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POLYCLITUS
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POLYCLITUS , the name of two See also:Greek sculptors of the school of See also:Argos; the first belonging to the fifth See also:century, the second to the See also:early See also:part of the See also:fourth. r. The See also:elder and best known Polyclitus was a contemporary of See also:Pheidias, and in the See also:opinion of the Greens his equal. He made a figure of an See also:Amazon for See also:Ephesus which was regarded as See also:superior to the Amazon of Pheidias made at the same See also:time; and his See also:colossal See also:Hera of See also:gold and See also:ivory which stood in the See also:temple near Argos was considered as worthy to See also:rank with the See also:Zeus of Pheidias. Aus dem Urchristentum, p. 90. 10 See also:Die Christenverfolgungen der Caesaren (1878), p. 34. u Studia biblica (1890), ii. 105-156. 1z Realencyk. f. prof. Theol., 2nd ed. xii. Io5. 13 Martyrium, ch. I2. 14 Ibid. 17. 15 A p. Euseb. v. 24. It would be hard for a See also:modern critic to See also:rate Polyclitus so high: I the See also:reason is that See also:balance, See also:rhythm and the See also:minute perfection of bodily See also:form, which were the See also:great merits of this sculptor, do not See also:appeal to us as they did to the Greeks of the 5th century. He worked mainly in See also:bronze. As regards his See also:chronology we have data in a See also:papyrus published by Grenfell and See also:Hunt containing lists of athletic victors. From this it appears that he made a statue of Cyniscus, a victorious See also:athlete of 464 or 460 B.C., of Pythocles (452) and Aristion (452). He thus can scarcely have been See also:born as See also:late as 48o B.C, His statue of Hera is dated by See also:Pliny to 420 B.C. His See also:artistic activity must thus have been See also:long and prolific. Copies of his spearman (doryphorus) (see GREEK See also:ART, See also:Plate VI. fig. 8o), and his See also:victor winding a ribbon See also:round his See also:head (diadumenus) have long been recognized in our galleries. We see their excellence, but they inspire no See also:enthusiasm, because they are more fleshy than modern figures of athletes, and want See also:charm. They are chiefly valuable as showing us the square forms of See also:body affected by Polyclitus, and the See also:scheme he adopted, throwing the See also:weight of the body (as Pliny says of him) on one See also:leg. We must not, however, See also:judge of a great Greek sculptor by See also:Roman copies of his See also:works. This has been enforced by the See also:discovery at See also:Delos, by the See also:French excavators, of a diadumenus of far more pleasing type and greater finish, which also goes back to Polyclitus. The excavations at See also:Olympia'have also greatly widened our knowledge of the sculptor. Among the bases of statues found on that site were three signed by Polyclitus, still bearing on their See also:surface the marks of See also:attachment of the feet of the statues. This at once gives us their pose; and following up the See also:clue, A. See also:Furtwangler has identified several extant statues as copies of figures of boy athletes victorious at Olympia set up by Polyclitus. Among these the See also:Westmacott athlete in the See also:British Museum is conspicuous. And it is certain that these boys, although the See also:anatomy of their bodies seems to be too mature, yet have a real charm, combining beauty of form with modesty and unaffected simplicity. They enable us better to understand the merit of the sculptor. The Amazon of Polyclitus survives in several copies, among the best of which is one in the British Museum (for its type see GREEK ART, fig. 40). Here again we find a certain heaviness; and the womanly See also:character of the Amazon scarcely appears through her robust limbs. But the Amazon of Pheidias, if rightly identified, is no better. The masterpiece of Polyclitus, his Hera of gold and ivory, has of course totally disappeared. The coins of Argos give us only the See also:general type. Many archaeologists have tried to find a copy of the head. The most defensible of all these identifications is that of C. Waldstein, who shows that a head of a girl in the British Museum (labelled as Polyclitan) corresponds so nearly with that of Hera on 5th century coins of Argos that we must regard it as a reflex of the head of the great statue. It seems very hard and See also:cold beside such See also:noble heads of the goddess as those in the Ludovisi See also:Gallery (Terme Museum) See also:Rome. See also:American archaeologists have in See also:recent years conducted excavations on the site of the Argive temple of Hera (ARGOS and GREEK ART, fig. 39); but the sculptural fragments, heads and torsos, which seem to belong to the temple erected in the time of Polyclitus, have no See also:close stylistic resemblance to other statues recognized as his; and at See also:present their position in the See also:history of art is See also:matter of dispute.
The want of variety in the works of Polyclitus was brought as a reproach against him by See also:ancient critics. See also:Varro says that his statues were square and almost of one See also:pattern. We have already observed that there was small variety in their attitudes. Except for the statue of Hera, which was the See also:work of his old See also:age, he produced- scarcely any notable statue of a deity. His See also: (P. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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