible craftsmanship of these magnificent sculptures. Truly timeless works of art, these 25 most legendary Greek statues are masterpieces of varying proportions.

Athlete from Fano

Known by the Italian name The Athlete of Fano, Victorious Youth is a Greek bronze sculpture that was found in the Fano Sea on the Adriatic coast of Italy. The Fano Athlete was built between 300 and 100 BC and is currently among the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum in California. Historians believe that the statue was once part of a group of sculptures of victorious athletes at Olympia and Delphi. Italy still wants the sculpture back and disputes its removal from Italy.

Poseidon from Cape Artemision
An ancient Greek sculpture that was found and restored near the sea of ​​Cape Artemision. The bronze Artemision is believed to represent either Zeus or Poseidon. There is still debate about this sculpture because its missing lightning strikes rule out the possibility that it is Zeus, while its missing trident also rules out the possibility that it is Poseidon. Sculpture has always been associated with the ancient sculptors Myron and Onatas.

Zeus statue in Olympia
The statue of Zeus at Olympia is a 13-meter statue, with a giant figure sitting on a throne. This sculpture was created by a Greek sculptor named Phidias and is currently located in the Temple of Zeus in Olympia, Greece. The statue is made of ivory and wood and depicts the Greek god Zeus seated on a cedar throne decorated with gold, ebony and other precious stones.

Athena Parthenon
Athena of the Parthenon is a giant gold and ivory statue of the Greek goddess Athena, discovered at the Parthenon in Athens. Made from silver, ivory and gold, it was created by the famous ancient Greek sculptor Phidias and is considered today as the most famous cult symbol of Athens. The sculpture was destroyed by a fire that took place in 165 BC, but was restored and placed in the Parthenon in the 5th century.

Lady from Auxerre
The 75 cm Lady of Auxerre is a Cretan sculpture currently housed in the Louvre in Paris. She depicts the archaic Greek goddess during the 6th century, Persephone. A curator from the Louvre named Maxime Collignon found the mini-statue in the vault of the Auxerre Museum in 1907. Historians believe that the sculpture was created during the 7th century during the Greek transition period.

Antinous Mondragon
The 0.95 meter tall marble statue depicts the god Antinous among a massive group of cult statues built to worship Antinous as a Greek god. When the sculpture was found in Frascati during the 17th century, it was identified because of its striped eyebrows, serious expression, and downward gaze. This creation was purchased in 1807 for Napoleon and is currently on display in the Louvre.

Apollo of Strangford
An ancient Greek sculpture made of marble, the Strangford Apollo was built between 500 and 490 BC and was created in honor of the Greek god Apollo. It was discovered on the island of Anafi and named after the diplomat Percy Smith, 6th Viscount Strangford and the real owner of the statue. Apollo is currently housed in Room 15 of the British Museum.

Kroisos from Anavysos
Discovered in Attica, Kroisos of Anavysos is a marble kouros that once served as a funerary statue for Kroisos, a young and noble Greek warrior. The statue is famous for its archaic smile. 1.95 meters tall, Kroisos is a free-standing sculpture that was built between 540 and 515 BC and is currently on display at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens. The inscription under the statue reads: “Stop and mourn at the tomb of Kroisos, who was killed by the furious Ares when he was in the front ranks.”

Biton and Kleobis
Created by the Greek sculptor Polymidis, Biton and Kleobis are a pair of archaic Greek statues created by the Argives in 580 BC to worship two brothers related by Solon in a legend called the Histories. The statue is now in the Archaeological Museum of Delphi, Greece. Originally built in Argos, Peloponnese, a pair of statues were found at Delphi with inscriptions on the base identifying them as Kleobis and Biton.

Hermes with baby Dionysus
Created in honor of the Greek god Hermes, Praxiteles' Hermes represents Hermes carrying another popular character in Greek mythology, the infant Dionysus. The statue was made from Parian marble. According to historians, it was built by the ancient Greeks during 330 BC. It is known today as one of the most original masterpieces of the great Greek sculptor Praxiteles and is currently housed in the Archaeological Museum of Olympia, Greece.

Alexander the Great
A statue of Alexander the Great was discovered in the Palace of Pella in Greece. Coated and made of marble, the statue was built in 280 BC to honor Alexander the Great, a popular Greek hero who rose to fame across several parts of the world and led battles against the Persian armies, especially at Granisus, Issuai and Gagamela. The statue of Alexander the Great is now on display among the Greek art collections of the Archaeological Museum of Pella in Greece.

Kora in Peplos
Restored from the Acropolis of Athens, the Kore at Peplos is a stylized image of the Greek goddess Athena. Historians believe that the statue was created to serve as a votive offering during ancient times. Made during the Archaic period of Greek art history, Kora is characterized by the rigid and formal pose of Athena, her majestic curls and archaic smile. The statue originally appeared in a variety of colors, but only traces of its original colors can be observed today.

Ephebe from Antikythera
Made of fine bronze, the Ephebe of Antikythera is a statue of a young man, god or hero, holding a spherical object in his right hand. A work of Peloponnesian bronze sculpture, this statue was recovered from a shipwreck near the island of Antikythera. It is believed to be one of the works of the famous sculptor Efranor. The ephebe is currently on display at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens.

Delphic Charioteer
Better known as Heniokos, the Charioteer of Delphi is one of the most popular statues that survived ancient Greece. This life-size bronze statue depicts a chariot driver that was restored in 1896 at the Sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi. Here it was originally erected during the 4th century to commemorate the victory of a chariot team in ancient sports. Originally part of a massive group of sculptures, the Delphic Charioteer is now displayed in the Archaeological Museum of Delphi.

Harmodius and Aristogeiton
Harmodius and Aristogeiton were created after the establishment of democracy in Greece. Created by the Greek sculptor Antenor, the statues were made of bronze. These were the first statues in Greece to be paid for with public funds. The purpose of the creation was to honor both men, whom the ancient Athenians accepted as outstanding symbols of democracy. The original installation site was Kerameikos in 509 AD, along with other heroes of Greece.

