Ancient Greek sculpture is the leading standard in the world of sculptural art, which continues to inspire modern sculptors to create artistic masterpieces. Frequent themes of sculptures and stucco compositions ancient Greek sculptors there were battles of great heroes, mythology and legends, rulers and ancient Greek gods.

Greek sculpture received particular development in the period from 800 to 300 BC. e. This area of ​​sculpture drew early inspiration from Egyptian and Near Eastern monumental art and evolved over the centuries into a unique Greek vision of form and dynamics. human body.

Greek painters and sculptors reached the pinnacle of artistic excellence that captured the elusive features of a person and displayed them in a way that no one else could ever show. Greek sculptors were particularly interested in proportion, balance, and the idealized perfection of the human body, and their stone and bronze figures became some of the most recognizable works of art ever created by any civilization.

The origin of sculpture in ancient Greece

From the 8th century BC, archaic Greece saw an increase in the production of small solid figures in clay, ivory and bronze. Undoubtedly, wood was also a widely used material, but its susceptibility to erosion did not allow mass production of wooden products, as they did not show the necessary durability. Bronze figures, human heads, mythical monsters, and in particular griffins, were used as decorations and handles for bronze vessels, cauldrons and bowls.

In style, Greek human figures have expressive geometric lines, which can often be found on ceramic products of that time. The bodies of warriors and gods are depicted with elongated limbs and a triangular torso. Also often ancient Greek creations are decorated with animal figures. Many have been found throughout Greece in places of refuge such as Olympia and Delphi, indicating their common function as amulets and objects of worship.

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The oldest Greek stone sculptures made of limestone date back to the middle of the 7th century BC and were found in Thera. During this period, bronze figures also appear more and more often. From the point of view of the author's intention, the plots of the sculptural compositions became more and more complex and ambitious and could already depict warriors, battle scenes, athletes, chariots, and even musicians with instruments of that period.

Marble sculpture appears at the beginning of the 6th century BC. The first monumental life-sized marble statues served as monuments dedicated to heroes and noble persons, or were located in sanctuaries in which symbolic service to the gods was held.

The earliest large stone figures found in Greece depicted young men dressed in women's clothes, who were accompanied by a cow. The sculptures were static and crude, as in Egyptian monumental statues, the arms were placed straight at the sides, the legs were almost together, and the eyes looked straight ahead without any particular facial expression. These rather static figures slowly evolved through the detailing of the image. Talented masters focused on the smallest details of the image, such as hair and muscles, thanks to which the figures began to come to life.

A characteristic pose for Greek statues was the position in which the arms are slightly bent, which gives them tension in the muscles and veins, and one leg (usually the right one) is slightly advanced forward, giving a sense of the dynamic movement of the statue. This is how the first realistic images of the human body in dynamics appeared.

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Painting and coloring of ancient Greek sculpture

By the early 19th century, systematic excavations of ancient Greek sites had unearthed many sculptures with traces of multicolored surfaces, some of which were still visible. Despite this, influential art historians such as Johann Joachim Winckelmann objected to the idea of ​​painted Greek sculpture so strongly that proponents of painted statues were labeled eccentrics and their views were largely suppressed for over a century.

Only in the published scientific papers of the German archaeologist Vindzenik Brinkman in the late 20th and early 21st century, the discovery of a number of known ancient Greek sculptures. Using high-intensity lamps, ultraviolet light, specially designed chambers, plaster casts, and some powdered minerals, Brinkmann proved that the entire Parthenon, including its main body, as well as the statues, were painted in different colors. Next, he chemically and physically analyzed the pigments of the original paint to determine its composition.

Brinkmann created several color-painted replicas of Greek statues that went on tour around the world. The collection included copies of many works of Greek and Roman sculpture, thereby demonstrating that the practice of painting sculpture was the norm and not the exception in Greek and Roman art.

The museums in which the exhibits were exhibited noted the great success of the exhibition among visitors, which is due to some discrepancy between the usual snow-white Greek athletes and those bright statues that they really were. Venues include the Glyptotek Museum in Munich, the Vatican Museum and the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. The collection staged its American debut at Harvard University in the fall of 2007.

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Stages of the formation of Greek sculpture

The development of sculptural art in Greece went through several significant stages. Each of them was reflected in the sculpture with its characteristic features, noticeable even to non-professionals.

geometric stage

It is believed that the earliest incarnation of Greek sculpture was in the form of wooden cult statues, first described by Pausanias. No evidence of this has survived, and descriptions of them are vague, despite the fact that they were probably objects of veneration for hundreds of years.

The first real evidence of Greek sculpture was found on the island of Euboea and dated to 920 BC. It was a statue of a Lefkandi centaur by the hand of an unknown terracotta sculpture. The statue was pieced together as it was deliberately smashed and buried in two separate graves. The centaur has a distinct mark (wound) on his knee. This allowed the researchers to suggest that the statue may depict Chiron, wounded by the arrow of Hercules. If true, this could be considered the earliest known description of the myth in the history of Greek sculpture.

