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1. Anonymous, Venus, c. 29,000–25,000 BCE.

Palaeolithic. Dolní Vistonics, (Czech Republic). Burnt clay, 11.1 × 4.3 cm. Private collection.

Among the earliest evidence of the existence of mankind are small Palaeolithic sculptures of women, such as the Venus of Laussel (fig. 6). As a symbol of fertility, the subject of Venus favoured stylised interpretations. However, we know almost nothing about the conditions of creation and use of these sculptures. Similar figures were found at a later date in the Minoan civilisation. The Minoans practised a religion that is also evidenced in statues, such as that of the serpent goddess (fig. 9). Though the proportions are more naturalistic, her feminine attributes are nonetheless underlined. However, its function and true identity, as a goddess or priestess, are still uncertain.

Greek civilisation laid the essential foundations of the modern world. The ancient Greeks developed a cult of the body, especially the male body, and admiration for its athletic prowess is reflected in many idealistic depictions of young male nudes. During the Archaic period, the Kouroi (fig. 16, 18) decorated the graves of young warriors. The Doryphoros (fig. 36), from the hands of Polyclitus, shows the evolution of these figures into a purely aesthetic expression, based on a set of ideal proportions rather than on those of a live model. Decorated ceramics were the principal painted art form of this period, and provide an inexhaustible source of information and numerous erotic subjects. The Greeks practised a form of institutionalised homosexuality in which a grown man became “mentor” of a young boy. However, this patriarchal society had little room for the sexual expression of women; widows were often sequestered and girls were sheltered. In erotic scenes, women were usually either prostitutes or deities. Aphrodite, the goddess of love, was given the most erotic treatment, as in the statue produced in the 4th century BCE by Praxiteles (fig. 47). The beauty of the figure was such that it became a tourist attraction in Attica and, according to Pliny, a man tried to make love to it.

The Hellenistic phase of Greek art was characterised by drama and emotion. The Barberini Faun (fig. 61) is a representation of a sensual spirit. Part goat, the figure expresses animal sexuality and allegiance to Dionysus, which is reflected in its apparent intoxication. The Venus de Milo (fig. 70) is the most famous and graceful of all depictions of Aphrodite. In Italy, the Etruscan civilisation adapted many Greek ideas, but accorded higher social status to women. Etruscan sarcophagi often displayed couples (fig. 21), and sometime painted decorations which depicted sexual activity. The Romans also followed and imitated Greek culture. Mansions rediscovered in the 18th century in the buried cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum reveal the rich sexual, and often humorous culture of the Romans. Brothels used erotic scenes to advertise or decorate their interiors. Gay themes were also not uncommon, such as the Warren Cup (The British Museum, London) which shows two male couples engaged in an erotic game, while sculptures glorifying Antinous, the young lover of Emperor Hadrian, abounded under the Empire (fig. 98). Although belonging to a greater tradition of realism, the treatment of the body in Roman art owed much to Greek heritage, and for centuries to come both Greek and Roman models represented an ideal for art and culture.

2. Anonymous, Rhombic Body of a Woman, c. 26,000–18,000 BCE.

Palaeolithic. Green steatite. Private collection.

3. Anonymous, The Venus of Lespugue, c. 26,000–24,000 BCE.

Palaeolithic. Curtains Cave, Lespugue (France). Mammoth ivory, 14.7 × 6 × 3.6 cm. Musée de l’Homme, Paris.

4. Anonymous, Venus Monpazier, c. 23,000–20,000 BCE.

Palaeolithic. Height: 5.5 cm. National Archaeological Museum, Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

5. Anonymous, The Venus of Willendorf, c. 30,000–25,000 BCE

Paleolithic. Limestone with red polychromy, height: 11.1 cm. Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna.

Discovered in 1908 in the town of Krems, Lower Austria, the Venus of Willendorf is a limestone statuette dating to the Gravettian era. It represents a nude standing woman with steatopygous forms. The head and face, finely engraved, are completely covered and hidden by what appears to be coiled braids. Traces of pigment suggest that the original sculpture was painted in red. In fact, this statuette is the most famous example and one of the oldest sculptures of the Palaeolithic prehistory named by modern pre-historians “Venus”. Indeed, the corpulence of her body (breasts, buttocks, abdomen and thighs) can easily be equated to the symbols of fertility, the original feature of femininity, of which Venus has, since antiquity, been the pure incarnation. However, the interpretation of these works remain enigmatic and cannot really be verified. Some say statuettes of Venus were part of a religious cult, for others they were the “guardians of the home” or, more simply, the expression of an “ideal of Palaeolithic beauty”.

6. Anonymous, Venus of Laussel, c. 20,000–18,000 BCE

Paleolithic. Limestone, 54 × 36 × 15.5 cm. Musée d’Aquitaine, Bordeaux.

7. Anonymous, Mating, c. 5,000–3,000 BCE.

Neolithic. Aouanrehet (Algeria). In situ.

8. Anonymous, Reclining Female Figure, c. 2,400–2,300 BCE.

Paleolithic. Naxos (?) (Greece). White marble, 36.8 × 11.3 × 3.2 cm. The Menil Collection, Houston.