Aphrodite of Knidos
Known as one of the most popular statues created by the ancient Greek sculptor Praxiteles, Aphrodite of Knidos was the first life-size representation of a naked Aphrodite. Praxiteles built the statue after he was commissioned by Cos to create a statue depicting the beautiful goddess Aphrodite. In addition to its status as a cult image, the masterpiece has become a landmark in Greece. Its original copy did not survive the massive fire that once took place in Ancient Greece, but its replica is currently on display in the British Museum.

Winged Victory of Samothrace
Created in 200 BC. The Winged Victory of Samothrace, depicting the Greek goddess Nike, is considered today as the greatest masterpiece of Hellenistic sculpture. It is currently displayed in the Louvre among the most famous original statues in the world. It was created between 200 and 190 BC, not to honor the Greek goddess Nike, but in honor of a naval battle. Winged Victory was established by the Macedonian general Demetrius, after his naval victory in Cyprus.

Statue of Leonidas I at Thermopylae
The statue of Spartan King Leonidas I at Thermopylae was erected in 1955, in memory of the heroic King Leonidas, who distinguished himself during the Battle of the Persians in 480 BC. A sign was placed under the statue that reads: “Come and Take It.” This is what Leonidas said when King Xerxes and his army asked them to lay down their weapons.

Wounded Achilles
The wounded Achilles is a depiction of the hero of the Iliad named Achilles. This ancient Greek masterpiece conveys his agony before death, being wounded by a fatal arrow. Made from alabaster stone, the original statue is currently housed in the Achilleion residence of Queen Elizabeth of Austria in Kofu, Greece.

Dying Gaul
Also known as the Death of Galatian, or the Dying Gladiator, the Dying Gaul is an ancient Hellenistic sculpture that was created between 230 BC. and 220 BC for Attalus I of Pergamon to celebrate his group's victory over the Gauls in Anatolia. It is believed that the statue was created by Epigonus, a sculptor of the Attalid dynasty. The statue depicts a dying Celtic warrior lying on his fallen shield next to his sword.

Laocoon and his sons
The statue currently located in the Vatican Museum in Rome, Laocoon and his Sons, is also known as the Laocoon Group and was originally created by three great Greek sculptors from the island of Rhodes, Agesender, Polydorus and Atenodoros. This life-size statue is made of marble and depicts a Trojan priest named Laocoon, along with his sons Timbraeus and Antiphantes, strangled by sea serpents.

The Colossus of Rhodes
A statue depicting the Greek Titan named Helios, the Colossus of Rhodes was first erected in the city of Rhodes between 292 and 280 BC. Recognized today as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the statue was built to celebrate the victory of Rhodes over the ruler of Cyprus during the 2nd century. Known as one of the tallest statues of Ancient Greece, the original statue was destroyed by an earthquake that struck Rhodes in 226 BC.

Discus thrower
Built by one of the best sculptors of Ancient Greece during the 5th century - Myron, the Discobolus was a statue originally placed at the entrance to the Panathinaikon Stadium in Athens, Greece, where the first event of the Olympic Games was held. The original statue, made of alabaster stone, did not survive the destruction of Greece and was never restored.

Diadumen
Found off the island of Tilos, Diadumen is an ancient Greek sculpture that was created during the 5th century. The original statue, which was restored in Tilos, is currently part of the collections of the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.

Trojan horse
Made of marble and coated with a special bronze plating, the Trojan Horse is an Ancient Greek sculpture that was built between 470 BC and 460 BC to represent the Trojan Horse in Homer's Iliad. The original masterpiece survived the devastation of Ancient Greece and is currently housed in the Archaeological Museum of Olympia, Greece.

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Faced with the sculptures of Ancient Greece, many outstanding minds expressed genuine admiration. One of the most famous researchers of the art of ancient Greece, Johann Winckelmann (1717-1768) speaks about Greek sculpture: “Connoisseurs and imitators of Greek works find in their masterful creations not only the most beautiful nature, but also more than nature, namely its certain ideal beauty, which... is created from images sketched by the mind.” Everyone who writes about Greek art notes in it an amazing combination of naive spontaneity and depth, reality and fiction.

It, especially in sculpture, embodies the ideal of man. What is the peculiarity of the ideal? Why did he charm people so much that the aged Goethe cried in the Louvre in front of the sculpture of Aphrodite? The Greeks always believed that only in a beautiful body can a beautiful soul live. Therefore, harmony of the body, external perfection is an indispensable condition and basis of an ideal person. The Greek ideal is defined by the term kalokagathia (Greek kalos - beautiful + agathos good). Since kalokagathia includes the perfection of both physical constitution and spiritual and moral makeup, then at the same time, along with beauty and strength, the ideal carries justice, chastity, courage and rationality. This is what makes the Greek gods, sculpted by ancient sculptors, uniquely beautiful.

The best monuments of ancient Greek sculpture were created in the 5th century. BC. But earlier works have also reached us. Statues of the 7th - 6th centuries. BC are symmetrical: one half of the body is a mirror image of the other. Shackled posture, outstretched arms pressed to the muscular body. Not the slightest tilt or turn of the head, but the lips are open in a smile. A smile seems to illuminate the sculpture from within with an expression of the joy of life. Later, during the period of classicism, statues acquired a greater variety of forms. There have been attempts to conceptualize harmony algebraically. The first scientific study of what harmony is was undertaken by Pythagoras. The school that he founded examined issues of a philosophical and mathematical nature, applying mathematical calculations to all aspects of reality.

