What were sculptures made of in ancient Greece? Famous sculptors of ancient Greece

The ancient sculptures of Greece, together with the temples, the poems of Homer, the tragedies of Athenian playwrights and comedians, made the culture of the Hellenes great. But the history of the plastic art of Greece was not static, but went through several stages of development.

Archaic Sculpture of Ancient Greece

During the Dark Ages, the Greeks made cult images of gods from wood. They were called xoans. They are known from the works of ancient writers; samples of xoans have not survived.

In addition to them, in the 12th-8th 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. Some sculptures were made of bronze.

The earliest Archaic sculptures of Ancient Greece were found on Crete. Their material is limestone, and the influence of the East is felt in the figures. But the bronze statue belongs to this region " Kriofor", depicting a young man with a ram on his shoulders.

Archaic sculpture of ancient Greece

There are two main types of statues from the Archaic era - kouros and koros. Kouros (translated from Greek as “youth”) was a standing, naked young man. One leg of the statue extended forward. The corners of the kouros' lips were often slightly raised. This created the so-called “archaic smile.”

Kora (translated from Greek as “maiden”, “girl”) is a female sculpture. Ancient Greece of the 8th-6th centuries left images of kors in long tunics. The craftsmen of Argos, Sikyon, and the Cyclades Islands preferred to make kouros. Sculptors of Ionia and Athens - cor. Kuros were not portraits of specific people, but represented a generalized image.

The architecture and sculpture of Ancient Greece began to interact in the Archaic era. At the beginning of the 6th century, there was a temple of Hekatompedon in Athens. The pediment of the cult building was decorated with images of the duel between Hercules and Triton.

Found on the Acropolis of Athens statue of Moschophorus(man carrying a calf) made of marble. It was completed around 570. The dedicatory inscription states that she is a gift to the gods from the Athenian Rhonba. Another Athenian statue - kouros on the grave 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 front ranks.

Classical era

At the beginning of the 5th century, the realism of figures increased in Greek sculpture. Masters carefully reproduce the proportions of the human body and its anatomy. The sculptures depict a person in motion. The successors of the previous kouros - athletes statues.

Sculptures of the first half of the 5th century are sometimes classified as “severe” style. The most striking example of the work of this time is sculptures in the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. The figures there are more realistic than the Archaic kouros. The sculptors tried to depict emotions on the faces of the figures.

Severe style sculptures depict people in more relaxed poses. This was done through “contrapposto,” when the body is slightly turned to one side, and its weight rests on one leg. The head of the statue was made slightly turned, in contrast to the kouros looking forward. An example of such a statue is “ Boy Kritias" The clothing of female figures in the first half of the 5th century is made simpler in comparison with the complex clothing of the archaic era.

The second half of the 5th century is called the High Classical era for sculpture. During this era, plastic arts and architecture continued to interact. Sculptures of Ancient Greece decorate temples created in the 5th century.

At this time, a majestic Parthenon temple, for the decoration of which dozens of statues were used. When creating the Parthenon sculptures, Phidias abandoned previous traditions. Human bodies in the sculptural groups of the Temple of Athena are more perfect, people’s faces are more impassive, and clothes are depicted more realistically. The masters of the 5th century paid main attention to the figures, but not to the emotions of the heroes of the sculptures.

In the 440s, an 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. The statue “ Doryphoros"("Spearman").

In the sculpture of the 4th century there was a development of previous traditions and the creation of new ones. The statues became more naturalistic. The sculptors tried to depict mood and emotions on the faces of the figures. Some statues could serve as personifications of concepts or emotions. Example, goddess statue Eirene's world. The sculptor Kephisodotus created it for the Athenian state in 374, shortly after the conclusion of another peace with Sparta.

Previously, masters did not depict goddesses naked. The first to do this was the 4th century sculptor Praxiteles, who created the statue “ Aphrodite of Knidos" Praxiteles' work was lost, but its later copies and images on coins survived. To explain the nakedness of the goddess, the sculptor said that he depicted her bathing.