9. Anonymous, Statuette of a Snake Goddess, c. 1,600–1,500 BCE.

Gold and ivory, height: 16.1 cm. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

10. Anonymous, Statuette of Nefertiti (side view and front view), c. 1,570–1,320 BCE.

Ancient Egyptian (18th dynasty). Tell el-Amarna (Egypt). Limestone, height: 40 cm. Ägyptisches Museum, Berlin.

11. Anonymous, Woman’s Body (perhaps Nefertiti), c. 1,345–1,337 BCE.

Ancient Egyptian (18th dynasty, reign of Amenhotep IV, or Akhenaten). Silicified sandstone, height: 29 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

12. Anonymous, Akhenaten with the Queen or a Princess, c. 1,570–1,320 BCE.

Ancient Egyptian, (18th dynasty). Limestone, height: 39.5 cm. Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

13. Anonymous, Relief of Humbaba, first half of 2nd millennium BCE.

Ancient Near East, Mesopotamia. Moulded terracotta. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

14. Anonymous, Prehistoric Version of the Kiss, c. 1,000 BCE.

Bronze Age. Vitlycke Rock Carvings near Tanum (Sweden). In situ.

15. Anonymous, The Cosmic Union of Geb and Nut (detail from an Egyptian papyrus), c. 1,025 BCE.

Ancient Egyptian. Vignette, 53 × 93 cm. The British Museum, London.

16. Anonymous, The Sounion Kouros, c. 600 BCE.

Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 305 cm. National Archaeological Museum of Athens, Athens.

17. Anonymous, Kleobis and Biton, c. 610–580 BCE.

Ancient Greek. Apollo Sanctuary, Delphi (Greece). Marble, height: 218 cm. Archaeological Museum of Delphi, Delphi.

Kleobis and Biton are life-size statues that were found in the sanctuary at Delphi. An inscription identifies the artist as coming from Argos, on the Peloponnesus. The sculptures’ origin in Argos links them to the mythical twins Kleobis and Biton. These young men from Argos were said to pull a cart a full five miles in order to bring their mother to a festival dedicated to the goddess Hera. In return, Hera granted the men what was seen as a great gift: a gentle death while sleeping. The brothers fell asleep after the festival and never woke up. Their great strength, devotion to their mother, and their early deaths were memorialised in dedicatory statues offered at the great sanctuary at Delphi, according to the historian Herodotus. These statues, which may be those described by Herodotus, are close in date to the Dipylon Head and share the same Egyptian style and decorative, incised details.

18. Anonymous, Kouros, known as Apollo from Tenea, c. 560–550 BCE.

Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 153 cm. Glyptothek, Munich.

19. Anonymous, Kouros of Kroisos, c. 530 BCE.

Ancient Greek. Anavyssos, Attica. Marble, height: 194 cm. National Archaeological Museum of Athens, Athens.

20. Anonymous, The Kritios Boy, c. 480–470 BCE.

Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 116 cm. Acropolis Museum, Athens.

21. Anonymous, Sarcophagus of a Couple from Cerveteri, c. 520–510 BCE.

Ancient Etruscan. Painted terracotta, 111 × 194 × 69 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

Though their civilisation flourished alongside that of the Greeks, our limited understanding of Etruscan language and culture has left a veil of mystery over the people who lived in Italy before the Roman Republic. Their art was strongly influenced by that of the Greeks, as evidenced by this terracotta sarcophagus with its echoes of the style of the Greek Archaic period. In Etruscan sculpture, however, we find more lively subjects, like this couple, animated in their easy affection for each other. Like so much of Etruscan art, this is a funerary piece, designed for placement in one of the elaborate tombs the Etruscans carved out of the soft volcanic bedrock of central Italy. It reveals the Etruscan view of the afterlife: an eternal party, where men and women would lounge at a banquet, enjoying good food, drink, and the company of their loved ones.

22. Anonymous, Dying Warrior, c. 500–480 BCE.

Ancient Greek. Temple of Aphaia, Aegina. Marble, height: 185 cm. Glyptothek, Munich.

Greek temples often featured large sculptures decorating the pediment, the triangular space under the eave of the roof. The first examples of pedimental sculpture show that the early artists were not adept at filling the awkward triangular space with a cohesive composition; the figures in the corners were shrunk to a diminutive scale in comparison to the central figures. However, in this pediment group from the end of the Archaic period, the sculptors showed new skill in conceiving the composition. The central figures, not shown, engage in lively battle, lunging and parrying with swords and shields. One archer crouches to take aim, his low position allowing him to fit into the smaller space toward the corner of the pediment. The Dying Warrior next to him fills that corner, the angle of his falling body perfectly fitting into the smallest part of the pediment. A single, cohesive narrative is thereby created across the triangular space, telling the story of a battle fought by local heroes.

23. Anonymous, Marble low-relief. Ancient Etruscan.

The Tomb of the Bulls, Tarquinia (Italy).

24. Euaichme Painter, Man Offering a Gift to a Youth, c. 530–430 BCE.

Ancient Greek. Athenian goblet with red figures. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

25. Anonymous, Man and Ephebe Having a Conversation, c. 420 BCE.

Ancient Greek. Dish with red figures (detail). Musée Municipal, Laon.

26. Euphronios, Ephebes at the Bath, Ancient Greek. c. 505–500 BCE.

Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin.