Video: Sculptures of Ancient Greece

Number theory and sculpture of Ancient Greece

Neither musical harmony nor the harmony of the human body or architectural structure were exceptions. The Pythagorean school considered number the basis and beginning of the world. What does number theory have to do with Greek art? It turns out that it is the most direct, since the harmony of the spheres of the Universe and the harmony of the entire world is expressed by the same ratios of numbers, the main ones of which are the ratios 2/1, 3/2 and 4/3 (in music these are the octave, fifth and fourth, respectively). In addition, harmony presupposes the possibility of calculating any correlation of parts of each object, including sculpture, according to the following proportion: a / b = b / c, where a is any smaller part of the object, b is any larger part, c is the whole. On this basis, the great Greek sculptor Polykleitos (5th century BC) created a sculpture of a young spear-bearer (5th century BC), which is called “Doriphoros” (“Spear-bearer”) or “Canon” - after the title of the work sculptor, where he, discussing the theory of art, considers the laws of depicting a perfect person.

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Greece on the map, where the sculptures of Ancient Greece were created

Statue of Polykleitos "Spearman"

It is believed that the artist’s reasoning can be applied to his sculpture. The statues of Polykleitos are full of intense life. Polykleitos liked to depict athletes in a state of rest. Take the same “Spearman”. This powerfully built man is full of self-esteem. He stands motionless in front of the viewer. But this is not the static peace of ancient Egyptian statues. Like a man who skillfully and easily controls his body, the spearman slightly bent one leg and shifted the weight of his body to the other. It seems that a moment will pass and he will take a step forward, turn his head, proud of his beauty and strength. Before us is a man strong, handsome, free from fear, proud, reserved - the embodiment of Greek ideals.

Video: Greek sculptors.

Statue of Myron "Discobolus"

Unlike his contemporary Polykleitos, Myron loved to depict his statues in motion. Here, for example, is the statue “Discobolus” (5th century BC; Thermal Museum, Rome). Its author, the great sculptor Miron, depicted a beautiful young man at the moment when he swung a heavy disc. His body, caught in motion, is curved and tense, like a spring ready to unfold.

Trained muscles bulged under the elastic skin of the arm pulled back. The toes, forming a reliable support, pressed deep into the sand.

Sculpture of Phidias "Athena Parthenos"

The statues of Myron and Polykleitos were cast in bronze, but only marble copies of ancient Greek originals made by the Romans have reached us. The Greeks considered Phidias the greatest sculptor of his time, who decorated the Parthenon with marble sculpture. His sculptures especially reflect that the gods in Greece are nothing more than images of an ideal person. The best preserved marble strip of the relief of the frieze is 160 m long. It depicts a procession heading to the temple of the goddess Athena - the Parthenon. The Parthenon sculpture was badly damaged. And “Athena Parthenos” perished in ancient times. She stood inside the temple and was incredibly beautiful. The goddess's head with a low, smooth forehead and rounded chin, neck and arms were made of ivory, and her hair, clothes, shield and helmet were minted from sheets of gold. The goddess in the form of a beautiful woman is the personification of Athens. Many stories are associated with this sculpture.

Other sculptures of Phidias

The created masterpiece was so great and famous that its author immediately had many envious people. They tried in every possible way to insult the sculptor and looked for various reasons why they could accuse him of something. They say that Phidias was accused of allegedly concealing part of the gold given as material for the decoration of the goddess. To prove his innocence, Phidias removed all the gold objects from the sculpture and weighed them. The weight exactly coincided with the weight of the gold given for the sculpture. Then Phidias was accused of atheism. The reason for this was Athena's shield.

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Athens on the map, where the sculptures of Ancient Greece were created

It depicted the plot of the battle between the Greeks and the Amazons. Among the Greeks, Phidias depicted himself and his beloved Pericles. The image of Phidias on the shield became the cause of the conflict. Despite all the achievements of Phidias, the Greek public was able to turn against him. The life of the great sculptor ended in a cruel execution. The achievements of Phidias in the Parthenon were not exhaustive for his work. The sculptor created many other works, the best of which were the colossal bronze figure of Athena Promachos, erected on the Acropolis around 460 BC, and the equally huge ivory and gold figure of Zeus for the temple at Olympia.

Unfortunately, the original works no longer exist, and we cannot see with our own eyes the magnificent works of art of Ancient Greece. Only their descriptions and copies remain. This was largely due to the fanatical destruction of statues by Christian believers. This is how one can describe the statue of Zeus for the temple at Olympia: A huge fourteen-meter god sat on a golden throne, and it seemed that if he stood up, straightened his broad shoulders, he would feel cramped in the vast hall and the ceiling would be low. The head of Zeus was decorated with a wreath of olive branches - a sign of the peacefulness of the formidable god. His face, shoulders, arms, chest were made of ivory, and his cloak was thrown over his left shoulder. The crown and beard of Zeus were made of sparkling gold. Phidias endowed Zeus with human nobility. His handsome face, framed by a curly beard and curly hair, was not only stern, but also kind, his posture was solemn, stately and calm.

The combination of physical beauty and kindness of soul emphasized his divine ideality. The statue made such an impression that, according to the ancient author, people, depressed by grief, sought consolation in contemplating the creation of Phidias. Rumor declared the statue of Zeus one of the “seven wonders of the world.” The works of all three sculptors were similar in that they all depicted the harmony of a beautiful body and the kind soul contained in it. This was the main trend at the time. Of course, norms and guidelines in Greek art changed throughout history. Archaic art was more straightforward; it lacked the deep meaning-filled understatement that delights humanity in the period of the Greek classics. In the Hellenistic era, when man lost his sense of the stability of the world, art lost its old ideals. It began to reflect the feelings of uncertainty about the future that reigned in the social trends of that time.

Materials of sculpture of Ancient Greece

One thing united all periods of the development of Greek society and art: this, as M. Alpatov writes, was a special passion for plastic arts, for spatial arts. Such a predilection is understandable: huge reserves of variously colored, noble and ideal material - marble - provided ample opportunities for its implementation. Although most Greek sculptures were made in bronze, since marble was fragile, it was the texture of marble with its color and decorativeness that made it possible to reproduce the beauty of the human body with the greatest expressiveness. Therefore, most often “the human body, its structure and pliability, its harmony and flexibility attracted the attention of the Greeks; they willingly depicted the human body both naked and in light transparent clothing.”

