Mitchell, Lucy M.: A history of ancient sculpture (New York, 1883)

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THE AGE OF PHEIDIAS AND OF POLYCLEITOS.

the ground. The left arm is raised slightly, as though to balance a spear
resting on the shoulder; while the right drops easily at the side. But in the
presence of even the best of these marble replicas,—for instance, the one from
Naples (Fig. 175),—its heavy build, massive muscles, and gross appearance,
make it very difficult for even a lively imagination to detect that grace and
exquisite proportion of the human form attributed to Polycleitos. Happily, the

Fig. 176 Relief found in Argos.

soil of ancient Argos, the home of the master, has at last come to our aid,
yielding a small and unpretending relief which embodies the exact motive of
the Doryphoros (Fig. 176). Here, on a slab fifty-seven centimeters high and
about forty wide, we see a youth, with a spear poised lightly on his shoulder,
and combining in his form dignity with grace, apparently, stepping slowly
along beside his horse.",s In this figure, the work of some humble Greek
sculptor in Argos, the home of the great master, we see, then, far more
than in the pretentious statues, the influence of the Canon so well known in
the schools. Bv reducing Polycleitos' bronze figure in the round to relief