CHAPTER XXIV.
PRAXITELES AND HIS WORKS.
Praxiteles.— His Versatility and Productiveness. — Probable Duration of his Career. — His Hermes at
Olympia. — Description of the Statue. — Comparison with Other Works. — Style of this Work.—
The Babe Dionysos. — Resemblances to Kephisodotos'Eirene—Group of Silen and Dionysos.—
Evidence of Advance in Composition. — Praxiteles' Works in Athens.— His Satyr, "Marble
Faun." — Similarity to Hermes. — Praxiteles' Works in Megara, Boeotia, and Phokis. — Eros.—
Statues in Other Places. — Aphrodite of Cnidos.— Head from Olympia. — Apollo Sauroctonos.—
Reports concerning Other Statues. — General Characteristics of Praxitelean Art.
Praxiteles was born in the Attic demos Eresiclai, and is said by Pliny to
have lived in Olymp. 104 (360 B.C.). But it is probable that his artistic activity
commenced somewhat earlier, and lasted until into the time of Alexander the
Great.82? He must in his youth have felt, not only the influence of his father,
Kephisodotos, but also of Scopas, this Parian master having come to reside in
Athens about 375 B.C.828 If we are to believe the reports of the ancients, the
productiveness and versatility of Praxiteles' genius were scarcely paralleled.
Partly in view of the great number and variety of his works, — nearly three-
score being mentioned as from his hand, — recent criticism has attempted to
make out the existence of an older Praxiteles, grandfather to the celebrated
master.82? To this older Praxiteles, assumed from a name Pasiteles, occurring
in Pausanias, have been attributed many groups which otherwise were believed
to be by our Praxiteles of the fourth century. This practice of doubling the
old masters is shown, however, by Brunn to be a dangerous expedient, which
forces literary tradition; and hence, until more light is thrown upon the matter,
it is safer to accredit Praxiteles with the fame he enjoyed.s3°
His works were originally set up in different parts of Greece and Asia
Minor, but many of them were removed to Rome in later times. From their
wide distribution, it is inferred that the life of Praxiteles, like that of the most
of his fellow-sculptors, was spent partly in his native land, and partly in the
opulent satrapies on the opposite shores of the ^Egean. His early youth
was probably passed with his father in working for the Peloponnesos. When
Epaminondas conquered the Spartans in 371 B.C., and sought to raise up the
oppressed states of that peninsula, a new Messene was built for the returned
Messenian exiles ; and, in Arcadia, Megalopolis, worthy of its name " the
436
PRAXITELES AND HIS WORKS.
Praxiteles.— His Versatility and Productiveness. — Probable Duration of his Career. — His Hermes at
Olympia. — Description of the Statue. — Comparison with Other Works. — Style of this Work.—
The Babe Dionysos. — Resemblances to Kephisodotos'Eirene—Group of Silen and Dionysos.—
Evidence of Advance in Composition. — Praxiteles' Works in Athens.— His Satyr, "Marble
Faun." — Similarity to Hermes. — Praxiteles' Works in Megara, Boeotia, and Phokis. — Eros.—
Statues in Other Places. — Aphrodite of Cnidos.— Head from Olympia. — Apollo Sauroctonos.—
Reports concerning Other Statues. — General Characteristics of Praxitelean Art.
Praxiteles was born in the Attic demos Eresiclai, and is said by Pliny to
have lived in Olymp. 104 (360 B.C.). But it is probable that his artistic activity
commenced somewhat earlier, and lasted until into the time of Alexander the
Great.82? He must in his youth have felt, not only the influence of his father,
Kephisodotos, but also of Scopas, this Parian master having come to reside in
Athens about 375 B.C.828 If we are to believe the reports of the ancients, the
productiveness and versatility of Praxiteles' genius were scarcely paralleled.
Partly in view of the great number and variety of his works, — nearly three-
score being mentioned as from his hand, — recent criticism has attempted to
make out the existence of an older Praxiteles, grandfather to the celebrated
master.82? To this older Praxiteles, assumed from a name Pasiteles, occurring
in Pausanias, have been attributed many groups which otherwise were believed
to be by our Praxiteles of the fourth century. This practice of doubling the
old masters is shown, however, by Brunn to be a dangerous expedient, which
forces literary tradition; and hence, until more light is thrown upon the matter,
it is safer to accredit Praxiteles with the fame he enjoyed.s3°
His works were originally set up in different parts of Greece and Asia
Minor, but many of them were removed to Rome in later times. From their
wide distribution, it is inferred that the life of Praxiteles, like that of the most
of his fellow-sculptors, was spent partly in his native land, and partly in the
opulent satrapies on the opposite shores of the ^Egean. His early youth
was probably passed with his father in working for the Peloponnesos. When
Epaminondas conquered the Spartans in 371 B.C., and sought to raise up the
oppressed states of that peninsula, a new Messene was built for the returned
Messenian exiles ; and, in Arcadia, Megalopolis, worthy of its name " the
436