Video: Sculptures of Ancient Greece

Cities of the ancient world usually appeared near a high rock, and a citadel was built on it, so that there would be a place to hide if the enemy penetrated the city. Such a citadel was called an acropolis. In the same way, on a rock that towered almost 150 meters above Athens and had long served as a natural defensive structure, an upper city gradually formed in the form of a fortress (acropolis) with various defensive, public and religious structures.
The Athenian Acropolis began to be built up in the 2nd millennium BC. During the Greco-Persian Wars (480-479 BC) it was completely destroyed; later, under the leadership of the sculptor and architect Phidias, its restoration and reconstruction began.
The Acropolis is one of those places “about which everyone insists that they are magnificent and unique. But don't ask why. No one can answer you...” It can be measured, even all its stones can be counted. It's not that big of a deal to get through it from end to end - it only takes a few minutes. The walls of the Acropolis are steep and precipitous. Four great creations still stand on this rocky hill. A wide zigzag road runs from the bottom of the hill to the only entrance. This is the Propylaea - a monumental gate with Doric style columns and a wide staircase. They were built by the architect Mnesicles in 437-432 BC. But before entering these majestic marble gates, everyone involuntarily turned to the right. There, on the high pedestal of the bastion that once guarded the entrance to the acropolis, stands the temple of the goddess of victory Nike Apteros, decorated with Ionic columns. This is the work of the architect Callicrates (second half of the 5th century BC). The temple - light, airy, unusually beautiful - stood out with its whiteness against the blue background of the sky. This fragile building, looking like an elegant marble toy, seems to smile itself and makes passers-by smile affectionately.
The restless, ardent and active gods of Greece resembled the Greeks themselves. True, they were taller, could fly through the air, take on any form, and turn into animals and plants. But in all other respects they behaved like ordinary people: they got married, deceived each other, quarreled, made peace, punished children...

Temple of Demeter, builders unknown, 6th century. BC. Olympia

Temple of Nike Apteros, architect Kallikrates, 449-421 BC. Athens

Propylaea, architect Mnesical, 437-432 BC. Athens

The goddess of victory Nike was depicted as a beautiful woman with large wings: victory is fickle and flies from one opponent to another. The Athenians depicted her as wingless so that she would not leave the city that had recently won a great victory over the Persians. Deprived of wings, the goddess could no longer fly and had to remain in Athens forever.
The Nika Temple stands on a rock ledge. It is slightly turned towards the Propylaea and plays the role of a beacon for processions going around the rock.
Immediately beyond the Propylaea, Athena the Warrior stood proudly, whose spear greeted the traveler from afar and served as a beacon for sailors. The inscription on the stone pedestal read: “The Athenians dedicated from the victory over the Persians.” This meant that the statue was cast from bronze weapons taken from the Persians as a result of their victories.
The Erechtheion temple ensemble was also located on the Acropolis, which (according to its creators) was supposed to connect together several sanctuaries located at different levels - the rock here is very uneven. The northern portico of the Erechtheion led to the sanctuary of Athena, where a wooden statue of the goddess was kept, supposedly falling from the sky. The door from the sanctuary opened into a small courtyard where the only sacred olive tree on the entire Acropolis grew, which rose when Athena touched the rock with her sword in this place. Through the eastern portico one could get into the sanctuary of Poseidon, where he, having struck the rock with his trident, left three furrows with gurgling water. Here was also the sanctuary of Erechtheus, revered on a par with Poseidon.
The central part of the temple is a rectangular room (24.1x13.1 meters). The temple also contained the tomb and sanctuary of the first legendary king of Attica, Cecrops. On the south side of the Erechtheion is the famous portico of the caryatids: at the edge of the wall, six girls carved from marble support the ceiling. Some scholars suggest that the portico served as a tribune for respectable citizens or that priests gathered here for religious ceremonies. But the exact purpose of the portico is still unclear, because “portico” means vestibule, and in this case the portico did not have doors and from here it is impossible to get inside the temple. The figures of the portico of the caryatids are essentially supports that replace a pillar or column; they also perfectly convey the lightness and flexibility of the girlish figures. The Turks, who at one time captured Athens and, due to their Muslim beliefs, did not allow images of humans, did not, however, destroy these statues. They limited themselves to only cutting off the girls' faces.

Erechtheion, builders unknown, 421-407 BC. Athens

Parthenon, architects Ictinus, Callicrates, 447-432 BC. Athens

In 1803, Lord Elgin, the English ambassador to Constantinople and a collector, using the permission of the Turkish Sultan, broke out one of the caryatids in the temple and took it to England, where he offered it to the British Museum. Interpreting the firman of the Turkish Sultan too broadly, he also took with him many of the sculptures of Phidias and sold them for 35,000 pounds sterling. Firman stated that “no one should prevent him from taking away a few stones with inscriptions or figures from the Acropolis.” Elgin filled 201 boxes with such “stones”. As he himself stated, he took only those sculptures that had already fallen or were in danger of falling, ostensibly in order to save them from final destruction. But Byron also called him a thief. Later (during the restoration of the portico of the caryatids in 1845-1847), the British Museum sent to Athens a plaster cast of the statue taken away by Lord Elgin. The cast was subsequently replaced by a more durable copy made of artificial stone, made in England.
At the end of the last century, the Greek government demanded that England return its treasures, but received the answer that the London climate was more favorable for them.
At the beginning of our millennium, when Greece was transferred to Byzantium during the division of the Roman Empire, the Erechtheion was turned into a Christian temple. Later, the crusaders, who captured Athens, made the temple a ducal palace, and during the Turkish conquest of Athens in 1458, a harem of the commandant of the fortress was installed in the Erechtheion. During the liberation war of 1821-1827, the Greeks and Turks took turns besieging the Acropolis, bombarding its structures, including the Erechtheion.
In 1830 (after the proclamation of Greek independence), only foundations could be found at the site of the Erechtheion, as well as architectural decorations lying on the ground. Funds for the restoration of this temple ensemble (as well as for the restoration of many other structures of the Acropolis) were given by Heinrich Schliemann. His closest associate V. Derpfeld carefully measured and compared the ancient fragments; by the end of the 70s of the last century he was already planning to restore the Erechtheion. But this reconstruction was subjected to severe criticism, and the temple was dismantled. The building was rebuilt under the leadership of the famous Greek scientist P. Kavadias in 1906 and finally restored in 1922.

