DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5253#0421
VARIATIONS ON POLYCLEITOS' DORYPHOROS. 387
in marble, and by changing necessarily the pose and expression of the head, this
minor sculptor has adapted the original to his purpose, that either of a tomb-
stone or votive relief, and added a horse to mark the heroic character of his
sculpture. The inferior shape of the horse, which the youth holds by a bridle
stiffly laid over the hand, is in strong contrast to the grace and strength of the
human form, in which seem to linger some of the qualities of the celebrated
original it sought to reproduce. The lightness and dignity of its proportions,
its beautiful poising, as well as the rhythm and ease of the members, show a
spirit truly Greek, quite worthy a time soon after Polycleitos, at which early
date even, his Canon gained repute among sculptors, having been studied by
one of the greatest of them, Lysippos. Contrasting with it the large statues,
copies of the Doryphoros, the latter, notwithstanding their abundance of details,
and finish of surface, seem gross ; their ponderous, massive forms witnessing
rather to a Roman spirit, from which had fled the ideal lightness so pronounced
in this little Greek work. The sadly ruined head of this figure has, however, a
soft, sweet type, such as could not have been true to the severity of a bronze
original of Polycleitos' time and school. In order, then, to call back the forms of
the head, and type of feature, lent by Polycleitos to his manly youth, we must
look elsewhere. An admirable bronze head, discovered at Iierculaneum, and
now in the Naples museum, is clearly copied from the great Argive bronze, and is
inscribed with the name of the sculptor, Apollonios, son of Archias of Athens.
While resembling the marble head of the Naples Doryphoros in its square
build, strong features, and long, narrow oval, still it is more true to the nature
of bronze, and doubtless far better suited than any other antique to give us a
faithful picture of the stern ideal of Argos in contrast to the milder, more soul-
ful, faces of Attica. Could we trace on the subtle streams of influence that must
have gone out from the well-weighed, perfectly idealized, human forms which
Polycleitos placed before the sculptors of his own and the following times, then
should we realize the high place he occupied, and the importance of the princi-
ples he worked out. Of this we may gain a faint idea from the fact, that the
motive of the Doryphoros seems to have been adopted to represent such widely
different types as those of the gods Hermes and Pan, as appears from two statu-
ettes now in Paris. One of these, an athletic figure discovered at Annecy, having
the stern features of the Herculaneum bronze, is given the kerykcion of Hermes,
and is thus distinguished as that god. The other, an equally athletic shape, but
having gentler features, has rudimentary horns, springing up among the short
locks above the forehead, and a syrinx in the hand, by which it is to be distin-
guished as Pan. Thus, two close reproductions of Polycleitos' Doryphoros arc-
made to represent these widely differing deities by variation in face and attributes.
A Dionysos in marble, found in Hadrian's villa, and now in Rome, wearing
a ncbris across the chest, has that god's long locks and feminine face; but the
form is clearly another of the changes on the master's Canon. Among the
in marble, and by changing necessarily the pose and expression of the head, this
minor sculptor has adapted the original to his purpose, that either of a tomb-
stone or votive relief, and added a horse to mark the heroic character of his
sculpture. The inferior shape of the horse, which the youth holds by a bridle
stiffly laid over the hand, is in strong contrast to the grace and strength of the
human form, in which seem to linger some of the qualities of the celebrated
original it sought to reproduce. The lightness and dignity of its proportions,
its beautiful poising, as well as the rhythm and ease of the members, show a
spirit truly Greek, quite worthy a time soon after Polycleitos, at which early
date even, his Canon gained repute among sculptors, having been studied by
one of the greatest of them, Lysippos. Contrasting with it the large statues,
copies of the Doryphoros, the latter, notwithstanding their abundance of details,
and finish of surface, seem gross ; their ponderous, massive forms witnessing
rather to a Roman spirit, from which had fled the ideal lightness so pronounced
in this little Greek work. The sadly ruined head of this figure has, however, a
soft, sweet type, such as could not have been true to the severity of a bronze
original of Polycleitos' time and school. In order, then, to call back the forms of
the head, and type of feature, lent by Polycleitos to his manly youth, we must
look elsewhere. An admirable bronze head, discovered at Iierculaneum, and
now in the Naples museum, is clearly copied from the great Argive bronze, and is
inscribed with the name of the sculptor, Apollonios, son of Archias of Athens.
While resembling the marble head of the Naples Doryphoros in its square
build, strong features, and long, narrow oval, still it is more true to the nature
of bronze, and doubtless far better suited than any other antique to give us a
faithful picture of the stern ideal of Argos in contrast to the milder, more soul-
ful, faces of Attica. Could we trace on the subtle streams of influence that must
have gone out from the well-weighed, perfectly idealized, human forms which
Polycleitos placed before the sculptors of his own and the following times, then
should we realize the high place he occupied, and the importance of the princi-
ples he worked out. Of this we may gain a faint idea from the fact, that the
motive of the Doryphoros seems to have been adopted to represent such widely
different types as those of the gods Hermes and Pan, as appears from two statu-
ettes now in Paris. One of these, an athletic figure discovered at Annecy, having
the stern features of the Herculaneum bronze, is given the kerykcion of Hermes,
and is thus distinguished as that god. The other, an equally athletic shape, but
having gentler features, has rudimentary horns, springing up among the short
locks above the forehead, and a syrinx in the hand, by which it is to be distin-
guished as Pan. Thus, two close reproductions of Polycleitos' Doryphoros arc-
made to represent these widely differing deities by variation in face and attributes.
A Dionysos in marble, found in Hadrian's villa, and now in Rome, wearing
a ncbris across the chest, has that god's long locks and feminine face; but the
form is clearly another of the changes on the master's Canon. Among the