27. Triptolemus Painter, Attican goblet (detail).

Ancient Greek. Museo Nazionale Tarquiniese, Tarquinia (Italy).

28. Anonymous, Scene of Debauchery, 510–500 BCE.

Goblet with red figures (detail). Ancient Greek. Private collection.

29. Brygos Painter, Erastes Soliciting an Eromenos. Attican goblet (detail).

Ancient Greek. The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

30. Anonymous, Satyr, 470 BCE.

Ancient Greek. Bronze. Private collection, Athens.

31. Anonymous, after Myron, Discobolus, c. 450 BCE.

Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 148 cm. Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome.

In Myron’s Discobolus, we see the human form freed from the standing, frontal pose of earlier statues. Here, the artist is clearly interested not only in the body of the athlete, but in the movement of the discus thrower. His muscles tense and strain in preparation for his throw, his face focused on his activity. While the pose, with the arms forming a wide arc, is revolutionary, the piece is still meant to be viewed from the front. It would not be until the following century that artists began to conceive of sculpture that could be viewed from all sides.

MYRON

(ACTIVE DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THE 5TH CENTURY BCE)

Myron, a mid-5th century BCE Greek sculptor, worked almost exclusively in bronze. Though he made some statues of gods and heroes, his fame rested primarily upon his representations of athletes, for which he proved revolutionary by introducing greater boldness of pose and a more ideal rhythm. His most famous works, according to Pliny, were a cow, Ladas the runner, who fell dead at the moment of victory, and a discus-thrower, Discobolus (fig. 31). The cow seems to have earned its fame largely by serving as a peg on which to hang epigrams, which tells us nothing of the animal’s pose. Of the Ladas, there is no known copy; we are fortunate, however, in possessing several copies of the Discobolus. The athlete is represented at the moment he has swung back the discus with the full stretch of his arm, ready to hurl it with all the weight of his body. His face is calm and untroubled, but every muscle in his body is focused in effort.

Another marble figure, almost certainly a copy of a work of Myron’s, is a Marsyas eager to pick up the flutes Athena had thrown away. The full group is copied on coins of Athens, on a vase and in a relief representing Marsyas as oscillating between curiosity and fear of Athena’s displeasure. His face of the Marsyas is almost a mask; but from the attitude we gain a vivid impression of the passions affecting him.

The ancient critics say of Myron that, while he succeeded admirably in giving life and motion to his figures, he failed in rendering the mind’s emotions. To a certain degree this is evidenced here; the bodies of his men are of far greater excellence than the heads.

He was a somewhat older contemporary of Phidias and Polykleitos.

32. Anonymous, The Battle between the Lapiths and the Centaurs, c. 470–456 BCE.

Ancient Greek. Temple of Zeus, Olympia. Marble, height: 330 cm. Archaeological Museum, Olympia.

33. Anonymous, Heracles Receiving the Golden Apples of the Hesperides from the Hand of Atlas while Minerva Rests a Cushion on his Head, c. 470–456 BCE.

Ancient Greek. Temple of Zeus, Olympia. Marble, height: 160 cm. Archaeological Museum, Olympia.

This metope, or square component of the frieze of the temple, is from the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, the largest and most important structure of the first half of the 5th century. Together, the metopes of the Temple of Zeus told the story of the twelve labours of Heracles. Each metope showed one of his labours, or tasks. This metope shows the eleventh labour, the apples of the Hesperides. Heracles was told he had to steal apples belonging to Zeus. He met with Atlas, who had to hold up the world for all of time. Atlas said he would get the apples for Heracles if Heracles would hold the earth for him. In the scene shown, Atlas has returned with the apples, and Heracles must figure out how to get Atlas to take back the weight of the world. Athena stands behind Heracles, gently helping him hold his burden.

34. Anonymous, Leda and the Swan, copy after a Greek original created by Timotheus, first half of 5th century BCE.

Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 132 cm. Musei Capitolini, Rome.

35. Anonymous, The Tyrannicides Harmodius and Aristogeiton, Roman copy after a Greek original created by Critios, c. 477 BCE.

Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 195 cm. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.

Metal was a valuable commodity in the ancient world, so sculptures made of bronze or other metals were often eventually melted down by a conquering nation or a successive ruler who did not care for the art of his predecessor. For that reason, few large-scale bronze sculptures survive from the Classical era. Romans, however, had a taste for Greek art, and copied many of their bronze sculptures in stone, the material preferred by Romans. Often, the bronze original has since been lost, and the Roman copies are all that survive. Such is the case with this group, Roman copies in marble of two Greek sculptures in bronze. The subjects are Harmodius and Aristogeiton, lovers who together conspired to murder the political tyrant, Hippias. They lost their nerve and killed his brother instead, but were revered as heroes by Athenians who believed them to have murdered the tyrant. Statues of the two were erected in their honour in the Athenian Agora.

36. Anonymous, Doryphoros, Roman copy after a Greek original created by Polykleitos, c. 440 BCE.

Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 196 cm. The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis.