The sculptures of the Geometric period (approximately 900 to 700 BC) were small figurines made of terracotta, bronze and ivory. Typical sculptural works of this era are represented by many examples. equestrian statue. However, the plot repertoire is not limited to men and horses, since some examples of statues and stucco found from that time depict images of deer, birds, beetles, hares, griffins and lions.

On geometric sculpture early period there are no inscriptions until the early 7th century BC statue of Manticlos "Apollo" found in Thebes. The sculpture is a figure of a standing man with an inscription at his feet. This inscription is a kind of instruction to help each other and return kindness for kindness.

archaic period

Inspired by the monumental stone sculpture of Egypt and Mesopotamia, the Greeks began carving in stone again. The individual figures share the hardness and frontal stance characteristic of Oriental models, but their forms are more dynamic than those of Egyptian sculpture. An example of the sculptures of this period are the statues of Lady Auxerre and the torso of Hera (early archaic period - 660-580 BC, exhibited in the Louvre, Paris).

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Such figures had one salient feature in facial expression - an archaic smile. This expression, which has no specific relevance to the person or situation depicted, may have been an artist's tool to give animation and "liveness" to the figures.

During this period, sculpture was dominated by three types of figures: a standing naked youth, standing girl, dressed in traditional Greek attire, and a seated woman. They emphasize and generalize the main features of the human figure and show an increasingly accurate understanding and knowledge of human anatomy.

Ancient Greek statues of naked youths, in particular the famous Apollo, were often presented in huge sizes, which was supposed to show power and male strength. In these statues, the details of the musculature and skeletal structure are much more visible than in the early geometric works. Dressed girls have a wide range of facial expressions and postures, as in sculptures. Athenian Acropolis. Their drapery is carved and painted with the delicacy and meticulousness characteristic of the details of the sculpture of this period.

The Greeks decided very early on that the human figure was the most important subject of artistic endeavour. Suffice it to recall that their gods have a human appearance, which means that there was no difference between sacred and secular in art - the human body was both secular and sacred at the same time. A male nude figure, without reference to a character, could just as easily become Apollo or Hercules, or portray a mighty Olympian.

As with ceramics, the Greeks did not produce sculpture just for artistic display. Statues were made to order either by aristocrats and nobles, or by the state, and were used for public memorials, for the decoration of temples, oracles and sanctuaries (which ancient inscriptions on statues often prove). The Greeks also used sculptures as monuments for graves. Statues in the archaic period were not meant to represent specific people. These were images of ideal beauty, piety, honor or sacrifice. That is why sculptors have always created sculptures of young people, ranging from adolescence to early maturity, even when they were placed on the graves of (presumably) elderly citizens.

classical period

The classical period made a revolution in Greek sculpture, sometimes associated by historians with radical changes in social and political life - the introduction of democracy and the end of the aristocratic era. The Classical period brought with it changes in the style and function of sculpture, as well as a dramatic increase in the technical skill of Greek sculptors in depicting realistic human forms.

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The poses also became more natural and dynamic, especially at the beginning of the period. It was during this time that Greek statues began to increasingly depict real people, rather than vague interpretations of myths or wholly fictional characters. Although the style in which they were presented has not yet developed into a realistic form of portraiture. The statues of Harmodius and Aristogeiton, created in Athens, symbolize the overthrow of aristocratic tyranny and, according to historians, become the first public monuments that show the figures of real people.

The Classic period also saw the flourishing of stucco art and the use of sculptures as decorations for buildings. Characteristic temples of the classical era, such as the Parthenon at Athens and the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, used relief molding for decorative friezes, wall and ceiling decoration. The complex aesthetic and technical challenge facing the sculptors of that period contributed to the creation of sculptural innovations. Most of the works of that period have survived only in the form of separate fragments, for example, the stucco decoration of the Parthenon is today partly in the British Museum.

Funeral sculpture made a huge leap during this period, from the rigid and impersonal statues of the archaic period to the very personal family groups of the classical era. These monuments are usually found in the suburbs of Athens, which in ancient times were cemeteries on the outskirts of the city. Although some of them depict "ideal" types of people (a yearning mother, an obedient son), they are increasingly becoming the personification of real people and, as a rule, show that the departed leaves this world with dignity, leaving his family. This is a noticeable increase in the level of emotions relative to the archaic and geometric eras.

Another notable change is the flourishing of the creative work of talented sculptors whose names have gone down in history. All information known about sculptures in the Archaic and Geometric periods is focused on the works themselves, with little attention given to their authors.

Hellenistic period

The transition from the classical to the Hellenistic (or Greek) period occurred in the 4th century BC. Greek art became more and more diverse under the influence of the cultures of the peoples involved in the Greek orbit, the conquests of Alexander the Great (336-332 BC). According to some art historians, this led to a decrease in the quality and originality of the sculpture, however, people of that time may not have shared this opinion.