In the 4th century there were three sculptors whose works were recognized as the greatest - Praxiteles, Scopas and Lysippos. The ancient tradition associated the name of Skopas, a native of the island of Paros, with the depiction of figures of spiritual experiences on the faces. Lysippos was a native of the Peloponnesian city of Sikyon, but lived for many years in Macedonia. He was friends with Alexander the Great and made his sculptural portraits. Lysippos reduced the figures' head and torso in comparison to the legs and arms. Thanks to this, his statues were more elastic and flexible. Lysippos depicted the eyes and hair of the statues in a naturalistic manner.

The sculptures of Ancient Greece, whose names are known throughout the world, belong to the Classical and Hellenistic eras. Most of them perished, but their copies, created during the era of the Roman Empire, survived.

Sculptures of ancient Greece: names in the Hellenistic era

In the Hellenistic era, the depiction of human emotions and states developed - old age, sleep, anxiety, intoxication. The theme of the sculpture can even be ugliness. Statues of tired fighters, gripped by the rage of giants, and decrepit old men appeared. At the same time, the genre of sculptural portraits developed. The new type was “portrait of a philosopher.”

The statues were created by order of citizens of Greek city-states and Hellenistic kings. They could have religious or political functions. Already in the 4th century, the Greeks revered their commanders with sculptures. Sources contain references to statues that city residents erected in honor of the Spartan commander, the winner Athens Lysandra. Later, the Athenians and citizens of other policies erected figures of strategists Conon, Chabrias and Timothy in honor of their military victories. During 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 rulers.

Among the monumental sculptural groups of Hellenism one can recall Pergamum school. In the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. the kings of this state waged long wars against the Galatian tribes. Around 180 BC The altar of Zeus was completed in Pergamon. The victory over the barbarians was represented there allegorically in the form of a sculptural group of fighting Olympian gods and giants.

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

When confronted with Greek art, many outstanding minds expressed genuine admiration. One of the most famous art researchers, 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 a certain ideal beauty that 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 sculptures 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. 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. 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. 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.

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. Under the elastic skin of the arm pulled back, trained muscles bulged. The toes, forming a reliable support, pressed deeply into the sand. 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 reflected the ancient Greeks' perception of the gods as an image of an ideal person. The best preserved marble ribbon of the relief is a frieze 160 m long. It depicts a procession heading to the temple of the goddess Athena - the Parthenon. The Parthenon sculpture was badly damaged. And the statue of “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.

In the photo: Athena Parthenos, sculptor Phidias. Copy. Restored according to descriptions. National Archaeological Museum, Athens.

The goddess in the form of a beautiful woman is the personification of Athens. Many stories are associated with this sculpture. The created masterpiece was so great and famous that its author immediately had many envious people. They tried in every possible way to annoy 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. 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 with a brutal execution.

Phidias' achievements at the Parthenon were not the only ones in his work. The sculptor created many other works, the best of which was the colossal bronze figure of Athena Promachos, erected on the Acropolis around 460 BC. and an equally huge ivory and gold figure of Zeus for the temple at Olympia.

This is how one can describe the statue of Zeus for the temple in Olympia: A huge 14-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. The face, shoulders, arms, chest were made of ivory, and the cloak was thrown over the 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.”

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.

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. One thing united all periods of the development of Greek society and art: this 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.

D The sculpture of Ancient Greece from the Classical era, the heyday of the polis, is characterized by the following features. The main object of the image is still the human figure. But compared to archaic sculpture, the image becomes more dynamic and anatomically correct. But the figures and faces of the sculptures are still devoid of individual features: these are generalized, abstract images of heavily armed warriors, athletes, athletes, gods and heroes.

Famous sculptors of Ancient Greece

The development of sculpture is directly related to the names of three famous sculptors of Ancient Greece - Myron, Polykleitos and Phidias.

Miron- sculptor of Ancient Greece of the 5th century. BC. worked in bronze. As an artist, his main task was to capture the moments of transition from one movement to another, to notice the culminating moments in these movements. For your famous "Disc thrower", with which we are familiar from a late Roman marble copy, is characterized by a careful, but somewhat generalized rendering of the anatomy of the human body, and the cold beauty of the lines of the figure. In it, Myron completely abandoned the solemn stillness of his model.