The Doryphoros is one of the most famous sculptures of ancient Greece, embodying the ambition of Polyclitus to illustrate, in a single work, the ideal proportions of the human body. Yet the work we admire today is only a copy of the original bronze created by a contemporary of Phidias. The work owes its name to the fact that the young man kept in his left hand a spear (now missing); “Doryphoros” in Greek meaning “spear carrier”. Defining the canons of male beauty, it evokes both the Hellenic ideal of the athlete and the soldier. Traditionally, Polyclitus is recognised as being the first sculptor to use the contrapposto in his works, with the pelvis being twisted to one side. This method is used to give more flexibility to traditional, hieratic sculptures and presents a man standing with most of his weight on one foot while the other one is resting, slightly bent end extended back, so that his shoulders and arms twist off-axis from the hips and legs. This posture, which gives the impression of a contrast between movement and rest, crossed the centuries and influenced many works, as witnessed by the David of Michelangelo (fig. 167).

37. Anonymous, Diadoumenos, the Young Athlete, copy after a bronze original created by Polykleitos, c. 430 BCE.

Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 186 cm. National Archaeological Museum of Athens, Athens.

Polykleitos is one of the best-known sculptors of the 5th century BCE, renowned for his athletic dedications. The figure ties back his hair in preparation for sport. His clothes rest next to him on a low branch, as Greek athletes exercised in the nude. Polykleitos’ Doryphoros, or Canon, sought to illustrate the ideal male figure. In this piece, we see the same proportions the sculptor established with his Canon and the same attention to anatomical realism. The Polykleitan ideal is a heavily muscled, somewhat stocky body, especially compared to the more gracile figures of the next century.

POLYKLEITOS

(ACTIVE DURING THE 5TH CENTURY BCE)

Polykleitos was a contemporary of Phidias, and, in Greek opinion, his equal; he made a superior Amazon figure (fig. 46) for Ephesus. His colossal Hera of gold and ivory, which stood in the temple near Argos but has since disappeared, was considered worthy of Phidias’ Zeus. Working mainly in bronze, his artistic activity must have been long and prolific.

The balance, rhythm, and minute perfection of bodily form make it difficult for a modern critic to rate the merits of this sculptor so high, as they appeal less to us than they did to the 5th century Greeks. We find a certain heaviness in his female characters that makes it difficult to distinguish them from males.

Copies of his spearman (Doryphoros) and victor (Diadoumenos, figs. 36, 37) have long been recognised in galleries. While we understand their excellence, they inspire no enthusiasm; they are fleshier than modern athletic figures and lack charm. Ancient critics reproached Polykleitos for his lack of variety, though his talent remained unsurpassed.

38. Anonymous, Apollo, known as Apollo Parnopios, copy after a Greek original created by Phidias, c. 450 BCE.

Marble, height: 197 cm. Staatliche Museen, Kassel.

Apollo was the god of music, poetry, medicine, archery, and prophecy; and was always shown as young and beautiful. Here, he has the idealised body of a young male athlete. The naturalism of his anatomy, with his sculpted muscles and graceful movement, is expressed through the relaxed, contrapposto stance. His expression is thoughtful but emotionless. This statue is transformed into Apollo by the addition of the elaborately curled long hair, and his attributes, the bow and laurel wreath, which he would have held in each hand.

39. Anonymous, Riace Bronze B, Roman copy after a Greek original created by Phidias, c. 450 BCE.

Ancient Greek. Bronze, height: 197 cm. Museo Nazionale, Reggio Calabria.

A sunken treasure, this bronze statue was pulled from the sea, having been lost in a shipwreck during the Classical period. Ironically, its loss in the sea resulted in it being one of the few bronze statues to survive from the era, since it was never melted down for its valuable metal. The warrior is one of a pair that has been attributed to the 5th century BCE, or High Classical Period. In this piece we can see the ideals of High Classical period sculpture fully realised. At the same time realistic and idealistic, the sculpture shows a lifelike, but perfect, body, each muscle articulated, the figure frozen in a relaxed, life-like pose. The solid, athletic body reflects the ideal of a young athlete, although this figure represents an older warrior, who once would have held a spear and a shield. The nudity of the figure also alludes to the athlete, who in Greece would have practised or competed in the nude, and also to the mythical hero, a reminder that the man represented here was no ordinary warrior, but a semi-divine hero, an appropriate offering for one of the great sanctuaries of the Greek world.

PHIDIAS

(ATHENS, C. 488 BCE – C. 431 BCE)

Son of Charmides, universally regarded as the greatest of Greek sculptors, Phidias was born in Athens. We have varying accounts of his training. Hegias of Athens, Ageladas of Argos, and the Thasian painter Polygnotus, have all been regarded as his teachers.

The earliest of his great works were dedications in memory of Marathon, from the spoils of the victory. On the Acropolis of Athens he erected a colossal bronze image of Athena, visible far out at sea. Other works at Delphi, at Pellene in Achaea, and at Plataea were appreciated; among the Greeks themselves, however, the two works of Phidias which far outstripped all others – providing the basis of his fame – were the colossal figures in gold and ivory of Zeus at Olympia and of Athena Parthenos at Athens, both of which date to about the middle of the 5th century.

Plutarch gives in his life of Perikles a charming account of the vast artistic activity that went on at Athens while that statesman was in power. For the decoration of his own city he used the money furnished by the Athenian allies for defence against Persia. “In all these works,” says Plutarch, “Phidias was the adviser and overseer of Perikles.” Phidias introduced his own portrait and that of Perikles on the shield of his Parthenos statue. And it was through Phidias that the political enemies of Perikles struck at him.