It is known that many sculptures, previously considered geniuses of the classical era, were actually created in the Hellenistic period. The technical ability and talent of the Hellenistic sculptors is evident in such major works as the Winged Victory of Samothrace and the Pergamon Altar. New centers of Greek culture, especially in sculpture, developed in Alexandria, Antioch, Pergamon and other cities. By the 2nd century BC, the growing power of Rome had also swallowed up much of the Greek tradition.

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During this period, sculpture again experienced a shift towards naturalism. Heroes for creating sculptures now became ordinary people - men, women with children, animals and domestic scenes. Many of the creations from that period were commissioned by wealthy families to decorate their homes and gardens. Realistic figures of men and women of all ages were created, and sculptors no longer felt compelled to depict people as ideals of beauty or physical perfection.

At the same time, the new Hellenistic cities that sprang up in Egypt, Syria, and Anatolia needed statues depicting the gods and heroes of Greece for their temples and public spaces. This led to the fact that sculpture, like ceramic production, became an industry with subsequent standardization and some decrease in quality. That is why much more Hellenistic creations have survived to this day than the epochs of the classical period.

Along with the natural shift towards naturalism, there was also a shift in the expression and emotional embodiment of the sculptures. The heroes of the statues began to express more energy, courage and strength. An easy way to appreciate this shift in expression is to compare the best-known creations of the Hellenistic period with those of the Classical period. One of the most famous masterpieces of the classical period is the Delphi Carrier sculpture, which expresses humility and humility. At the same time, the sculptures of the Hellenistic period reflect strength and energy, which is especially pronounced in the work "The Jockey of Artemisia".

The most famous Hellenistic sculptures in the world are the Winged Victory of Samothrace (1st century BC) and the statue of Aphrodite from the island of Melos, better known as Venus de Milo (mid-2nd century BC). These statues depict classical subjects and themes, but their execution is much more sensual and emotional than the harsh spirit of the classical period and its technical skills allowed.

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Hellenistic sculpture was also subject to an increase in scale, culminating in the Colossus of Rhodes (late 3rd century), which historians believe was comparable in size to the Statue of Liberty. A series of earthquakes and robberies destroyed this legacy of ancient Greece, like many other major works of this period, the existence of which is described in literary works contemporaries.

After the conquests of Alexander the Great, Greek culture spread to India, as evidenced by the excavations of Ai-Khanoum in eastern Afghanistan. Greco-Buddhist art represented an intermediate stage between Greek art and the visual expression of Buddhism. Discoveries made since the end of the 19th century regarding the ancient Egyptian city of Heracles have revealed the remains of a statue of Isis dating back to the 4th century BC.

The statue depicts an Egyptian goddess in an unusually sensual and subtle way. This is not typical for the sculptors of that area, because the image is detailed and feminine, which symbolizes the combination of Egyptian and Hellenistic forms during the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great.

Ancient Greek sculpture is the progenitor of all world art! Until now, the masterpieces of Ancient Greece attract millions of tourists and art lovers who seek to touch the beauty and talent that is not subject to time.

Archaic sculpture: o Kouros - naked athletes. o Installed near temples; o Embodied the ideal of male beauty; o Look alike: young, slender, tall. Kouros. 6th century BC e.

Archaic sculpture: o Kore – girls in chitons. o Embodied the ideal female beauty; o Similar to each other: curly hair, enigmatic smile, the epitome of sophistication. Bark. 6th century BC e.

GREEK CLASSIC SCULPTURE o Late 5th-4th century. BC e. - the period of the stormy spiritual life of Greece, the formation of the idealistic ideas of Socrates and Plato in philosophy, which developed in the struggle against the materialistic philosophy of the Democrat, the time of addition and new forms of Greek visual arts. In sculpture, the masculinity and severity of images of strict classics are replaced by an interest in the spiritual world of a person, and his more complex and less straightforward characterization is reflected in plastic art.

Greek sculptors of the classical period: o. Polykleitos o. Miron o. Scopas o. Praxiteles o. Lysippos o. Leohar

Polykleitos The works of Polikleitos have become a real hymn to the greatness and spiritual power of Man. Favorite image - a slender young man with an athletic physique. There is nothing superfluous in it, “nothing beyond measure”, Spiritual and physical appearance is harmonious. Polykleitos. Doryfor (spearman). 450 -440 BC e. Roman copy. National Museum. Naples

Doryphorus has a complex posture, different from static posture ancient kouros. Polikleitos was the first to think of giving the figures such a setting that they rested on the lower part of only one leg. In addition, the figure seems to be mobile and lively, due to the fact that the horizontal axes are not parallel (the so-called chiasmus). "Dorifor" (Greek δορυφόρος - "Spear-bearer") - one of the most famous statues of antiquity, embodies the so-called. Canon of Polikleitos.

The canon of Polykleitos o Doryphoros is not a depiction of a specific winning athlete, but an illustration of the canons of the male figure. o Poliklet set out to accurately determine the proportions of the human figure, according to his ideas about ideal beauty. These proportions are numerically related to each other. o "It was even assured that Poliklet performed it on purpose, so that other artists would use it as a model," a contemporary wrote. o The writing of the "Canon" itself had a great influence on European culture, despite the fact that only two fragments have survived from the theoretical work.

