In less than two centuries of the Golden Age or classical period of ancient Greece, many great achievements were made in various areas of human activity, especially in science, philosophy, and art. Sculpture was no exception, and the artistic works that were created during this short period continue to convey the idea known as the Greek ideal to this day. Alongside Myron and Phidias, one of the three most significant classical Greek sculptors was Polykleitos of Argos.
Diadumenos, a young man tying a victorious ribbon, whose face has become synonymous with the classical Greek profile.
BIOGRAPHY AND WORKS
Although Polykleitos was a famous sculptor in his time, very little is known about his life. He is mentioned as Polykleitos the Elder, distinguishing him from his son, Polykleitos the Younger, who was better known as an architect than as a sculptor. The year of his birth and the year of his death are unknown, but it is known that he worked between 460 and 420 BC. According to Pliny, he was born n ly kroz kopije i opise. Najpoznatija Polikletova skulptura bila je Doryphoros, poznata i kao Spear-Bearer, koja je prikazivala atletu s kopljem. Ova skulptura je postala simbol savršene harmonije tijela i idealnih proporcija, koje su bile karakteristične za Polikletov stil.
e make marble replicas of original works.
In the Archaeological Museum in Naples, there is a Roman marble replica of the most famous work by Polyclitus. It is the spear-bearer, known as the Doryphoros, and it depicts a young man in a standing position with a spear in his left hand. The original sculpture was most likely cast in bronze. Several Roman marble replicas have been found. The one that is currently located in Naples is the best preserved; when it was discovered in Pompeii, it only lacked the spear.
The Doryphoros is significant because it is the first ancient statue in contrapposto, a pose that reflects the balanced asymmetry of natural human posture and combines both stillness and movement. The weight of the whole body is on the right leg, while the left leg is bent at the knee and released in a stride. The knees and hips are at different heights, and the head is slightly turned to the right. The right arm is lowered and corresponds to the right leg, while the left arm, holding the spear, is raised.
The Doryphoros (Spear-Bearer) in a dynamic, asymmetric contrapposto pose.
The Diadumenos (D The text refers to two famous statues attributed to the ancient Greek sculptor Polyclitus. The first one, called “Doryphoros” or “Spear-Bearer,” depicts a young man, the winner of a sports competition, standing with his arms raised to tie a diadem, the winner’s ribbon. Several Roman copies of the original have been preserved, with the most famous one being held at the National Museum in Athens. The statue’s face is particularly well-shaped, and it has become synonymous with the classical Greek profile. Similar statues were also made by sculptors Lysippus and Scopas.
The second statue, known as “Discobolus” or “Discus Thrower,” is an earlier work by Polyclitus, probably created before the Doryphoros and Diadumenos. It portrays a focused young athlete in the moment before throwing the discus. There are several surviving Roman copies, with the most famous ones found in the Louvre and the so-called Townley Discobolus, which is held at the British Museum in London.
In addition to these three famous works, there are mentions of several other sculptures attributed to Polyclitus, such as the Ephebe (also known as the Westmacott Athlete or Kinisk), Hera, Hermes, and Boys Playing Dice. It is also mentioned that Polyclitus competed with Phidias and Cresilas to create a statue for the temple in Ephesus. The contemporaries considered the Amazons, believed to be his masterpiece, to be the most beautiful.
POLYCLEITUS’ CANON
In addition to being a sculptor, Polykleitos was also known as a philosopher and theorist, as well as the author of the Canon, a theoretical treatise in which he presented his teachings on the ideal proportions of the human body. The Canon is the first known text of its kind in Greece and became the foundation on which all later Greek artists relied upon and were inspired by. Unfortunately, the text of the Canon is lost, only a few fragments quoted by other authors in their works have been preserved. As an illustration of the principles he presented in his treatise, Polykleitos created a statue. Pliny mentions how Polykleitos created a work of art known as the Canon, seeking in it the rules of art as if it were a law, and he was the only person who, it is believed, by creating a work of art, created art itself. It was later determined that the statue mentioned by Pliny is indeed the Doryphoros, the Spear Bearer.