"Venus de Milo" Agessander(?), 120 BC. Louvre, Paris

"Laocoon" Agessander, Polydorus, Athenodorus, c.40 BC. Greece, Olympia

"Hercules of Farnese" ca. 200 BC e., Nat. museum, Naples

"Wounded Amazon" Polykleitos, 440 BC. National museum rome

The Parthenon, the temple of the goddess Athena, is the largest structure on the Acropolis and the most beautiful creation of Greek architecture. It stands not in the center of the square, but somewhat to the side, so that you can immediately take in the front and side facades and understand the beauty of the temple as a whole. The ancient Greeks believed that the temple with the main cult statue in the center represented the house of the deity. The Parthenon is the temple of Athena the Virgin (Parthenos), and therefore in its center there was a chrysoelephantine (made of ivory and gold plates on a wooden base) statue of the goddess.
The Parthenon was erected in 447-432 BC. architects Ictinus and Callicrates from Pentelic marble. It was located on a four-level terrace, the size of its base was 69.5 x 30.9 meters. The Parthenon is surrounded on four sides by slender colonnades; gaps of blue sky are visible between their white marble trunks. Entirely permeated with light, it seems airy and light. There are no bright patterns on the white columns, as is found in Egyptian temples. Only longitudinal grooves (flutes) cover them from top to bottom, making the temple seem taller and even slimmer. The columns owe their slenderness and lightness to the fact that they taper slightly towards the top. In the middle part of the trunk, not at all noticeable to the eye, they thicken and this makes them seem elastic, more able to withstand the weight of stone blocks. Iktin and Callicrates, having thought through every smallest detail, created a building that amazes with its amazing proportionality, extreme simplicity and purity of all lines. Placed on the upper platform of the Acropolis, at an altitude of about 150 meters above sea level, the Parthenon was visible not only from anywhere in the city, but also from numerous ships sailing to Athens. The temple was a Doric perimeter surrounded by a colonnade of 46 columns.

"Aphrodite and Pan" 100 BC, Delphi, Greece

"Diana the Huntress" Leochard, c.340 BC, Louvre, Paris, France

"Resting Hermes" Lysippos, IV century. BC BC, National Museum, Naples

"Hercules Fighting the Lion" Lysippos, c. 330 BC Hermitage, St. Petersburg

"Atlas Farnese" ca. 200 BC, Nat. museum, Naples

The most famous masters participated in the sculptural design of the Parthenon. The artistic director of the construction and decoration of the Parthenon was Phidias, one of the greatest sculptors of all time. He is responsible for the overall composition and development of the entire sculptural decoration, part of which he performed himself. The organizational side of the construction was handled by Pericles, the largest statesman of Athens.
The entire sculptural design of the Parthenon was intended to glorify the goddess Athena and her city - Athens. The theme of the eastern pediment is the birth of Zeus's beloved daughter. On the western pediment the master depicted a scene of a dispute between Athena and Poseidon for dominance over Attica. According to the myth, Athena won the dispute and gave the inhabitants of this country an olive tree.
The gods of Greece gathered on the pediments of the Parthenon: the thunderer Zeus, the mighty ruler of the seas Poseidon, the wise warrior Athena, the winged Nike. The sculptural decoration of the Parthenon was completed by a frieze, which depicted a solemn procession during the festival of the Great Panathenaia. This frieze is considered one of the pinnacles of classical art. Despite all its compositional unity, it amazed with its diversity. Of the more than 500 figures of youths, elders, girls, on foot and on horseback, not one repeated the other; the movements of people and animals were conveyed with amazing dynamism.
The figures of the sculptural Greek relief are not flat, they have the volume and shape of the human body. They differ from statues only in that they are not processed on all sides, but seem to merge with the background formed by the flat surface of the stone. Light colors enlivened the Parthenon marble. The red background emphasized the whiteness of the figures, the narrow vertical projections that separated one slab of the frieze from the other stood out clearly in blue, and the gilding shone brightly. Behind the columns, on a marble ribbon encircling all four facades of the building, a festive procession was depicted. There are almost no gods here, and people, forever imprinted in stone, moved along the two long sides of the building and united on the eastern facade, where a solemn ceremony took place to present the priest with a robe woven by Athenian girls for the goddess. Each figure is characterized by its unique beauty, and all together they accurately reflect the true life and customs of the ancient city.

Indeed, once every five years, on one of the hot days of mid-summer, a nationwide celebration took place in Athens in honor of the birth of the goddess Athena. It was called the Great Panathenaia. Not only citizens of the Athenian state, but also many guests took part in it. The celebration consisted of a solemn procession (pump), the bringing of a hecatomb (100 head of cattle) and a common meal, sports, equestrian and musical competitions. The winner received a special, so-called Panathenaic amphora filled with oil, and a wreath made from the leaves of the sacred olive tree growing on the Acropolis.

The most solemn moment of the holiday was the national procession to the Acropolis. Riders on horses were moving, statesmen, warriors in armor and young athletes were walking. Priests and nobles walked in long white robes, heralds loudly praised the goddess, musicians filled the still cool morning air with joyful sounds. Along the zigzag Panathenaic road, trampled by thousands of people, sacrificial animals climbed the high hill of the Acropolis. The boys and girls carried with them a model of the sacred Panathenaic ship with a peplos (veil) attached to its mast. A light breeze fluttered the bright fabric of the yellow-violet robe, which was carried as a gift to the goddess Athena by the noble girls of the city. For a whole year they wove and embroidered it. Other girls raised sacred vessels for sacrifices high above their heads. Gradually the procession approached the Parthenon. The entrance to the temple was made not from the Propylaea, but from the other, as if so that everyone would first walk around, examine and appreciate the beauty of all parts of the beautiful building. Unlike Christian churches, ancient Greek ones were not intended for worship inside them; the people remained outside the temple during religious activities. In the depths of the temple, surrounded on three sides by two-tiered colonnades, the famous statue of the Virgin Athena, created by the famous Phidias, stood proudly. Her clothes, helmet and shield were made of pure sparkling gold, and her face and hands shone with the whiteness of ivory.