Another work of Miron is a group composition "Athena and Silenus Marsyas", installed on the Acropolis of Athens. In it, the artist tried to convey the culminating points of the movement of the human body: Athena, standing in a calm pose, throws the flute she invented, and the wild forest demon is shown in motion, he wants to grab the flute, but Athena stops him. The dynamics of the movement of Marcia's body are suppressed by the immobility and stiffness of the pose of the figure of the goddess Athena.

Polykleitos- another ancient Greek sculptor who also lived in the 5th century BC, he worked in Argos, Athens and Ephesus. He owns numerous images of winning athletes in marble and bronze. In his sculptures, Polykleitos was able to convey the appearance of idealized and courageous hoplite warriors, members of the civil militia of the polis. Polycletus also belongs "Diadumen"- a statue of a young man tying a winner's bandage around his head.

Another theme of his work is images of young warriors who embodied the idea of ​​valor as a citizen. For the heraion in Argos he created an ivory image of the goddess Hera. The sculptures of Polykleitos are characterized by proportionality, which was recognized by contemporaries as a standard.

Phidias- famous sculptor of Ancient Greece of the 5th century BC. He worked in Athens, and... Phidias took an active part in reconstruction in Athens. He was one of the leaders in the construction and decoration of the Parthenon. He created a 12 meter high statue of Athena for the Parthenon. The base of the statue is a wooden figure. Ivory plates were placed on the face and naked parts of the body. Clothing and weapons were covered with almost two tons of gold. This gold served as an emergency reserve in case of unforeseen financial crises.

The pinnacle of Phidias' creativity was his famous statue, 14 meters high. It depicted the Thunderer sitting on a richly decorated throne, his upper torso naked and his lower torso wrapped in a cloak. In one hand Zeus holds a statue of Nike, in the other a symbol of power - a rod. The statue was made of wood, the figure was covered with ivory plates, and the clothes were covered with thin gold sheets. Now you know what kind of sculptors there were in Ancient Greece.

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 the further development of this art is difficult to imagine. In the history of the development of Greek ancient sculpture, three large stages can be distinguished: archaic, classical and Hellenistic. Each one has something important and special. Let's look at each of them.

Archaic art. Features: 1) static frontal position of the figures, reminiscent of ancient Egyptian sculpture: arms are lowered, one leg is put forward; 2) The sculpture depicts young men (“kuros”) and girls (“koros”), with a calm smile on their faces (archaic); 3) Kuros were depicted naked, kors were always dressed and the sculptures were painted; 4) Mastery in depicting strands of hair, and in later sculptures, the folds of draperies on female figures.

The Archaic period spans 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 conventionally denotes the framework of early ancient art. In fact, the beginnings of the archaic can be seen already in sculptures of the 9th century BC, and many signs of the archaic can be seen in the monuments of the 4th century BC. The craftsmen 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). An 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 at the same time it is a sign of the evolution of sculptural art towards realism and its search.

Cora What is common to almost all female statues is the perspective. Most often, the cortex appears frontally erect, the arms are often lowered along the body, less often crossed on the chest or holding sacred attributes (spear, shield, sword, staff, fruit, etc.). An archaic smile is visible on his face. The proportions of the body are sufficiently conveyed, despite the general sketchiness and generalization of the images. All sculptures were necessarily painted.

Kuros Male sculptures of the period are distinguished by a strict frontal pose, often with the left leg extended forward. The arms are lowered along the body, the hands are clenched into a fist, less often there are sculptures with arms extended forward, as if holding out a sacrifice. Another indispensable condition for archaic male statues is precise symmetry of the body. Externally, the 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 kouroi were made of wood, but not a single wooden sculpture has survived. Later, the Greeks learned to process stone, so all surviving kouroi are made of marble.