The Canon of Polikleitos If we recalculate the proportions of this Ideal Man for a height of 178 cm, the parameters of the statue will be as follows: 1. volume of the neck - 44 cm, 2. chest - 119, 3. biceps - 38, 4. waist - 93, 5. forearms - 33 , 6. wrists - 19, 7. buttocks - 108, 8. thighs - 60, 9. knees - 40, 10. shins - 42, 11. ankles - 25, 12. feet - 30 cm.

Myron o Myron - Greek sculptor of the middle of the 5th century. BC e. Sculptor of the era that immediately preceded the highest flowering of Greek art (to. VI - early V century) o Embodied the ideals of the strength and beauty of Man. o Was the first master of complex bronze castings. Miron. Discus thrower. 450 BC e. Roman copy. National Museum, Rome

Miron. "Discobolus" o The ancients characterize Myron as the greatest realist and expert in anatomy, who, however, did not know how to give life and expression to faces. He portrayed gods, heroes and animals, and with special love he reproduced difficult, fleeting poses. o His most famous work "Discobolus", an athlete intending to start a disc, is a statue that has come down to our time in several copies, of which the best is made of marble and is located in the Massami Palace in Rome.

sculptural creations Skopas o Skopas (420 - c. 355 BC), a native of the island of Paros, rich in marble. Unlike Praxiteles, Skopas continued the traditions of the high classics, creating monumental-heroic images. But from the images of the 5th c. they are distinguished by the dramatic tension of all spiritual forces. o Passion, pathos, strong movement are the main features of Scopas' art. o Also known as an architect, participated in the creation of a relief frieze for the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus.

Sculptural creations of Skopas In a state of ecstasy, in a violent outburst of passion, Skopas depicts the Maenad. The companion of the god Dionysus is shown in a swift dance, her head is thrown back, her hair falls on her shoulders, her body is curved, presented in a complex perspective, the folds of a short tunic emphasize the violent movement. Unlike the sculpture of the 5th century. Maenad Scopas is already designed for viewing from all sides. Scopas. Maenad

Sculptural creations of Skopas Also known as an architect, he participated in the creation of a relief frieze for the Halicarnassus mausoleum. Scopas. Battle with the Amazons

Praxiteles o Born in Athens (c. 390 - 330 BC) o Inspirational singer of female beauty.

Sculptural creations of Praxiteles o The statue of Aphrodite of Cnidus is the first depiction of a nude female figure in Greek art. The statue stood on the coast of the Knidos peninsula, and contemporaries wrote about real pilgrimages here to admire the beauty of the goddess, preparing to enter the water and throwing off her clothes on a nearby vase. o The original statue has not been preserved. Praxiteles. Aphrodite of Knidos

Sculptural creations of Praxiteles In the only marble statue of Hermes (the patron of trade and travelers, as well as the messenger, the “courier” of the gods) that has come down to us in the original of the sculptor Praxiteles, the master depicted a beautiful young man, in a state of peace and serenity. Thoughtfully, he looks at the baby Dionysus, whom he holds in his arms. The masculine beauty of an athlete is being replaced by a somewhat feminine, graceful, but also more spiritual beauty. On the statue of Hermes, traces of an ancient race have been preserved: red-brown hair, a silver-colored bandage. Praxiteles. Hermes. Around 330 BC e.

Lysippus o Great sculptor of the 4th c. BC e. o o (370-300 BC). He worked in bronze, because he strove to capture images in a fleeting impulse. He left behind 1,500 bronze statues, including colossal figures of gods, heroes, and athletes. They are characterized by pathos, inspiration, emotionality. The original has not reached us. Court sculptor Marble copy of the head of A. Macedonian

Sculptural creations of Lysippus o In this sculpture, the passionate intensity of the duel of Hercules with a lion is conveyed with amazing skill. Lysippos. Hercules fighting a lion. 4th century BC e. Roman copy Hermitage, St. Petersburg

Sculptural creations of Lysippus o Lysippus sought to bring his images as close as possible to reality. o So, he showed athletes not at the moment of the highest tension, but, as a rule, at the moment of their decline, after the competition. This is how his Apoxyomenos is represented, cleaning off the sand after a sports fight. He has a tired face, hair matted with sweat. Lysippos. Apoxyomenos. Roman copy, 330 BC e.

