DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5253#0427
POLYCLEITOS' ART-CHARACTER. 393
but did not equal them in size and grandeur. "35 Of such importance was careful
finish to Polycleitos, that he is reported on one occasion to have said that the
work is most difficult when it comes to the nail, meaning probably when the
clay model comes to be worked down with the finger-nail; and bronze, best
suited to accept such finish from the mould, was the material he used by pref-
erence. 736
He is said, moreover, to have written a treatise on the proportions of the
human frame, giving the principles he had incorporated in his statue "the
Canon." "3" Here he explained the proportion of finger to finger; of all the fin-
gers to the open hand ; of the hand to the wrist; of wrist to elbow; of elbow
to arm, and so on, through every member of the body. Vague conjecture alone
remains to take the place of treatise and statue, it being altogether improbable
that the proportions of Vitruvius were taken from Polycleitos. According to
Vitruvius, the distance from chin to crown should be taken as a unit, giving
one-eighth of the length of the body; but this gives a slenderness different
from the substantial but graceful build of the Doryphoros, as we have it in
the Argos relief. An accurate measurement of hundreds of statues would
doubtless yield much light on this interesting theme; but even measurements
with the eye alone, show us the slenderness of many statues in contrast to
those derived from Polycleitos. The ALg'ma. warriors of the west pediment
have the head usually about one-eighth of the body, and the body very slim
and short for their legs. In the Olympia marbles, there seems a variety of
proportions; some figures being long, and others short, in the body. In the
Doryphoros and Diadumenos, in which the head is about one-seventh of the
length, this slimness, however, disappears, the loins being made fuller, and
the body itself longer; the trunk thus predominating, giving the figure a nobler
and more stable build. In the age following Polycleitos, Lysippos changed
these proportions again, adopting a taller and more slender scale, with a body
very short in proportion to the legs.
Although, in comparison with the loftier creations of Pheidias' art, the
sternly correct ideals of Polycleitos may suffer; yet his formative influence
should not be lost from sight. Pheidias might be admired, but the very lofti-
ness of his genius made imitation impossible : the experience of a Polycleitos,
on the contrary, expressed in statues, and written down in books, was an in-
valuable testament, serving as a sure guide for after-generations. While he
did not, according to Ouintilian, like his great Attic contemporary, attain to
the sublimity of the gods, still he represented the body in dignity and beauty
greater than nature."3s Within this sphere he seems to have cared little for
variety, if we may believe the same writer, who says Polycleitos avoided the
representation of riper years, not venturing beyond smooth cheeks ; and, com-
pared with Myron, his works were said to be less varied, and very much after
one plan.739 But in this limitation to one type, forming, as it were, the climax
but did not equal them in size and grandeur. "35 Of such importance was careful
finish to Polycleitos, that he is reported on one occasion to have said that the
work is most difficult when it comes to the nail, meaning probably when the
clay model comes to be worked down with the finger-nail; and bronze, best
suited to accept such finish from the mould, was the material he used by pref-
erence. 736
He is said, moreover, to have written a treatise on the proportions of the
human frame, giving the principles he had incorporated in his statue "the
Canon." "3" Here he explained the proportion of finger to finger; of all the fin-
gers to the open hand ; of the hand to the wrist; of wrist to elbow; of elbow
to arm, and so on, through every member of the body. Vague conjecture alone
remains to take the place of treatise and statue, it being altogether improbable
that the proportions of Vitruvius were taken from Polycleitos. According to
Vitruvius, the distance from chin to crown should be taken as a unit, giving
one-eighth of the length of the body; but this gives a slenderness different
from the substantial but graceful build of the Doryphoros, as we have it in
the Argos relief. An accurate measurement of hundreds of statues would
doubtless yield much light on this interesting theme; but even measurements
with the eye alone, show us the slenderness of many statues in contrast to
those derived from Polycleitos. The ALg'ma. warriors of the west pediment
have the head usually about one-eighth of the body, and the body very slim
and short for their legs. In the Olympia marbles, there seems a variety of
proportions; some figures being long, and others short, in the body. In the
Doryphoros and Diadumenos, in which the head is about one-seventh of the
length, this slimness, however, disappears, the loins being made fuller, and
the body itself longer; the trunk thus predominating, giving the figure a nobler
and more stable build. In the age following Polycleitos, Lysippos changed
these proportions again, adopting a taller and more slender scale, with a body
very short in proportion to the legs.
Although, in comparison with the loftier creations of Pheidias' art, the
sternly correct ideals of Polycleitos may suffer; yet his formative influence
should not be lost from sight. Pheidias might be admired, but the very lofti-
ness of his genius made imitation impossible : the experience of a Polycleitos,
on the contrary, expressed in statues, and written down in books, was an in-
valuable testament, serving as a sure guide for after-generations. While he
did not, according to Ouintilian, like his great Attic contemporary, attain to
the sublimity of the gods, still he represented the body in dignity and beauty
greater than nature."3s Within this sphere he seems to have cared little for
variety, if we may believe the same writer, who says Polycleitos avoided the
representation of riper years, not venturing beyond smooth cheeks ; and, com-
pared with Myron, his works were said to be less varied, and very much after
one plan.739 But in this limitation to one type, forming, as it were, the climax