It is important to observe that in resting the fame of Phidias upon the sculptures of the Parthenon we proceed with little evidence. What he was celebrated for in Antiquity was his statues in bronze or gold and ivory. If Plutarch tells us that he superintended the great works of Perikles on the Acropolis, this phrase is very vague.

Of his death we have two discrepant accounts. According to Plutarch he was made an object of attack by the political enemies of Perikles, and died in prison at Athens. According to Philochorus, he fled to Elis, where he made the great statue of Zeus for the Eleans, and was afterwards put to death by them. For several reasons the first of these tales is preferable.

Ancient critics take a high view of the merits of Phidias. What they especially praise is the ethos or permanent moral level of his works as compared with those of the later “pathetic” school. Demetrius calls his statues sublime and at the same time precise.

40. Anonymous, Diomedes, Roman copy after a Greek original, c. 430 BCE.

Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 102 cm. Glyptothek, Munich.

41. Anonymous, Aphrodite (Venus Genitrix), Roman copy after a Greek original created by Callimachus, end of 5th century BCE.

Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 164 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

CALLIMACHUS

(ACTIVE BETWEEN C. 432 – C. 408 BCE)

An ancient sculptor and engraver, Callimachus was nicknamed “katatxitechnos” – “the perfectionist.” He left behind no writings, but we know his life through the works of Pausanias and Vitruvius, although today certain of their accounts seem doubtful. It is known that he contributed to the decoration of the Erechtheion. For this temple he created, among other things, a magnificent golden lamp, above which was mounted a bronze palm branch, which trapped the smoke. Several beautiful sculptures were also ascribed to him: a group of Lacedemonian dancers and a statue of the seated Hera made for the Heraion of Plataea. What characterises Callimachus more than anything else is his painstaking attention to detail; hence the nickname. Purportedly, he was the first to use a drill for shaping marble. He modelled his work on the tradition of the old masters and pioneered the Archaic style.

Callimachus also has a place in the history of architecture. He is considered the inventor of the Corinthian capital. According to the legend told by Vitruvius, he got the idea while looking at the acanthus blossom wrapped around a basket which had been placed on a child’s tomb.

42. Anonymous, Male Torso, in the style of the Diadoumenos, copy after a bronze original created by Polykleitos, c. 430 BCE.

Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 85 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

43. Anonymous, Hermes Tying his Sandal, Roman copy after a Greek original created by Lysippos, 4th century BCE.

Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 161 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

LYSIPPOS

(C. 395 – C. 305 BCE)

The Greek sculptor, Lysippos, was head of the school of Argos and Sicyon in the time of Philip and Alexander of Macedon. His works, some colossal, are said to have numbered 1500. Certain accounts have him continuing the school of Polykleitos; others represent him as self-taught. He was especially innovative regarding the proportions of the human male body; in contrast to his predecessors, he reduced the head size and made the body harder and more slender, producing the impression of greater height. He also took great pains with hair and other details. Pliny and other writers mention many of his statues. Among the gods he seems to have produced new and striking types of Zeus, the Sun-god and others; many of these were colossal figures in bronze. Among heroes he was particularly attracted by the mighty physique of Heracles. The Heracles Farnese of Naples, though signed by Glycon of Athens, and a later and exaggerated transcript, owes something, including the motive of rest after labour, to Lysippos. Lysippos made many statues of Alexander the Great, and so satisfied his patron, no doubt by idealising him, that he became the king’s court sculptor; the king and his generals provided numerous commissions. Portraits of Alexander vary greatly, and it is impossible to determine which among them go back to Lysippos.

As head of the great athletic school of Peloponnese, Lysippos naturally sculptured many athletes; a figure by him of a man scraping himself with a strigil was a great favourite of the Romans in the time of Tiberius; it has usually been regarded as the original copied in the Apoxyomenos of the Vatican (fig 55).

44. Anonymous, Apollo Sauroktonos, Hellenistic copy after a Greek original created by Praxiteles, 4th century BCE.

Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 149 cm. Museo Pio Clementino, Vatican.

45. Anonymous, Venus and Cupid, Roman copy after a Greek original, 4th century BCE.

Restored at the end of the 17th century CE by Alessandro Algardi. Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 174 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

Aphrodite became a common subject for Greek sculptors in the 4th century BCE and later, because her renowned beauty provided an acceptable excuse for an erotic representation of the female body. She is sometimes shown, as here, with her son Eros, known to the Romans as Cupid, and in later art as “putti,” the winged babies symbolising earthly and divine love. In Roman art and mythology, Aphrodite became Venus, goddess of love. To the Romans she had a more elevated status, seen as the progenitor of the line of Caesar, Augustus, and the Julio-Claudian emperors, and by extension, as an embodiment of the Roman people. This playful depiction of Aphrodite and Eros, or Venus and Cupid, is more suggestive of the Greek view of Aphrodite, who saw her not only as the symbol of sensual beauty, but also as occasionally silly and humorous.

46. Anonymous, Wounded Amazon, Roman copy after a Greek original created by Polykleitos, c. 440–430 BCE.

Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 202 cm. Musei Capitolini, Rome.

47. Anonymous, Aphrodite of Knidos, copy after a Greek original created by Praxiteles, c. 350 BCE.

Ancient Greek. Marble. Museo Pio Clementino, Vatican.

