DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5253#0207
CHAPTER XII.
BEGINNINGS AND GROWTH OF SCULPTURE IN MARBLE DURING THE SIXTH
CENTURY B.C.: ASIA MINOR AND THE ISLANDS.
Introductory Historical Sketch. — Increase of Temple Structures. — Marble, Bronze, and Chryselephan-
tine Statuary.—Athletes. — The Ionians. — Decline of Asia Minor. — Colonization. — Changes in
Society. — Characteristics of Art. — Geographical Division. — Ionian Art in Asia Minor and the
Islands.—Artists.— Bathycles' Throne.— Bion of Clazomenai. — Endoios.— Monuments from
Asia Minor. — Statues at Branchidae. — Temple Sculptures at Ephesos. — Sculpture at Assos.—
Lykian Sculpture.—Harpy Monument.— Character of its Art. — The Islands. — Naxian and
Parian Marble. — Artists. — Statues by Naxian Artists. — Statue found on Delos, dedicated to
Artemis. — Characteristics of these Naxian Works. — Colossus at Delos. — Small Bronze from
Naxos. — Bronze Patina. — Relief by Alxenor. — Statues from Thera. — Statues found on Delos.
— Contrast to Works Found at Athens.— Sculptures on Chios. — Archermos. — Statue of Nike.
— Artists at Samos. — Rhoicos and Theodoros. — Theodoros'Works. — Samian Sculptures.
With the waning years of the seventh century B.C., and the beginning of
the sixth, art among the Greek peoples seems to have assumed greater propor-
tions and more enduring form. Costly temples of great extent, in stone and
marble, were now built, whose ruins at Samos, Ephesos, Miletos, and Assos
testify to the activity in architecture along the Asia-Minor coast. The Temple
of Hera, at Olympia, gives evidence of the transformation, at this time, of older
wooden buildings into structures of stone. In sculpture, too, new life is evident;
the perishable wooden material being slowly supplanted by marble, which now
started upon its career under the magic touch of the facile Ionians.
Masters of name and fame now appear on the stage ; and marble monu-
ments abound, whose age is borne witness to by their primitive character, and
the archaic letters of their inscriptions.257 Decorative art and the construction
of costly vessels no longer chiefly employed the artists' attention, but marble,
bronze, and chryselephantine statues of the gods. Monuments found in the
ancient shrines testify to this encouragement of a higher art. The human fig-
ure, no longer a mere accessory, now assumes an importance, as far as we
know, foreign to the spirit of the Orient. In the course of a few decades,
statues, commemorative of the victorious athletes, begin to people the holy
groves at Olympia; the first, which were of wood, being put up, according to
Pausanias, towards Olymp. 59 (about 544 B.C.),258 from which time their num-
ber rapidly increased, the material, however, being changed to bronze.
BEGINNINGS AND GROWTH OF SCULPTURE IN MARBLE DURING THE SIXTH
CENTURY B.C.: ASIA MINOR AND THE ISLANDS.
Introductory Historical Sketch. — Increase of Temple Structures. — Marble, Bronze, and Chryselephan-
tine Statuary.—Athletes. — The Ionians. — Decline of Asia Minor. — Colonization. — Changes in
Society. — Characteristics of Art. — Geographical Division. — Ionian Art in Asia Minor and the
Islands.—Artists.— Bathycles' Throne.— Bion of Clazomenai. — Endoios.— Monuments from
Asia Minor. — Statues at Branchidae. — Temple Sculptures at Ephesos. — Sculpture at Assos.—
Lykian Sculpture.—Harpy Monument.— Character of its Art. — The Islands. — Naxian and
Parian Marble. — Artists. — Statues by Naxian Artists. — Statue found on Delos, dedicated to
Artemis. — Characteristics of these Naxian Works. — Colossus at Delos. — Small Bronze from
Naxos. — Bronze Patina. — Relief by Alxenor. — Statues from Thera. — Statues found on Delos.
— Contrast to Works Found at Athens.— Sculptures on Chios. — Archermos. — Statue of Nike.
— Artists at Samos. — Rhoicos and Theodoros. — Theodoros'Works. — Samian Sculptures.
With the waning years of the seventh century B.C., and the beginning of
the sixth, art among the Greek peoples seems to have assumed greater propor-
tions and more enduring form. Costly temples of great extent, in stone and
marble, were now built, whose ruins at Samos, Ephesos, Miletos, and Assos
testify to the activity in architecture along the Asia-Minor coast. The Temple
of Hera, at Olympia, gives evidence of the transformation, at this time, of older
wooden buildings into structures of stone. In sculpture, too, new life is evident;
the perishable wooden material being slowly supplanted by marble, which now
started upon its career under the magic touch of the facile Ionians.
Masters of name and fame now appear on the stage ; and marble monu-
ments abound, whose age is borne witness to by their primitive character, and
the archaic letters of their inscriptions.257 Decorative art and the construction
of costly vessels no longer chiefly employed the artists' attention, but marble,
bronze, and chryselephantine statues of the gods. Monuments found in the
ancient shrines testify to this encouragement of a higher art. The human fig-
ure, no longer a mere accessory, now assumes an importance, as far as we
know, foreign to the spirit of the Orient. In the course of a few decades,
statues, commemorative of the victorious athletes, begin to people the holy
groves at Olympia; the first, which were of wood, being put up, according to
Pausanias, towards Olymp. 59 (about 544 B.C.),258 from which time their num-
ber rapidly increased, the material, however, being changed to bronze.