Many book volumes have been written about the Parthenon, among them there are monographs about each of its sculptures and about each step of gradual decline from the time when, after the decree of Theodosius I, it became a Christian temple. In the 15th century, the Turks turned it into a mosque, and in the 17th century, into a gunpowder warehouse. It was turned into final ruins by the Turkish-Venetian war of 1687, when an artillery shell hit it and in one moment did what all-consuming time could not do in 2000 years.

We have already talked about ORIGINS.

The planned dotted line was interrupted for objective reasons, but I still want to continue. Let me remind you that we stopped in deep history - in the art of Ancient Greece. What do we remember from the school curriculum? As a rule, three names remain firmly in our memory - Myron, Phidias, Polykleitos. Then we remember that there were also Lysippos, Scopas, Praxiteles and Leochares... So let’s see what is what. So, the time of action is 4-5 centuries BC, the place of action is Ancient Greece.
Pythagoras of Rhegium (5th century BC) is an ancient Greek sculptor of the early classical period, whose works are known only from mentions of ancient authors. Several Roman copies of his works have survived, including my favorite “Boy Taking out a Thorn.” This work gave rise to the so-called garden sculpture.

Pythagoras of Rhegium Boy removing a splinter ca. mid-5th century BC. original copy of Capitoline museum

MIRON
Miron (Μύρων) - sculptor of the mid-5th century. BC e. Sculptor of the era that immediately preceded the highest flowering of Greek art (end of the 6th - beginning of the 5th century). The ancients characterize him as the greatest realist and expert in anatomy, who, however, did not know how to give life and expression to faces. He depicted gods, heroes and animals, and with special love he reproduced difficult, fleeting poses. His most famous work is “The Disco Thrower,” an athlete intending to throw a discus, a statue that has survived to this day in several copies, of which the best is made of marble and is located in the Massimi Palace in Rome.

Discus thrower.
PHIDIAS.
The ancient Greek sculptor Phidias is considered one of the founders of the classical style, who decorated with his sculptures both the Temple of Zeus in Olympia and the Temple of Athena (Parthenon) in the Athenian Acropolis. Fragments of the Parthenon sculptural frieze are now in the British Museum (London).




Fragments of the frieze and pediment of the Parthenon. British Museum, London.

The main sculptural works of Phidias (Athena and Zeus) have long been lost, the temples were destroyed and looted.


Parthenon.

There are many attempts to reconstruct the temples of Athena and Zeus. You can read about it here:
Information about Phidias himself and his legacy is relatively scarce. Among the existing statues there is not a single one that undoubtedly belonged to Phidias. All knowledge about his work is based on descriptions of ancient authors, on the study of later copies, as well as surviving works that are more or less reliably attributed to Phidias.

More about Fidia http://biography-peoples.ru/index.php/f/item/750-fidij
http://art.1september.ru/article.php?ID=200901207
http://www.liveinternet.ru/users/3155073/post207627184/

Well, about the rest of the representatives of Ancient Greek culture.

POLYCLETUS
Greek sculptor of the second half of the 5th century. BC e. Creator of many statues, including winners of sports games, for the religious and sports centers of Argos, Olympia, Thebes and Megalopolis. The author of the canon of depiction of the human body in sculpture, known as the “Canon of Polykleitos”, according to which the head is 1/8 of the length of the body, the face and palms are 1/10, and the foot is 1/6. The canon was observed in Greek sculpture to the end, the so-called. classical era, that is, until the end of the 4th century. BC e., when Lysippos laid down new principles. His most famous work is "Doriphoros" (Spearman). This is from the encyclopedia.

Polykleitos. Doryphoros. Pushkin Museum. Plaster Copy.

PRAXITEL

APHRODITE OF CNIDO (Roman copy from the original 4th century BC) Rome, National Museums (head, arms, legs, drapery restored)
One of the most famous works in ancient sculpture is Aphrodite of Knidos, the first ancient Greek sculpture (height - 2 m), depicting a naked woman before bathing.

Aphrodite of Cnidus, (Aphrodite of Braschi) Roman copy, 1st century. BC. Glyptothek, Munich

Aphrodite of Knidos. Medium grain marble. Torso - Roman copy of the 2nd century. n. aegiss copy of the Pushkin Museum
According to Pliny, the statue of Aphrodite for the local sanctuary was ordered by the inhabitants of the island of Kos. Praxiteles performed two versions: a naked goddess and a clothed goddess. Praxiteles charged the same price for both statues. The customers did not take risks and chose the traditional option, with a draped figure. Its copies and descriptions have not survived, and it has sunk into oblivion. And the Aphrodite of Knidos, which remained in the sculptor’s workshop, was bought by residents of the city of Knidos, which was favorable for the development of the city: pilgrims began to flock to Knidos, attracted by the famous sculpture. Aphrodite stood in an open-air temple, visible from all sides.
Aphrodite of Cnidus enjoyed such fame and was copied so often that they even told an anecdote about her, which formed the basis of the epigram: “Seeing Cypris on Cnidus, Cypris bashfully said: “Woe is me, where did Praxiteles see me naked?”
Praxiteles created the goddess of love and beauty as the personification of earthly femininity, inspired by the image of his beloved, the beautiful Phryne. Indeed, Aphrodite’s face, although created according to the canon, with the dreamy look of languid shadowed eyes, carries a touch of individuality that points to a specific original. By creating an almost portrait image, Praxiteles looked into the future.
A romantic legend has been preserved about the relationship between Praxiteles and Phryne. They say that Phryne asked Praxiteles to give her his best work as a sign of love. He agreed, but refused to say which of the statues he considered the best. Then Phryne ordered the servant to inform Praxiteles about the fire in the workshop. The frightened master exclaimed: “If the flame destroyed both Eros and Satyr, then everything died!” So Phryne learned what kind of work she could ask from Praxiteles.