Sculptural creations of Lysippus o Captivating Hermes, always fast and alive, is also represented by Lysippus, as if in a state of extreme fatigue, briefly crouching on a stone and ready to run further in his winged sandals the next second. Lysippos. "Resting Hermes"

Sculptural creations of Lysippus o Lysippus created his own canon of proportions of the human body, according to which his figures are taller and slimmer than those of Polykleitos (the size of the head is 1/9 of the figure). Lysippos. "Hercules of Farnese"

Leohar His work is a fine attempt to capture the classic ideal of human beauty. In his works, not only the perfection of images, but the skill and technique of execution. Apollo is considered one of the best works of Antiquity. Leohar. Apollo Belvedere. 4th century BC e. Roman copy. Vatican Museums

Greek Sculpture So, in Greek sculpture, the expressiveness of the image was in the whole body of a person, his movements, and not just in the face. Despite the fact that many Greek statues did not retain their upper part (as, for example, Nike of Samothrace or Nike Untying Sandals came to us without a head, we forget about this when looking at the integral plastic solution of the image. Since the soul and the body was thought by the Greeks in inseparable unity, then the bodies of Greek statues are unusually spiritualized.

Nike of Samothrace The statue was erected on the occasion of the victory of the Macedonian fleet over the Egyptian in 306 BC. e. The goddess was depicted, as it were, on the prow of a ship, announcing victory with the sound of a trumpet. The pathos of victory is expressed in the rapid movement of the goddess, in the wide flapping of her wings. Nike of Samothrace 2nd century BC e. Louvre, Paris Marble

Nike untying her sandal The goddess is shown untying her sandal before entering the Temple of Marble. Athens

Venus de Milo On April 8, 1820, a Greek peasant from the island of Melos named Iorgos, digging the ground, felt that his shovel, with a dull clinking, came across something hard. Iorgos dug nearby - the same result. He took a step back, but even here the spade did not want to enter the ground. First Iorgos saw a stone niche. It was about four or five meters wide. In a stone crypt, to his surprise, he found a marble statue. This was Venus. Agesander. Venus de Milo. Louvre. 120 BC e.

Laocoön and his sons Laocoön, you did not save anyone! Neither the city nor the world is a savior. Powerless mind. Proud Three mouth is a foregone conclusion; the circle of fatal events closed in the suffocating crown of serpentine rings. Horror on the face, the plea and groans of your child; the other son was silenced by the poison. Your fainting. Your wheezing: "Let me be ... "(... Like the bleating of sacrificial lambs Through the haze and piercingly, and subtly!..) And again - reality. And poison. They are stronger! In the snake's mouth powerfully rage blazes. . . Laocoön, who heard you? ! Here are your boys. . . They are. . . don't breathe. But in each Troy they are waiting for their horses.

Zeus was the king of the gods, the god of the sky and weather, law, order and fate. He was depicted as a regal man, mature with a strong figure and a dark beard. His usual attributes were lightning bolts, a royal scepter, and an eagle. Father of Hercules, organizer of the Trojan War, fighter with a hundred-headed monster. He flooded the world so that humanity could begin to live anew.

Poseidon was the great Olympian god of the sea, rivers, floods and droughts, earthquakes, and also the patron of horses. He was depicted as a mature man of strong build with a dark beard and a trident. When the world was divided by Chron between his sons, he received rule over the sea.

Demeter was the great Olympian goddess of fertility, agriculture, grain, and bread. She also presided over one of the mystical cults that promised their initiates a path to a blessed afterlife. Demeter was depicted as a mature woman, often crowned, holding wheat ears and a torch in her hand. She brought hunger to Earth, but she also sent the hero Triptolemos to teach people how to cultivate the land.

Hera was the queen of the Olympian gods and the goddess of women and marriage. She was also a goddess starry sky. She is usually portrayed as beautiful woman wearing a crown, holding a royal staff tipped with a lotus. She sometimes keeps a royal lion, cuckoo or hawk as companions. She was the wife of Zeus. She gave birth to a crippled baby Hephaestus, whom she threw from Heaven just by looking. He himself was the god of fire and a skilled blacksmith and patron of blacksmithing. Hera helped the Greeks in the Trojan War.

Apollo was the great god of Olympian prophecies and oracles, healing, plague and disease, music, songs and poetry, archery, and youth protection. He was depicted as a handsome, beardless youth with long hair and various attributes such as a wreath and laurel branch, bow and quiver, crow, and lyre. Apollo had a temple at Delphi.

Artemis was the great goddess of the hunt, wildlife and wild animals. She was also the goddess of childbirth and the patroness of young girls. Her twin, Apollo's brother, was also the patron saint of teenage boys. Together, these two gods were also the arbiters of sudden death and illness - Artemis targeted women and girls, and Apollo targeted men and boys.

In ancient art, Artemis is usually depicted as a girl dressed in a short knee-length tunic and equipped with a hunting bow and a quiver of arrows.

After her birth, she immediately helped her mother give birth to her twin brother Apollo. She turned the hunter Actaeon into a deer when he saw her bathing.

Hephaestus was the great Olympian god of fire, metalworking, stonework, and the art of sculpture. He was usually depicted as a bearded man with a hammer and tongs - blacksmith's tools - and riding a donkey.

Athena was the great Olympian goddess of wise advice, war, city defense, heroic efforts, weaving, pottery and other crafts. She was depicted wearing a helmet, armed with a shield and a spear, and wearing a cloak trimmed with a snake wrapped around her chest and arms, adorned with the head of a Gorgon.

