4th C Free Standing Statues

Introduction

Some stylistic tendancies continued from 5th C but sculptors are now trying to make images interesting from all sides and interact with viewer
Starting to see trend moving back to realism
Some of the uniformity gives way and we see more individual emotional pieces
Many sculptors move back to casting in marble as they feel there is more they can explore with surface of marble in terms of effects they can make and beauty of the end figure
Start looking at personification - taking abstract ideas and trying to convey them in figure
Specialisation - artists realised they were good at presenting certain types of figures so start to specialise in particular areas
Key sculptors: Kephisodotos, Praxiteles, Skopas, Lysippos

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375BC (coincides with Athens defeating Sparta)
6ft 6.5"
Original was bronze, just have marble copy but it is felt the copy captures everything original did
Mother and child - emphasised by eye contact her titled head in very nurturing gaze and baby craning neck to meet and hold the gaze.
Personification - mother is peace, child is wealth
Propaganda here - to get wealth you need peace, peace nurtures wealth
Post Persian and Peloponnese wars and sacking of Athens - rebuilding Athens (all relevant)
Drapery similar to Hestia statue - has a mass about it, no thinness or transparency has correct sense of what weight would have been
Beautiful folds in drapery but not for decoration and not overworked - simplicity and grandeur
Modelling lines there
Really beautiful way the dress crumples over foot coming out underneath - vast improvement to what it used to be like with Korai
Bent knee breaks fold again showing form
Don't want anything overly decorative to draw away from the emotive gaze which is focus.
Babies and children been difficult for artists in the past (Astyanax) more realistic depiction here

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Important sculptor, we think working from 370-330BC and potentially Kephisodotos' son
7ft 1" statue around 340BC
Very clearly influenced by peace and wealth
Kephisodotos was interested in personification, Praxiteles more interested in humanising gods
Hermes holding Dionysus' in his arm (we think other raised arm would have been holding grapes) Sense of humour here as Dionysus is fod of wine and reaches up for it even as a baby
We dont normally see gods ageing but Dionysus show in infancy draws parallels with mortals
Uses tree trunk with Hermes' cloak draped over - used as support as with marble things would often break, but artist has made it part of the narrative
Drapery exquisitely hanging over tree provides nice contrast with bare expanse of flesh
Similar to Doryphoros with walking stance although less with Hermes who is still. Both have contrapposto but with Hermes we see Praxitelean S curve - natural and relaxed pose. Doryphoros has a straighter line going through body.
Nice reaction of muscule response where arm is outstretched
Compare expression and reaction with peace and wealth. PandW give sense of loving nurture. here relationship depicted slightly differently - more brotherly. older brother teasing Dionysus - head slightly pulled back on Hermes suggesting enjoyment in the teasing.

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6ft 8" around 350BC
First female nude we know of.
Catching Aphrodite before/after bathing- right arm covering herself quite defensively
She was erected in a shrine so visible from all angles - she is shown at most vulnerable
Typically Praxitelian S curve - hip juts out to the right and knee brought in modestly to protect her dignity. Shown quite awkwardly and wanting to hide herself
Typical of Praxiteles wanting to humanise the gods
Quite a small head - eyes much narrower than we've seen before. Shock and anxiety shown more in pose than expression however.
Hyrdria and Cloak which would have been support is made part of the narrative.

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Skopas from Paros (Parian marble purest kind you can get)
Really dedicated himself as an artist to depiting emotion - capturing moments of high emotion
Magarians wanted to improve Aphrodite temple - hired both Praxiteles and Skopas - Skopas to produce images of much higher and passionate emotion e.g. love, desire, yearning
350-325BC
Copy but does convey same drama and emotion
Can see immediately difference in pose to the works of Kephisodotos and Praxiteles
Tiwist of body, arched back, way head is flung back and the sunken eyes and quite protruding brow all showing the raging
back of robe flown across back and leg exposed
very dramatic piece.

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Appointed court sculptor by Alexander the Great - shows how good a sculptor he was
extremely prolific - said to have produced over 1500 works
Broke away from Polykeiton canon and bases work on Praxiteles' canon but prefers to create slender bodies and smaller heads so statues appear taller.
Preffered to work in bronze but we dont have any originals left, only roman copies
One of the things he was most famous for was treatment of the surface details unfortunately not something kepy in the copies
Apoxymenos 325BC
Lots of focus on leg muscles responding to body's action - tensed knee holding weight
Ideal proportions - head significantly smaller, long slender body.
Naturalism: image v. realistic, very natural activity.
bent left arm deliberately cuts off torso so cant see balance of forms. encouraged to see statue from all angles
Real grace with the statue - although standing still you can sense theres vivacity- hes about to move position
musculature done really well.

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