Praxiteles (presumably). Hermes with the infant Dionysus, 4th century. BC. Museum in Olympia
The sculpture “Hermes with the Child Dionysus” is typical of the late classical period. She does not personify physical strength, as was previously customary, but beauty and harmony, restrained and lyrical human communication. The depiction of feelings and the inner life of characters is a new phenomenon in ancient art, not typical of high classics. The masculinity of Hermes is emphasized by the infantile appearance of Dionysus. The curved lines of the figure of Hermes are graceful. His strong and developed body lacks the athleticism characteristic of Polykleitos's works. The facial expression, although devoid of individual features, is soft and thoughtful. The hair was dyed and held in place with a silver bandage.
Praxiteles achieved a feeling of body warmth by finely modeling the surface of marble and with great skill conveyed in stone the fabric of Hermes's cloak and the clothes of Dionysus.

SCOPAS

Museum in Olympia, Skopas Maenad Reduced marble Roman copy from the original of the 1st third of the 4th century
Skopas - ancient Greek sculptor and architect of the 4th century. BC e., representative of the Late Classic. Born on the island of Paros, he worked in Teges (now Piali), Halicarnassus (now Bodrum) and other cities in Greece and Asia Minor. As an architect, he took part in the construction of the temple of Athena Aley in Tegea (350-340 BC) and the mausoleum in Halicarnassus (mid-4th century BC). Among the original works of S. that have come down to us, the most important is the frieze of the mausoleum in Halicarnassus with the image of the Amazonomachy (mid-4th century BC; together with Briaxis, Leocharo and Timothy; fragments are in the British Museum, London; see illustration). Numerous works by S. are known from Roman copies (“Pothos”, “Young Hercules”, “Meleager”, “Maenad”, see illustration). Having abandoned the characteristic art of the 5th century. harmonious tranquility of the image, S. turned to the transmission of strong emotional experiences and the struggle of passions. To realize them, S. used dynamic composition and new techniques for interpreting details, especially facial features: deep-set eyes, folds on the forehead and an open mouth. Saturated with dramatic pathos, S.'s creativity had a great influence on the sculptors of Hellenistic culture (See Hellenistic culture), in particular on the works of masters of the 3rd and 2nd centuries who worked in the city of Pergamon.

LYSIPPUS
Lysippos was born around 390 in Sikyon on the Peloponne and his work already represents the later, Hellenic part of the art of Ancient Greece.

Lysippos. Hercules with a lion. Second half of the 4th century. BC e. Marble Roman copy from a bronze original. St. Petersburg, Hermitage.

LEOCHAR
Leochares - ancient Greek sculptor of the 4th century. BC e., who in the 350s worked with Skopas on the sculptural decoration of the Mausoleum in Halicarnassus.

Leochar Artemis of Versailles (Roman copy of the 1st-2nd century from the original about 330 century BC) Paris, Louvre

Leohar. Apollo Belvedere This is me with him in the Vatican. Pardon the liberties, but it’s easier not to load the plaster copy.

Well, then there was Hellenism. We know him well from Venus (in “Greek” Aphrodite) of Milo and Nike of Samothrace, which are kept in the Louvre.

Venus de Milo. Around 120 BC Louvre.

Nike of Samothrace. OK. 190 BC e. Louvre

Ancient Greece was one of the greatest states in the world. During its existence and on its territory, the foundations of European art were laid. The surviving cultural monuments of that period testify to the highest achievements of the Greeks in the field of architecture, philosophical thought, poetry and, of course, sculpture. Few originals have survived: time does not spare even the most unique creations. We know largely about the skill for which ancient sculptors were famous thanks to written sources and later Roman copies. However, this information is enough to understand the significance of the contribution of the inhabitants of the Peloponnese to world culture.

Periods

The sculptors of Ancient Greece were not always great creators. The era of the heyday of their skill was preceded by the archaic period (VII-VI centuries BC). The sculptures that have come down to us from that time are distinguished by their symmetry and static nature. They do not have that vitality and hidden internal movement that makes the statues look like frozen people. All the beauty of these early works is expressed through the face. It is no longer as static as the body: a smile radiates a feeling of joy and serenity, giving a special sound to the entire sculpture.

After the completion of the archaic period, the most fruitful time follows, in which the ancient sculptors of Ancient Greece created their most famous works. It is divided into several periods:

• early classic - beginning of the 5th century. BC e.;
• high classic - 5th century BC e.;
• late classic - 4th century. BC e.;
• Hellenism - end of the 4th century. BC e. - I century n. e.

Transition time

Early Classics is the period when the sculptors of Ancient Greece began to move away from static body position and look for new ways to express their ideas. Proportions are filled with natural beauty, poses become more dynamic, and faces become expressive.

The sculptor of Ancient Greece Myron created precisely during this period. In written sources, he is characterized as a master of conveying the anatomically correct structure of the body, capable of capturing reality with high accuracy. Myron's contemporaries also pointed out his shortcomings: in their opinion, the sculptor did not know how to impart beauty and liveliness to the faces of his creations.

The master's statues embody heroes, gods and animals. However, the sculptor of Ancient Greece Myron gave greatest preference to the depiction of athletes during their achievements in competitions. The famous “Discobolus” is his creation. The sculpture has not survived to this day in the original, but there are several copies of it. “Disco thrower” depicts an athlete preparing to launch his projectile. The athlete's body is superbly executed: tense muscles indicate the heaviness of the disc, the twisted body resembles a spring ready to unfold. It seems like just a second and the athlete will throw the projectile.