Ares was the great Olympian god of war, civil order, and courage. In Greek art, he was depicted either as a mature, bearded warrior clad in battle armor, or as a naked, beardless youth with a helmet and spear. Due to the lack of distinguishing features, it is often difficult to identify in classical art.

The art of ancient Greece became the support and foundation on which the whole European civilization. The sculpture of Ancient Greece is a special topic. Without antique sculpture there would be no brilliant masterpieces of the Renaissance, and the further development of this art is hard to imagine. In the history of the development of Greek antique sculpture, three major stages can be distinguished: archaic, classical and Hellenistic. Each has something important and special. Let's consider each of them.

Archaic

Sculptures created between the 7th century BC and the early 5th century BC belong to this period. The epoch gave us figures of naked young warriors (kouros), as well as many female figures in clothes (koros). Archaic sculptures are characterized by some sketchiness and disproportion. On the other hand, each work of the sculptor is attractive for its simplicity and restrained emotionality. The figures of this era are characterized by a half-smile, which gives the works some mystery and depth.

The "Goddess with a Pomegranate", which is kept in the Berlin State Museum, is one of the best preserved archaic sculptures. With external roughness and "wrong" proportions, the attention of the viewer is attracted by the hands of the sculpture, brilliantly executed by the author. The expressive gesture of the sculpture makes it dynamic and especially expressive.

"Kouros from Piraeus", which adorns the collection of the Athens Museum, is a later, and therefore more perfect work of an ancient sculptor. Before the viewer is a powerful young warrior. A slight tilt of the head and hand gestures speak of the peaceful conversation that the hero is having. The broken proportions are no longer so striking. And facial features are not as generalized as those of the early sculptures of the archaic period.

Classic

Most of the sculptures of this era are associated with ancient plastic art.

In the era of the classics, such famous sculptures like Athena Parthenos, Olympian Zeus, Discobolus, Doryphorus and many others. History has preserved for posterity the names of outstanding sculptors of the era: Policlet, Phidias, Myron, Skopas, Praxiteles and many others.

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.

It is the classical period that is characterized by the appearance of the first nude female figures (Wounded Amazon, Aphrodite of Cnidus), which give an idea of ​​the ideal of female beauty in the heyday of antiquity.

Hellenism

Late Greek antiquity is characterized by a strong oriental influence on all art in general and on sculpture in particular. Complex foreshortenings, exquisite draperies, numerous details appear.

Oriental emotionality and temperament penetrate into the calmness and majesty of the classics.

Aphrodite of Cyrene, who adorns the Roman museum of Thermae, is full of sensuality, even some coquetry.

The most famous sculptural composition Hellenistic era - Laocoon and his sons Agesander of Rhodes (a masterpiece is stored in one of). The composition is full of drama, the plot itself suggests strong emotions. Desperately resisting the snakes sent by Athena, the hero himself and his sons seem to understand that their fate is terrible. The sculpture is made with extraordinary precision. The figures are plastic and real. The faces of the characters make a strong impression on the viewer. Since I will soon have to give a course of lectures on world history arts, I prepare and repeat the material. I decided to post some of it and my thoughts on this subject. This is not the lecture itself, but thoughts on a narrow specific topic.

It is difficult to overestimate the place of sculpture in the art of Antiquity. However, two of its most important national manifestations are the sculpture of Ancient Greece and the sculpture ancient rome- are two completely different, in many respects opposite phenomena. What do they consist of?

The sculpture of Greece is truly famous, and in fact should be put in the first place in comparison with Greek architecture. The fact is that the Greeks perceived architecture itself as a sculpture. Any building for a Greek is, first of all, a plastic volume, a monument perfect in its forms, but intended primarily for contemplation from the outside. But I will write about architecture separately.

The names of Greek sculptors are well known and heard by everyone who studied at school. The Greek easel painters were just as famous and glorified, however, as is sometimes the case in the history of art, absolutely nothing of their work has survived, perhaps, alleged copies on the walls of the houses of wealthy Romans (which can be seen in Pompeii). However, as we will see, the situation is not so good with the original Greek statues, since most of them are known again from Roman replicas devoid of Greek perfection.

However, with such an attentive attitude to the names of the creators of art, the Greeks remained completely indifferent to individuality, to what would now be called the personality of a person. Having made a person the center of their art, the Greeks saw in him an exalted ideal, a manifestation of perfection, a harmonious combination of soul and body, but were by no means interested in the particular features of the depicted person. The Greeks did not know the portrait in our sense of the word (with the possible exception of the later, Hellenistic period). Erecting statues of anthropoid gods, heroes, famous citizens of their polis, they created a generalized, typical image that embodies positive traits soul, heroism, virtue and beauty.

The worldview of the Greeks began to change only with the end of the era of the classics in the 4th century BC. The end of the former world was put by Alexander the Great, who, with his unprecedented activity, gave birth to that cultural phenomenon of mixing Greek and Middle Eastern, which was called Hellenism. But only after more than 2 centuries, Rome, already powerful by that time, entered the arena of art history.