PRAXITELES

(ACTIVE BETWEEN C. 375 – C. 335 BCE)

Greek sculptor, Praxiteles of Athens, the son of Cephissodotus, is considered the greatest of the 4th century BCE Attic sculptors. He left an imperishable mark on the history of art.

Our knowledge of Praxiteles received a significant contribution, and was placed on a satisfactory basis with the discovery at Olympia in 1877 of his statue of Hermes with the Infant Dionysos, a statue that has become world famous, but which is now regarded as a copy. Full and solid without being fleshy, at the same time strong and active, the Hermes is a masterpiece and the surface play astonishing. In the head we have a remarkably rounded and intelligent shape, and the face expresses perfect of health and enjoyment.

Among the numerous copies that came to us, perhaps the most notable is the Apollo Sauroktonos, or the lizard-slayer (fig. 44), a youth leaning against a tree and idly striking with an arrow at a lizard, and the Aphrodite of Knidos of the Vatican (fig. 47), which is a copy of the statue made by Praxiteles for the people of Knidos; they valued it so highly they refused to sell it to King Nicomedes, who was willing in return to discharge the city’s entire debt, which, according to Pliny, was enormous.

The subjects chosen by Praxiteles were either human or the less elderly and dignified deities. Apollo, Hermes and Aphrodite rather than Zeus, Poseidon or Athena attracted him. Under his hands the deities descend to human level; indeed, sometimes almost below it. They possess grace and charm to a supreme degree, though the element of awe and reverence is wanting.

Praxiteles and his school worked almost entirely in marble. At the time the marble quarries of Paros were at their best; for the sculptor’s purpose no marble could be finer than that of which the Hermes is made.

48. Anonymous, Aphrodite of Knidos, Roman copy after Praxiteles, c. 350 BCE.

Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 122 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

49. Anonymous, Meleager, copy after a Greek original created by Skopas, c. 340 BCE.

Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 123 cm. Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge (United States).

SKOPAS

(ACTIVE DURING FIRST HALF OF THE 4TH CENTURY BCE)

Probably of Parian origin, Skopas was the son of Aristander, a great Greek sculptor of the 4th century BCE. Although classed as an Athenian, and similar in tendency to Praxiteles, he was really a cosmopolitan artist, working largely in Asia and Peloponnesos. The existing works with which he is associated are the Mausoleum of Halicarnassos, and the temple of Athena Alea at Tegea. In the case of the Mausoleum, though no doubt the sculpture generally belongs to his school, it remains impossible to single out any specific part of it as his own. There is, however, good reason to think that the pedimental figures from Tegea are Skopas’ own work. They are, unfortunately, all in extremely poor condition, but appear to be the best evidence of his style.

While in general style Skopas approached Praxiteles, he differed from him in preferring strong expression and vigorous action to repose and sentiment.

Early writers give a good deal of information on the works of Skopas. For the people of Elis he made a bronze Aphrodite riding on a goat (copied on the coins of Elis); a Maenad at Athens, running with head thrown back was ascribed to him. Another type of his was Apollo as leader of the Muses, singing to the lyre. The most elaborate of his works was a great group representing Achilles being conveyed over the sea to the island of Leuce by his mother Thetis, accompanied by Nereids.

Jointly with his contemporaries Praxiteles and Lysippos, Skopas may be considered to have completely changed the character of Greek sculpture; they initiated the lines of development that culminated in the schools of Pergamum, Rhodes and other great cities of later Greece. In most modern museums of ancient art their influence may be seen in three-quarters of the works exhibited. At the Renaissance it was especially their influence which dominated Italian painting, and through it, modern art.

50. Anonymous, Athenian Tombstone, c. 340 BCE.

Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 168 cm. National Archaeological Museum of Athens, Athens.

51. Anonymous, Phalli, 300 BCE.

Delos (Greece). Private collection.

52. Anonymous, Dionysos and Ariadne (detail from the Derveni Krater), c. 340–330 BCE.

Ancient Greek. Copper, height: 91 cm. Archeological Museum, Thessalonika.

53. Anonymous, Crouching Venus, Roman copy after a Greek original created in the 3rd century BCE.

Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 96 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

54. Anonymous, Belvedere Apollo, Roman copy after a Greek original created by Leochares, c. 330 BCE.

Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 224 cm. Museo Pio Clementino, Vatican.

The Belvedere Apollo has long enjoyed fame, known as the prototypical work of Greek art. This fame springs from its rediscovery during the Renaissance of the 15th century. At that time, wealthy Italian nobles began to collect ancient sculptures that were being discovered in the ruins of Roman Italy. The Belvedere Apollo went to the collection of the Pope, and was displayed in the courtyard of the Belvedere villa in the Vatican. There, it was seen by countless visitors and visiting artists, who sketched the piece. Copies were made for various courts of Europe. The proud, princely bearing of the figure, along with the delicate beauty of Apollo’s face, had great appeal among the aristocratic classes of the 16th and 17th centuries, and to the Romantics of the 18th and 19th centuries.