The statues “Athena” and “Marsyas” are also considered to be superbly executed by Myron, which have also come down to us only in the form of later copies.

Heyday

Outstanding sculptors of Ancient Greece worked throughout the entire period of high classics. At this time, the masters of creating reliefs and statues comprehend both the methods of conveying movement and the basics of harmony and proportions. High classics is the period of formation of those foundations of Greek sculpture, which later became the standard for many generations of masters, including the creators of the Renaissance.

At this time, the sculptor of Ancient Greece Polykleitos and the brilliant Phidias worked. Both of them made people admire themselves during their lifetime and were not forgotten for centuries.

Peace and Harmony

Polykleitos worked in the second half of the 5th century. BC e. He is known as a master of creating sculptures depicting athletes at rest. Unlike Miron’s “Disco Thrower,” his athletes are not tense, but relaxed, but at the same time the viewer has no doubt about their power and capabilities.

Polykleitos was the first to use a special body position: his heroes often rested on a pedestal with only one leg. This pose created a feeling of natural relaxation characteristic of a resting person.

Canon

The most famous sculpture of Polykleitos is considered to be “Doriphoros”, or “Spearman”. The work is also called the master's canon, since it embodies some of the principles of Pythagoreanism and is an example of a special way of posing a figure, contrapposto. The composition is based on the principle of cross-uneven movement of the body: the left side (the hand holding the spear and the leg set back) is relaxed, but at the same time in motion, in contrast to the tense and static right (the supporting leg and the arm straightened along the body).

Polykleitos later used a similar technique in many of his works. Its basic principles are set out in a treatise on aesthetics that has not reached us, written by the sculptor and called “Canon”. Polykleitos devoted a fairly large place in it to the principle, which he also successfully applied in his works, when this principle did not contradict the natural parameters of the body.

Recognized genius

All the ancient sculptors of Ancient Greece during the high classical period left behind admirable creations. However, the most outstanding among them was Phidias, rightfully considered the founder of European art. Unfortunately, the majority of the master’s works have survived to this day only as copies or descriptions on the pages of treatises by ancient authors.

Phidias worked on decorating the Athenian Parthenon. Today, an idea of ​​the sculptor’s skill can be gathered from the preserved marble relief, 1.6 m long. It depicts numerous pilgrims heading to the rest of the decorations of the Parthenon were lost. The same fate befell the statue of Athena, installed here and created by Phidias. The goddess, made of ivory and gold, symbolized the city itself, its power and greatness.

Wonder of the world

Other outstanding sculptors of Ancient Greece may have been little inferior to Phidias, but none of them could boast of creating a wonder of the world. Olympic was made by a master for the city where the famous Games took place. The height of the Thunderer, seated on a golden throne, was amazing (14 meters). Despite such power, the god did not look formidable: Phidias created a calm, majestic and solemn Zeus, somewhat strict, but at the same time kind. Before its death, the statue attracted many pilgrims seeking solace for nine centuries.

Late classic

With the end of the 5th century. BC e. The sculptors of Ancient Greece did not dry out. The names Scopas, Praxiteles and Lysippos are known to everyone who is interested in ancient art. They worked in the next period, called the late classics. The works of these masters develop and complement the achievements of the previous era. Each in their own way, they transform the sculpture, enriching it with new subjects, ways of working with material and options for conveying emotions.

Boiling passions

Skopas can be called an innovator for several reasons. The great sculptors of Ancient Greece who preceded him preferred to use bronze as a material. Skopas created his creations mainly from marble. Instead of the traditional calm and harmony that filled his works in Ancient Greece, the master chose expression. His creations are full of passions and emotions, they are more like real people than imperturbable gods.

The frieze of the mausoleum at Halicarnassus is considered the most famous work of Skopas. It depicts Amazonomachy - the struggle of the heroes of Greek myths with the warlike Amazons. The main features of the style inherent in the master are clearly visible in the surviving fragments of this creation.

Smoothness

Another sculptor of this period, Praxiteles, is considered the best Greek master in terms of conveying the grace of the body and inner spirituality. One of his outstanding works - Aphrodite of Knidos - was recognized by the master's contemporaries as the best creation ever created. goddess became the first monumental depiction of the naked female body. The original has not reached us.

The features of the style characteristic of Praxiteles are fully visible in the statue of Hermes. With the special posing of the naked body, the smoothness of the lines and the softness of the halftones of the marble, the master was able to create a somewhat dreamy mood that literally envelops the sculpture.

Attention to detail

At the end of the late classical era, another famous Greek sculptor, Lysippos, worked. His creations were distinguished by special naturalism, careful elaboration of details, and some elongation of proportions. Lysippos strove to create statues full of grace and elegance. He honed his skills by studying the canon of Polykleitos. Contemporaries noted that the works of Lysippos, unlike Doryphoros, gave the impression of being more compact and balanced. According to legend, the master was the favorite creator of Alexander the Great.

Eastern influence

A new stage in the development of sculpture begins at the end of the 4th century. BC e. The border between the two periods is considered to be the time of the conquests of Alexander the Great. With them, the era of Hellenism actually begins, which was a combination of the art of Ancient Greece and eastern countries.

The sculptures of this period are based on the achievements of masters of previous centuries. Hellenistic art gave the world such works as the Venus de Milo. At the same time, the famous reliefs of the Pergamon Altar appeared. In some works of late Hellenism, there is a noticeable appeal to everyday subjects and details. The culture of Ancient Greece at this time had a strong influence on the development of the art of the Roman Empire.

Finally

The importance of antiquity as a source of spiritual and aesthetic ideals cannot be overestimated. Ancient sculptors in Ancient Greece laid not only the foundations of their own craft, but also the standards for understanding the beauty of the human body. They were able to solve the problem of depicting movement by changing the pose and shifting the center of gravity. The ancient sculptors of Ancient Greece learned to convey emotions and experiences with the help of processed stone, to create not just statues, but practically living figures, ready to move at any moment, sigh, smile. All these achievements will form the basis for the flourishing of culture during the Renaissance.