Oddly enough, but for a good half (if not most) of its history, Rome almost did not manifest itself from an artistic point of view. So passed almost the entire republican period, which remained in the memory of the people as a time of Roman valor and purity of morals. But then, finally, in the 1st century BC. a Roman sculptural portrait arose. It is difficult to say how great was the role of the Greeks in this, who now worked for the Romans who had conquered them. It must be assumed that without them, Rome would hardly have created such a brilliant art. However, whoever created Roman works of art, they were precisely Roman.

Paradoxically, although it was Rome that created what may be the most individualized art of portraiture in the world, there is no record of the sculptors who created this art. Thus, the sculpture of Rome, and above all the sculptural portrait, is the opposite of the classical sculpture of Greece.

It should be noted right away that another, this time local, Italian tradition, namely the art of the Etruscans, played an important role in its formation. Well, let's look at the monuments and use them to characterize the main phenomena in ancient sculpture.

Already in this marble head from the Cyclades 3 thousand BC. e. that plastic feeling is laid down, which will become the main asset of Greek art. This is not harmed in any way by the minimalism of details, which, of course, was complemented by painting, since until the High Renaissance, sculpture was never colorless.

A well-known (well, this can be said about almost any statue of a Greek sculptor) group depicting the tyronic killers Harmodius and Aristogeiton, sculpted by Critias and Nesiotes. Without being distracted by the formation of Greek art in the archaic era, we have already turned to the work of the classics of the 5th century. BC. Representing two heroes, fighters for the democratic ideals of Athens, the sculptors depict two conditional figures, only in general terms similar to the prototypes themselves. Their main task is to combine into a single whole two beautiful, ideal bodies, captured by one heroic impulse. Bodily perfection here implies the inner rightness and dignity of those depicted.

In some of their works, the Greeks sought to convey the harmony contained in peace, in static. Poliklet achieved it both thanks to the proportioning of the figure, and due to the dynamics contained in the setting of the figure. T. n. chiasm or otherwise contrapposto - the oppositely directed movement of different parts of the figure - one of the conquests of this time, forever entered into the flesh European art. The originals of Polykleitos have been lost. Contrary to the habit of the modern viewer, the Greeks often worked by casting statues in bronze, which made it possible to avoid the disturbing stands that arose in the marble repetitions of Roman times. (On the right is a bronze reconstruction copy from the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, how much better it is!)

Miron became famous for conveying very complex states in which calm is about to give way to active movement. Again, I give two versions of his discus thrower (both late): marble and bronze.

"Rublev" of Ancient Greece, the great creator of the sculpture of the Acropolis of Athens Phidias, on the contrary, achieved beauty and balance even in the most intense and moving compositions. Here we have the opportunity to see the originals of the 5th c. BC, this time made of marble as connected with the flesh of the architecture of the Parthenon. Even in a broken form, without arms, legs and heads, in the form of miserable ruins, the Greek classics are amazingly perfect. No other art could do that.

But what about the portrait? Here is a famous image of the great Pericles. But what can we learn from it about this person? Only that he was a great citizen of his policy, an outstanding figure and a valiant commander. And nothing more.

The “portrait” of Plato, represented by a no longer young sage with a lush beard and an intellectual, mentally intense face, is solved differently. The loss of eye painting, of course, largely deprives the image of expression.

The image was already perceived differently at the end of the 4th century. The surviving replicas of the portraits of Alexander the Great, created by Lysippus, show us a personality that is no longer so integral, confident and unambiguous in itself, as we just saw in the classical period of Greece.

Now, finally, it is time to move on to Rome, or rather, for the time being, to the Etruscans, who created the funeral images of the dead. Canopy - urns for ashes - the Etruscans made with images of heads and hands, likening, so far conditionally, to a deceased person. Terracotta canopy, 6th century BC. e.

More complex works were such tombstones with figures of people reclining as if at a feast, often married couples.

Charming smiles, similar to the smiles of archaic Greek statues... But something else is important here - these are the specific people buried here.

Etruscan traditions laid a kind of foundation for the proper Roman portrait. Appearing only in the 1st century BC, the Roman portrait differed sharply from any other. Authenticity in the transmission of the truth of life, the unadorned appearance of a person, the image of him as he is, became paramount in it. And in this the Romans undoubtedly saw dignity. We can best apply the term verismo to the Roman portrait of the end of the republican era. He even frightens with his repulsive frankness, which does not stop at any features of ugliness and old age.

To illustrate the following thesis, I will give an encyclopedic example - images of a Roman in a toga with portraits of their ancestors. In this obligatory Roman custom, there was not only a human desire to preserve the memory of bygone generations, but also a religious component, so typical of such a domestic religion as Roman.

Following the Etruscans, the Romans depicted married couples on tombstones. In general, plastic, sculpture was as natural for a resident of Rome as photography is for us.