Classic art. Features: 1) The search for a way to depict a moving human figure, harmonious in its proportions, has been completed; the position of “contraposto” was developed - the balance of movements of body parts at rest (a figure standing freely with support on one leg); 2) The sculptor Polykleitos develops the theory of contrapposto, illustrating his work with sculptures standing in this position; 3) In the 5th century. BC e. the person is depicted as harmonious, idealized, as a rule, young or middle-aged, the facial expression is calm, without facial wrinkles and folds, movements are restrained, harmonious; 4) In the 4th century. BC e. greater dynamism, even sharpness, appears in the plasticity of the figures; sculptural images begin to reflect the individual characteristics of faces and bodies; a sculptural portrait appears.

The 5th century in the history of Greek sculpture of the classical period can be called a “step forward”. The development of sculpture in Ancient Greece in this period is associated with the names of such famous masters as Myron, Polykleitos and Phidias. In their creations, the images become more realistic, if one can say, even “alive,” and the schematism that was characteristic of archaic sculpture decreases. But the main “heroes” remain the gods and “ideal” people. Most people associate sculptures of this particular era 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.

Polykleitos, who worked in Argos, in the second half of the 5th century. BC e, is a prominent representative of the Peloponnesian school. The sculpture of the classical period is rich in his masterpieces. He was a master of bronze sculpture and an excellent art theorist. Polykleitos preferred to portray athletes, in whom ordinary people always saw an ideal. Among his works are the famous statues of "Doryphoros" and "Diadumen". The first job is that of a strong warrior with a spear, the embodiment of calm dignity. The second is a slender young man with a competition winner's bandage on his head.

Myron, who lived in the mid-5th century. BC e, known to us from drawings and Roman copies. This brilliant master had an excellent command of plasticity and anatomy, and clearly conveyed freedom of movement in his works (“Discobolus”).

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 creator of sculpture of the classical period. His name resounded 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 small Roman copies give us a faint idea of ​​the magnificence of these monumental sculptures.

The sculpture of ancient Greece reflected the physical and inner beauty and harmony of man. Already in the 4th century, after Alexander the Great’s conquests against 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 mid-4th century BC. He introduces innovation by revealing the inner world of a person, trying to depict emotions of joy, fear, and happiness in sculptures. He was not afraid to experiment and depicted people in various complex poses, looking for new artistic possibilities for depicting new feelings on the human face (passion, anger, rage, fear, sadness). A wonderful creation of round sculpture is the statue of the Maenad; a Roman copy of it has now been preserved. A new and multifaceted relief work can be called the Amazonomachy, which adorns the Halicarnassus mausoleum in Asia Minor.

Praxiteles was a prominent sculptor of the classical period who lived in Athens around 350 BC. Unfortunately, only the statue of Hermes from Olympia has reached 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 “lighter” emotions that were pleasant to the person. He transferred lyrical emotions, dreaminess to sculptures, and glorified 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 Child Dionysus”, “Apollo Killing the Lizard”.

Lysippos (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.

Famous works include Hercules with a Hind, Apoxyomenos, Hermes Resting and The Wrestler. Lysippos makes changes in proportions, he depicts a smaller head, a drier body and longer legs. All his works are individual, and the portrait of Alexander the Great is also humanized.

Small sculpture became widespread in the Hellenistic period and consisted of figures of people made of baked clay (terracotta). They were called Tanagra terracottas after their place of 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 pronounced dynamism; 3) Depictions of a person in sculpture strive to convey individual traits, a desire for naturalism, a departure from the harmonization of nature; 4) The sculptural decoration of the temples remains the same “heroic”; 5) Perfection in conveying shapes, volumes, folds, and “vitality” of nature.

In those days, sculpture decorated private houses, public buildings, squares, and acropolises. Hellenistic sculpture is characterized by the reflection and revelation of the spirit of anxiety and tension, the desire for pomp and theatricality, and sometimes rough naturalism. The Pergamon school developed the artistic principles of Skopas with his interest in violent manifestations of feelings and the transmission of rapid 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 base was covered with a frieze 120 m long, made using the high relief technique and depicting the battle of the Olympian gods and the rebel giants with snakes instead of legs.

Courage is embodied in the sculptural groups “The Dying Gaul” and “The Gaul Killing Himself and His Wife.” An outstanding sculpture of Hellenism - Aphrodite of Milan by Agesandra - half naked, stern and sublimely calm.

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.