Doryphoros (Spear Bearer), front view.
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Title |
Doryphoros (Spear Bearer), front view. |
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Creator |
Polykleitos (Greek sculptor, active 460-415 BCE) |
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Date |
Original: 450-440 BCE? |
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Cultural Context |
Aegean
Ancient Greek
Greek
European
Western European |
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Style/Period |
Greek (ancient)
Classical
High Classical
Polykleitan |
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Subject |
Statues
Men
Athletes
Warriors
Nudes
Muscles
Genitals
Hairstyles
Reproductions |
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Description |
Roman marble copy from Pompeii, Italy, after a Greek bronze original of ca. 450-440 BCE. "One of the most frequently copied Greek statues was the Doryphoros (Spear Bearer) by Polykleitos, a work that epitomizes the intellectual rigor of Classical statuary design. The original is lost. We illustrate a marble copy that stood in a palaestra at Pompeii, where it served as a model for Roman athletes. The Doryphoros is the embodiment of Polykleitos's vision of the ideal statue of a nude male athlete or warrior. In fact, it was made as a demonstration piece to accompany a treatise on the subject. Spear Bearer is but a modern descriptive epithet for the statue. The name Polykleitos assigned to it was Canon. […] The Doryphoros is the culmination of the evolution in Greek statuary from the Archaic kouros to the Kritios Boy to the Riace warrior. The contrapposto is more pronounced than ever before in a standing statue, but Polykleitos was not content with simply rendering a figure that stands naturally. His aim was to impose order on human movement, to make it 'beautiful,' to 'perfect' it. He achieved this through a system of chiastic, or cross, balance. What appears at first to be a casually natural pose is, in fact, the result of an extremely complex and subtle organization of the figure's various parts. Note, for instance, how the rigid supporting leg is echoed by the straight-hanging arm, providing the figure's right side with the columnar stability needed to anchor the left side's dynamically flexed limbs. If read anatomically, however, the tensed and relaxed limbs may be seen to oppose each other diagonally - the right arm and the left leg are relaxed, and the tensed supporting leg opposes the flexed arm, which held a spear. In like manner, the head turns to the right while the hips twist slightly to the left. And although the Doryphoros seems to take a step forward, he does not move. This dynamic asymmetrical balance, this motion while at rest, and the resulting harmony of opposites are the essence of the Polykleitan style." (Excerpt, pp.131-132) |
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Material |
Marble (rock)
Rock
Stone (rock) |
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Measurements |
6' 11" high |
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Technique |
Sculpting
Carving (processes) |
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Work Type |
Sculpture
Statues
Stonework
Copies (derivative objects)
Reproductions |
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Repository |
Museo Archeologico Nazionale (Naples, Italy) |
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Source |
Kleiner, Fred S., and Christin J. Mamiya. Gardner's Art Through the Ages. 12th ed. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2005. (fig.5-38, p.132) |
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Rights |
Photo credit/reproduced in Kleiner courtesy: Scala/Art Resource, NY. |
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Digital Publisher |
University of Louisville Department of Fine Arts/Allen R. Hite Art Institute Visual Resources Center |
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Format |
image/jpeg |
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Digital File Name |
VRC 859-05.jpg |
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Rating |
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