But now a new time has come. At the turn of the millennium (and eras), Rome became an empire. From now on, our gallery will be represented primarily by portraits of emperors. However, this official art not only preserved, but also multiplied the extraordinary realism that originally arose in the Roman portrait. However, first in the era of Augustus (27 BC - 14 AD), Roman art experienced its first serious interaction with the ideal beauty inherent in everything Greek. But even here, having become perfect in form, it remained faithful to the portrait features of the emperor. Allowing convention in a perfect, ideally correct and healthy body, dressed in armor and remaining in a ceremonial pose, Roman art places on this body the real head of Augustus, such as he was.

From Greece to the Romans passed an amazing possession of stone processing, but here this art could not obscure what was inherently Roman.

Another version of the official image of Augustus as the Great Pontiff in a veil thrown over his head.

And now, already in the portrait of Vespasian (69 - 79 AD), we again see undisguised verism. This image from childhood sunk into my memory, bewitching the personal features of the depicted emperor. Smart, noble and at the same time cunning and prudent face! (How does a broken nose suit him))

At the same time, new marble processing techniques are also being mastered. The use of a drill allows you to create a more complex play of volumes, light and shadow, to introduce a contrast of various textures: rough hair, polished skin. For example, a female image, otherwise only men have been presented so far.

Troyan (98 - 117)

Antoninus Pius was the second emperor after Hadrian to grow a beard in the Greek manner. And it's not just a game. Together with the "Greek" appearance, something philosophical appears in the image of a person. The gaze goes to the side, up, depriving a person of a state of balance and contentment with the body. (Now the pupils of the eyes are outlined by the sculptor himself, which retains the look even if the former tinting is lost.)

With all obviousness, this comes through in the portraits of the philosopher on the throne - Marcus Aurelius (161 - 180).

This interesting shard attracts me here. Try to draw facial features, and you get an icon! Look at the shapes of the eye, eyelid, pupil and compare them with Byzantine icons.

But not only the valiant and righteous should be the subject of a Roman portrait! Heliogabal (correctly - Elagabal), an adherent of the eastern cult of the sun, surprised the Romans with customs that were completely contrary to them and did not shine with the purity of life. But this is clearly shown to us by his portrait.

Finally, the golden age of Rome is far behind. One by one, the so-called soldier emperors are elevated to the throne. Natives of any estates, countries and peoples can suddenly become rulers of Rome, being proclaimed their soldiers. A portrait of Philip the Arabian (244 - 249), not the worst of them. And again, some longing or anxiety in his eyes ...

Well, this is ridiculous: Trebonian Gallus (251 - 253).

Here it is time to note what from time to time showed through in the Roman portrait before. Now the form begins to inexorably schematize, plastic molding gives way to conditional graphic. The flesh itself is gradually leaving, giving way to a purely spiritual, exclusively internal image. Emperor Probus (276 - 282).

And so, we have approached the end of the 3rd - the beginning of the 4th centuries. Diocletian creates a new system of administration of the Empire - the tetrarchy. Two Augusts and two Caesars rule over its four parts. The old city of Rome, which has long since lost the role of the capital, is no longer important. An amusing group of four almost identical figures, identified with the tetrarchs, has been preserved in Venice, taken from Constantinople. She is often shown as the end of a Roman portrait. But it's not! In fact, this is, let's say, a special experiment, the avant-garde of that time. In addition, according to some of my teachers, this is an Egyptian work, which is particularly evident from the use of hard porphyry. The metropolitan Roman school, of course, remained different and did not die for at least another century.

In support of what has been said, another image from Egypt is the emperor Maximin Daza (305 - 313). Full stylization, schematization and abstraction, if you like.

And here's what went on in Rome. Constantine the Great (306-337) becomes the sovereign ruler of the Empire. In his colossal portrait (this, in fact, is the head of the Colossus - a giant statue installed in the Roman basilica of Constantine-Maxentius), there is fully present both the ideal, perfect elaboration of the form and the finally formed new image, detached from everything temporary. In huge, beautiful eyes looking somewhere past us, strong-willed eyebrows, a firm nose, closed lips, there is now not only the image of an earthly ruler, but also something that has already gone beyond the boundaries of that reflection that ate Marcus Aurelius and his other contemporaries, who were weary this corporeal shell in which the soul was enclosed.

If the famous Edict of Milan in 313 only stopped the persecution of Christianity, allowing Christians to legally exist in the Empire (Constantine himself was baptized only at death), then by the end of the 4th century after A.D. Christianity had already become dominant. And at this time of Christian Antiquity, sculptural portraits still continued to be created. The portrait of Emperor Arcadius (383-408) is striking in its beauty, but also in its unearthly abstraction.

This is where the Roman portrait ended up, this is the image it gave birth to, having already become Christian art in itself. Sculpture is now giving way to painting. But the great heritage of the former culture is not rejected, continuing to live, serving new goals and objectives. The Christian image (icon), on the one hand, was born from the words: "No one has ever seen God; the Only Begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has revealed" (John 1: 18). On the other hand, he absorbed the entire experience of the art that preceded it, as we have seen, which had long ago painfully sought the truth, and finally found it.

But that's a completely different story for this story...