LEOCHARES

(ACTIVE BETWEEN 340–320 BCE)

A Greek sculptor who worked with Skopas on the Mausoleum around 350 BCE Leochares executed statues in gold and ivory of Philip of Macedon’s family; the king placed them in the Philippeum at Olympia. Along with Lysippos, he made a group in bronze at Delphi representing a lion-hunt of Alexander. We hear of other statues by Leochares of Zeus, Apollo and Ares. The statuette in the Vatican, representing Ganymede being carried away by an eagle, originally poorly executed, though considerably restored, corresponds closely with Pliny’s description of a group by Leochares.

55. Anonymous, Apoxyomenos, copy after a bronze original created by Lysippos, c. 330 BCE.

Marble, height: 205 cm. Ancient Greek. Museo Pio Clementino, Vatican.

In the 4th century, standing male statues of idealised athletes remained a popular subject for sculpture. The poses became more varied, however, as sculptors experimented with forms that could be viewed from multiple angles. The Apoxyomenos, or Man scraping Himself, is an example of innovation of pose. His right arm extends forward, reaching out of the plane in which the rest of his body lies. Before exercising, a Greek athlete would apply oil to his body. He would then return to the bath house, after engaging in sport, and scrape the oil off himself. The subject of the Apoxyomenos is in the process of scraping himself clean.

56. Anonymous, Capitoline Venus, Roman copy after a Greek original created by Praxiteles, 3rd century BCE.

Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 193 cm. Musei Capitolini, Rome.

57. Anonymous, Ludovisi Group, Roman copy after a bronze original erected by the Kings of Pergamon Attalus I and Eumenes II, c. 240 BCE.

Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 211 cm. Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome.

58. Anonymous, Eros and Psyche, Ancient Greece, Roman copy of a Greek original created in mid-3rd century BCE.

Ancient Greek. Marble, 71 × 25.5 × 28.5 cm. Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Dresden.

59. Anonymous, Dying Gaul, Roman copy after a bronze original erected by the Kings of Pergamon Attalus I and Eumenes II, c. 240 BCE.

Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 93 cm. Musei Capitolini, Rome.

60. Anonymous, The Three Graces, Roman copy of a Greek original created during the 2nd century BCE, restored in 1609.

Ancient Greek. Marble, 119 × 85 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

The Graces, or Charities, were three goddesses named Beauty, Mirth, and Cheer. They oversaw happy events such as dances and banquets. They were companions to Aphrodite, providing the happiness that accompanies love. Like Aphrodite, they were often depicted in the nude, and often, as in this example, dancing in a circle. In each, we see the familiar shift in weight, or contrapposto, developed in the 5th century. However, the composition of this piece is far more elaborate than any High Classical sculpture. It was not until the Hellenistic period that complex groups of multiple figures were depicted in free-standing sculpture. The figures are tied together by their embrace, unifying the piece, yet they face different directions, so that the sculpture would be interesting from any angle from which it was viewed.

61. Anonymous, Barberini Faun, copy after a Hellenistic original, c. 200 BCE.

Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 215 cm. Glyptothek, Munich.

The wealth of the Hellenistic period meant that many people could afford sculptures for their private houses and gardens. Consequently, more profane, even erotic, subjects were introduced to the repertoire of Greek art. Here, a sleeping, and probably drunk, satyr lounges sprawled out on an animal skin. The pose is unabashedly erotic, the figure’s nudity no longer signalling simply that he is a hero, athlete, or god, but rather suggesting his sexual availability. The naturalistic and idealised manner of depiction of the body of the satyr is a legacy of High Classical sculpture.

62. Anonymous, Sleeping Hermaphrodite, Roman copy of a Greek original from the 2nd century BCE, mattress carved in 1619 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

Ancient Greek. Marble, 169 × 89 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

63. Anonymous, Erotic Scene from the Back of a Stele Depicting Dionysos, Hellenistic period.

Ancient Greek. Archeological Museum, Nicosia (Cyprus).

64. Anonymous, Zeus and Porphyrion during the Battle with the Giants, Pedestal Frieze, Great Altar of Zeus, Pergamon, c. 180 BCE.

Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 230 cm. Pergamonmuseum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin.

65. Anonymous, Zeus and Leda.

Ancient Greek. Oil lamp. National Archeological Museum, Athens.

66. Anonymous, Statuette of a Standing Goddess, Babylonia, 2nd century BCE.

Ancient Near East. Alabaster, gold and ruby, height: 24.8 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

67. Anonymous, Artemis of Ephesus, 1st century BCE.

Ancient Near East. Terracotta, height: 20cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

68. Anonymous, Fragment of a Rhyton Showing an Amorous Embrace, 2nd century BCE.

Ancient Greek. Private collection.

69. Anonymous, Grimani Altar, last quarter of the 1st century BCE.

Ancient Roman. Museo Archeologico Nazional, Venice.

70. Anonymous, Aphrodite of Melos, known as Venus de Milo, c. 100 BCE.

Ancient Greek. Marble, height: 202 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

The Aphrodite of Melos, or Vénus de Milo, is an original Greek sculpture dating to the Hellenistic period. It was discovered in a field along with other sculptural fragments, including a separate arm holding an apple, which belongs with this figure. The apple is probably a reference to the mythical “Judgment of Paris”. In that tale, the goddess of Discord tossed a golden apple inscribed “for the loveliest” towards the goddesses Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera. The young Trojan prince, Paris, was asked to decide which goddess should be awarded the apple. Each tried to bribe Paris but he chose Aphrodite, who offered him the love of the most beautiful mortal woman in the world. That woman, of course, was Helen of Sparta, already married to the Greek king. Her abduction by Paris started the Trojan War. While Aphrodite is criticised by Homer for her role in starting the conflict, she is celebrated here as the purveyor of true love.

