Discobolus By Myron Analysis

This paper is a formal analysis of the Marble grave stele with a family group relief sculpture. It is a pentelic marble style relief standing at 171.1cm tall carved by a master. It is from the Late Classical period of Greek, Attic which was completed around ca.360 B.C. . I chose to analyze this piece as apposed to the others because I’m mainly attracted to art and sculptures from the Greek era. The overall color used in this relief is ivory with a few cracks and pieces broken off. There is some discoloration which causes the color to come off as slightly light brown for most of the relief. The sculpture appears larger compared to the other sculptures in the art room. It represents a family which includes a man, his wife, and their

Various pieces of art found thousands of years ago depict characters based on certain events and legends. I will be analyzing two works of art: The Sound Box of the Great Lyre, a wooden music box (33 x 11 cm) found in present-day Iraq c. 2600-2500 BCE, and Lapith Fighting a Centaur, a high metope relief (1.42 m) on the side of the Parthenon in Ancient Greece c. 447-432 BCE. The former represents a bull with a low relief under its head, depicting animals mimicking the lifestyle of humans. The latter exemplifies a nude man struggling against a mythical creature that is half-man half-horse2. Although these works are from across the world with completely different cultures, they both have similar

Ancient sculptures bring on endless philosophical arguments regarding what is an appropriate form of perfection, defined as a fit body guided by a keen mind. This paper will approach a visual essence of the sculpture of The Lansdowne Athlete, by Lysippos, Rome 340-330 B.C. marble after a bronze original, that I viewed at the LACMA. This sculpture is located in the left wing of Greek exhibition Building, 3rd floor. I selected this sculpture as an example of an idealized body. Therefore, I will be explaining the historical background of the sculpture and address why I think it would make a good addition to our text. I will provide an analogy with other sculpture of idealized body from our textbook chapter 12 on “Mind and Body” mainly. I will impart more information about the essence of idealized human form as well as cultural ideals during this time period in Greece.

The “human form” has changed through art over long periods of time and how each civilization uses their own style to create these pieces is how art gets its depth. I'm going to be talking about one of each sculpture from every major period and explain how each one has its own flavor and own unique style. I will be talking about the Prehistoric period, Egyptian style, Greek style and Roman styles. I also have a list of vocabulary words i will be pointing out in bold to explain how these are used in sculptures.

The Torso of an Emperor in the Guise of Jupiter was made during the first century with marble. Standing at 56 ½ x 29 ½ x 15 ½ inches. The statue depicts a torso of an emperor’s body with the torso completely exposed and a sheet that could be assumed as a toga (typical clothing during the time period) covering the lower part of the body. People worshipped the gods and many stories, still told today marvel of the complete and utter perfection that the gods were graced with. The artist shows detail directly in the toga to make precise cuts from the marble to show value and create a life like atmosphere. With the chest and torso area you can clearly see that the man was fit with no fat in sight, only muscle. The form of the work uses diagonal lines throughout the toga to imply movement upward towards the chest. The lines point upward causing your eyes to look toward the emperor’s torso. Since the gods were known mainly for

The Torso of Aphrodite was constructed in the 1st century A.D. and is made entirely of marble. The torso used to belong to a life-sized version statue of The Greek goddess of love Aphrodite. From the moment I saw this piece, I knew I was attracted to it in a deeper way. It

Pentelic marble is used in sculptures as well as architecture. (Seth) The figure is 21 inches tall, 3115/16 inches long. (Art) The object is meant to be viewed from the front. In this piece of sculpture, we see a muscular barrel-chested Greek man centered in the middle with a larger rounded shield next to him, while his right arm placed behind his squared faced head. His full chest muscles carefully polished smoothly and delicately. Based on the warrior’s sinking pose, it has been thought that he is falling to the ground after dealing a mortal blow from behind. The strong, solid linear of the large geometric rounded shield is in contrast to the serpentine, subtle and smooth lines appear on this organic body figure of the warrior. It appears as though the sculpture itself is not painted for the most

The Statue of Asklepios is a classic Greek sculpture that portrays a person of the most perfect and athletic form. The piece is of a man standing beautifully while draped in a toga. The toga is draped over his left shoulder and cuts across to the right side of his body near his lower abdomen and then continues to cover his legs until his ankle. The toga also is draped over the pieces entire back. The piece is missing his head, his left arm and both his right foot and almost its entire right arm. The piece has a smooth, but not glossy, exterior in all of the areas except for the parts that have been broken off. Asklepios is portrayed as an incredible fit and beautiful being. The abdomen is extremely muscular and shows off the miraculous fitness of the model. The toga has many wrinkles, creating a lot of shadow and darks and lights. It also is wrapped in a way that is both loose and tight in different areas of the sculpture. It is tied right next to the left pectoral and the left armpit. This piece emphasizes the muscular body of this man while at the same time portraying him standing in such a nonchalant way through the curvature and relaxed look of the figure. And unlike the Torso of a God, this piece clearly shows movement through the shape of the body and the folds of the toga because