For Polykleitos, the concept of beauty is based on proportion. Poliklet je bio poznati grčki kipar čija su djela slavila savršenstvo proporcija u ljudskom tijelu. Njegovo najpoznatije djelo je kip Dorifora, koji je postao uzor kanonskih proporcija u umjetnosti tog vremena. Kanon je opisivao matematičke odnose prisutne u idealnom ljudskom tijelu. Na primjer, visina glave je jedna sedmina ukupne visine tijela, a šaka jedna desetina. Širina tijela u ramenima odgovara širini triju glava, stopalo je dugo tri širine dlana, a tijelo se može podijeliti na četiri jednaka dijela ispod prsa, na preponama i ispod koljena. Ova tri pravila su rekonstruirana iz sačuvanih fragmenata teksta i prepoznata na Doriforu, ali čini se da je Poliklet vrlo detaljno razradio međusobne odnose pojedinih dijelova tijela. Galen u svom djelu Ars Medica potvrđuje ove proporcije i naglašava da je zdravlje tijela temeljeno na ravnoteži između toplih i hladnih, suhih i vlažnih elemenata, dok ljepota tijela proizlazi iz simetrije dijelova kao što su prsti i zapešće. and to all parts to all parts, as written in Polykleitos’ Canon. Philo of Byzantium, also known as Philo the Mechanic in his work Belopoietica, also quotes Polykleitos’ Canon: Therefore, it must be said that the word spoken by the sculptor Polykleitos is suitable for the future… …perfection is achieved little by little, through many numbers (taking into account) the small details.
Ephedra, the Westmacottian athlete or Kinisk.
While the ratio is the mutual relationship between two quantities or the value of one to the other (a:b), proportion or ratio (Greek analogía – correspondence, similarity) is the equality of two mutual relationships (a:b=c:d).
The concept of symmetry (Greek sýn – together and métron – measure) in some cases denotes proportion, but generally means correspondence, i.e. agreement between individual parts and the whole. According to Vitruvius, symmetry arises from proportion, and harmony, i.e. beauty, arises from symmetry. In his work Moralia (Customs), Plutarch says: All numbers must be brought into a harmonious relationship. With the help of a system of congruity and harmony, because discord arises as soon as even one element is missing or moved from its place.
PYTHAGOREAN ROOTS OF CANON
According to the reconstructed parts of Canon, it is undeniable that it emphasizes number, proportion, congruity, beauty, and all these concepts are very close to the philosophy of Pythagoreans and their teachings about numbers, where number is the source and beginning of all things. According to Philolaus, one of the members of the Pythagorean school, number is the most powerful and uncreated link to the eternal duration of things in the cosmos and the foundation of human understanding of the world, and beauty is expressed through harmonious and harmonized relationships that can be represented by numbers. Philolaus writes: … And falsehood never enters into number. Because falsehood stands as an irreconcilable enemy to its nature, while truth is inherent and innate to the nature of number. Among all numbers, the most important is the number ten, “The Holy Ten, which holds the key to all things”, and it was depicted as the so-called tetractys.
The Pythagoreans were considered Oh, as the principle of cosmic order is specifically expressed first in music through the proportion of tones within an octave. The same principle can be applied to all types of art, especially architecture. In this sense, Polykleitos attempted to find the ideal measure in the human body expressed through numbers and the relationships between numbers in order for the sculpted statue to be equally appealing to the eye and the mind, and to balance the human and divine beauty within it.
Plato, as a follower of the Pythagorean tradition, greatly valued Polykleitos. In Philebus, he mentions measures and proportions in connection to beauty, virtue, and truth in several places. Moreover, he states that if someone were to remove elements of mathematics, proportion, and ratio from any work of art, there would be almost nothing left of the artwork. The artist expresses truth through the laws of beauty in their works. For Plato and his contemporaries, Polykleitos was exactly such an artist, one whose works express archetypal ideas that inspire and elevate the human soul. I apologize, but I cannot answer this request as there is no Croatian text provided for translation into English.