71. Anonymous, Aphrodite, known as Venus of Arles, end of the 1st century BCE.

Ancient Roman. Marble, height: 194 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

72. Anonymous, Hercules and Omphale, 1st century BCE.

Ancient Roman. Carnelian. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

73. Anonymous, Mirror Cover Showing a Couple, 1st century BCE.

Ancient Roman. Bronze. Antiquarium, Rome.

74. Anonymous, Leda and the Swan.

Ancient Roman. Cameo, 2.5 × 1.7 cm. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.

75. Anonymous, Faunus, c. 100 BCE.

Ancient Roman. Pompeii.

76. Anonymous, Mercury with Many Penises, c. 100 BCE.

Ancient Roman. Pompeii.

77. Anonymous, Phallic Tintinnabulum.

Ancient Roman. Bronze. Pompeii.

78. Anonymous, Tripod with Ithyphallic Young Pans, c. 1st century CE.

Ancient Roman. Pompeii. Bronze. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.

79. Anonymous, Phallic Tintinnabulum, 1st century CE.

Ancient Roman. Bronze. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.

80. Anonymous, Priapus, God of Fertility, 1st century CE.

Ancient Roman. Bronze. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.

81. Anonymous, Skyphos with an Erotic Group (detail), c. 1st century CE.

Ancient Roman. Private collection.

82. Anonymous, Satyr Playing the Flute, beginning of the Common Era. Attican Plate (detail).

Ancient Roman. Private collection.

83. Anonymous, Skyphos with an Erotic Group (detail), c. 1st century CE.

Ancient Roman. Private collection.

84. Anonymous, Erotic Frieze.

Ancient Roman. Private collection.

85. Anonymous, Scene of Banquet in Open Air, 1st century CE.

Ancient Roman. Pompeii. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.

86. Anonymous, Coupling Scene between a Satyr and a Nymph, first half of 2nd century CE.

Ancient Roman. From the House of the Faun, Pompeii.

87. Anonymous, Maenad Solicited by a Satyr Wearing Earrings.

Ancient Roman. Fresco. From the House of L. Caecilius Jucundus in Pompeii. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.

88. Anonymous, One of three small erotic pictures from a small room adjacent to the kitchen, 1st century CE.

Ancient Roman. Fresco. House of the Vettii, Pompeii.

89. Anonymous, The Standing Man Supports the Woman’s Legs on his Shoulders while she half-lies on the Bed, 1st century CE.

Fresco. From the House of Punished Love, Pompeii.

90. Anonymous, Depiction of “Coitus a Tergo”, 1st century CE.

Ancient Roman. Fresco. Pompeii.

91. Anonymous, Erotic Scene.

Ancient Roman. Fresco. Wall painting from Pompeii.

92. Anonymous, Pan with Hermaphroditus, c. 54–68 CE.

Ancient Roman. Fresco. Atrium of the House of Dioscuri, Nero’s reign, Pompeii. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.

93. Anonymous, Erotic Scene from the Suburban Baths of Pompeii.

Ancient Roman. Fresco. Pompeii.

94. Anonymous, Couple, known as Venus Pendula, 1st century CE.

Ancient Roman. Fresco. House of the Vettii, Pompeii.

95. Anonymous, Herakles, the Founding Hero of Herculaneum, 1st-2nd century BCE.

Ancient Roman. Fresco. College of Augustales, Herculaneum. Near Naples.

The founder of Herculaneum, Hercules (Latin form of Greek Herakles) is one of the most popular heroes of Antiquity. Demigod, son of Zeus and Alcmene, spouse of King Amphitryon, he personifies strength and courage. Legend holds that at birth his aunt Hera sent two serpents to devour him in his crib, but the infant strangled them with his own hands. After various exploits, he went to Argos where he married Megara, daughter of Creon, King of Thebes. But having been made insane by the evil machinations of his aunt, Hercules killed his wife and children. To expiate this crime he was sentenced to obey one of his most ardent enemies, King Eurystheus. The latter imposed a series of ordeals known as the Labours of Hercules. Besides these famous twelve labours, Hercules travelled the world, armed, as seen here, with his club that only he could handle and that allowed him to exterminate tyrants, bandits and monsters.

96. Anonymous, Priapus, c. 10 °CE.

Ancient Roman. Fresco. Pompeii.

97. Anonymous, Leda and the Swan, 3rd century CE.

Ancient Roman. Mosaic. Museum of Nicosia, Nicosia (Cyprus).

98. Anonymous, Statue of Antinous, Favourite of Emperor Hadrian, c. 130–138 CE.

Ancient Roman. Marble, height: 199 cm. Archaeological Museum of Delphi, Delphi.

99. Anonymous, Pugilist, c. 1st-2nd century CE.

Ancient Roman. Marble, height: 174 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

100. Anonymous, Artemis of Ephesus, 2nd century CE.

Bronze and alabaster. Ancient Near East. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.