Greek Classical and Archaic Sculpture Quiz

Early Classical Period

• The weight shift in statues, known as contrapposto, separates Classical from Archaic Greek statuary.
• The Riace warriors, found in the sea near Riace, showcase a more pronounced weight shift and a more forceful turn of the head.
• The male human form in motion is the subject of another Early Classical bronze statue, similar to the Artemision Zeus.

Myron's Diskobolos

• Myron's Discus Thrower is a vigorous action statue that freezes the action and arranges the body and limbs to form two intersecting arcs.
• The athlete's face remains expressionless, concentrating on the task at hand.
• The statue does not perform for the spectator, unlike other Classical statues.

Parthenon: Architecture and Sculpture

• The Parthenon's peripteral colonnade is still standing, designed by Iktinos and Kallikrates.
• The statue of Athena in the cella was the work of Phidias, who was also the overseer of the temple's sculptural decoration.
• The Parthenon is the ideal solution to the Greek architect's quest for perfect proportions in Doric temple design.
• The controlling ratio for the symmetria of the parts can be expressed algebraically as x=2y+1.
• The stylobate curves upward at the center on the sides and both facades, carrying up into the entablature.

Late Classical Period

• Greek thought and art began to focus on the individual and the real world of appearances instead of on the community and ideal world of perfect beings and perfect shrines.
• The new approach to art is evident in the work of Praxiteles, who humanized the deities, making them more worldly and sensuous.
• Praxiteles' Aphrodite of Knidos, a nude goddess, was unprecedented and made Knidos famous.
• The Praxitelean "touch" is also evident in the statue of Hermes and the infant Dionysus, showcasing tender human interaction.
• Skopas was another sculptor and architect who designed a temple and contributed to the decoration of the Mausoleum at Halikarnassos, showcasing intense emotionalism.
• Lysippos introduced a new canon of proportions, making the bodies more slender, and encouraged the observer to view his statues from multiple angles.

Hellenistic Period

• Hellenistic sculptors expanded the range of subjects considered suitable for large-scale public sculpture.
• The Altar of Zeus at Pergamon, built in the third century BCE, features a sculptured frieze populated by about a hundred larger-than-life-size figures.
• The gigantomachy, depicting the battle of Zeus and the gods against the giants, alludes to the Attalid victory over the Gauls in Asia Minor.
• The monument's west front has been reconstructed in Berlin, showcasing a tumultuous narrative with emotional intensity, vivid depictions of death and suffering, and deep carving that creates dark shadows, earning the description of "baroque" from art historians.