Greek art, especially sculpture, was a common way to explore and reach past the confines of mankind’s natural appearance be it through penises, huge muscles, or generalized unrealistic body standards. Hercules and the Hydra, a sculpture by Mathias Gasteiger, presents an image of masculinity through the expressive posture and form of Hercules once you look past those gleaming bronze pectorals, and into the intricate details of the piece.

The marble statue of Diadoumenos is a copy of the original bronze statue displaying a young man tying a fillet around his head. The original was created in c.a. 430 B.C. by a man called Polykleitos of Argos. Polykleitos was a Greek sculptor who worked during the mid-fifth century B.C. . he was one of the most famous artists of the ancient world. Polykleitos' figures are carefully designed with special attention to bodily proportions and stance. The statue of Diadoumenos has its thorax and pelvis tilt in opposite directions, setting up rythmic contrasts in the torso that create an impression of organic vitality. The position of the feet, (poised between walking and standing), give a sense of potential movement.

Interestingly, instead of four, only three sides of the Sarcophagus are filled with images. The long section illustrates two Greek heroes, presumably Herakles and Iolaos, battling evil centaurs. The two other sections show a centaur attacking a lioness and the other, the representation of peace in this work, two centaurs getting along. Herakles and Iolaos are highlighted by the artist’s careful attention to make them protrude the greatest, accentuating their impact and overall importance in this sculpture. Every powerful muscle in their bodies is portrayed and given detail in three dimensions. The three-dimensions not only bring these characters closer to reality but also heighten the heroic nature, masculinity, and belligerent attitude of the Greek heroes. Instead of using basic geometric shapes to create works of art, the sculptor chooses to increase the detail in the Sarcophagus by giving everything in the sculpture individual characteristics and traits. They are presented as being stressed

The sculpture that we have observed has been dated to the first half of the first century C.E. This places the portrait during the Julio-Claudian period in Roman history. From the information we have gathered about the time period, the woman's style of dress and of the types of sculpture prevelant during the period, we have formed a possible profile of the daily life of the subject.

By observing this figure, the first observation one might notice from Diadoumenos is his ideal body. As a Classical Greek sculpture, Diadoumenos is completely nude and his body is very realistic and proportional; he looks like an actual human being and if one blink, he/she can miss a twitch of movement. His body is also solidly-built; one can see his abdominal muscles, and the muscles in his arms. There are even details in his ribs and the skin around the knees to make him look more realistic. Although Diadoumenos appears very human, he is the idealized version of the human male. Classical Greek artists were heavily focused on the realism and bodily proportions of the human body to the point of idealism; this means they created sculptures of

The Discobolus, or “discus thrower” is one of the most iconic artworks of classical antiquity. Originally sculpted in bronze by an Athenian man called Myron (born in the fortress-city of Eleutherae in the 5th century BC), the statue’s many replications by the Romans illustrate its significance in helping spawn an enduring image and standard for physical idealism stretching beyond the culture that it originated from. The evolution of such ideal standards for the human body’s aesthetic are similarly conveyed in an equally significant achievement in classical sculpture, Michelangelo's David. Both of these pieces capture their respective audiences’ ideas of exceptional beauty and shed light on their attitudes toward the appropriateness, and

One of the pieces defining characteristics, what makes it such a marvel, is how the physique is anatomically perfect. This speaks of a highly developed culture, with an intricate understanding of anatomy and physiology. But, also of a culture that privileges physical strength and beauty. The Greeks of the time were either artists or warriors, or often both, so strength and beauty were central in their world. Laocoon and His Sons is a much more naturalistic piece than earlier Greek works; in which the figures were often idolized; lacking luster, life, emotion, humanity. Cleobis and Biton, a set of sculptures from the Archaic Period, exemplify this quite well; posing, rigid, golem like figures; lacking the humanity they are supposed to represent. The Hellenistic baroque style of Laocoon and His Sons gives us a much more true-to-life representation in comparison to earlier works. This work has inspired artists and regular humans alike down through the centuries, one of whom it is particularly well known to have influenced greatly was Michelangelo; as can be seen in some of his pieces; e.g: The rebellious Slave.