A History of Art for Beginners and Students: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture

by Clara Erskine Clement Waters

Many of these archaistic works are in various museums of art.

This is a very beautiful temple image, and was discovered at Pompeii in 1760. It was found in a small temple or chapel, of which it must have been the principal deity. It is in excellent preservation; the only parts which are wanting are the fingers of the right hand and the object which it held. Like many of these statues, it is less than life-size—four feet and two inches in height. When it was first discovered there were many traces of color about it. The hair was gilded to represent the blonde hair which the poets ascribed to Artemis (Diana). There was considerable red about the garments, and some flowers were upon the border of the drapery. There is an archaic stiffness about this statue, but the flowing hair, the form of the eyes, and the free style of the nude parts all show that it belongs to the archaistic period (Fig. 21).

It would be pleasant and satisfying if we could trace step by step the progress of Greek sculpture from the rude archaic manner to that of the Periclean age, or from such art as is seen in the sculpture of Ægina to the perfections of the reliefs of the Parthenon. This we cannot do; but we know some of the causes that led to this progress, and can give accounts of a few sculptors who, while they did not equal the great Phidias, were at least the forerunners of such a type of art as his.

The chief cause of the progress of art was the greater freedom of the artist in the choice and treatment of his subjects. So long as the subjects were almost entirely religious there could be little variety in the manner of treating them. Each god or goddess had its own attributes, which must be rendered with exact care; and any new mode of portraying them was almost a sacrilege. But as time passed on and the Panhellenic games and the national Pantheon at Olympia grew into their great importance, new subjects were furnished for the artists, which allowed them to show their originality and to indulge their artistic imaginations to their fullest extent. The victors in the games were heroes, and regarded even as demi-gods, and statues were allowed to be erected to them, although this had hitherto been considered a divine honor and was accorded to the gods alone. When these heroes were represented, the artists, not being bound by any laws, could study their subjects and represent them to the life as nearly as they were able to do. This exaltation of the Olympian victors gave an opportunity for the development of sculpture such as cannot be over-estimated in its influence and results.

Another characteristic of the art of the time we are now considering was the almost universal use of bronze. This metal is excellent for displaying the minute features of the nude parts of statues, but it is not equal to marble in the representation of draperies or for giving expression to the face. Pythagoras of Rhegium was a famous artist who worked entirely in bronze. The only copies from his works of which we know are on two gems, one of which is in the Berlin Museum. He made exact studies of the body in action, and gave new importance to the reproduction of the veins and muscles. It is also claimed that Pythagoras was the first to lay down clearly the laws of symmetry or proportion which is governed by strict mathematical rules.

Myron of Eleutheræ flourished about 500 to 440 B.C., and was reckoned among Athenian artists because, though not born at Athens, he did most of his works there, and his most famous work, the statue of a cow, stood on the Acropolis of that city. This cow was represented as in the act of lowing, and was elevated upon a marble base. It was carried from Athens to Rome, where it stood in the Forum of Peace. Many writers mentioned this work of Myron's, and thirty-seven epigrams were written concerning it.

Fig. 22.—The Discobolus.

Though the cow was so much talked of, the artistic fame of Myron rests more upon the "Discobolus," or quoit-thrower. The original statue does not exist, but there are several copies of it. That in the Massimi Villa is a very accurate one, and was found on the Esquiline Hill at Rome in A.D. 1782; our illustration is made from this statue. Myron's great skill in representing the human figure in excited action is well shown in the quoit-thrower. To make such a figure as this requires great power in a sculptor. No model could constantly repeat this action, and if he could there is but a flash of time in which the artist sees just the position he reproduces. This figure, however, is so true to life that one feels like keeping out of the range of the quoit when it flies (Fig. 22). There are several other existing works attributed to Myron: they are a marble copy of his statue of Marsyas, in the Lateran at Rome; two torsi in the gallery at Florence; a figure called Diomed, and a bronze in the gallery at Munich.

Myron made statues of gods and heroes, but he excelled in representing athletes. His works were very numerous, and a list of those which are only known through the mention of them by various writers would be of little value here. While Myron reproduced the form and action of the body with marvellous effect, he made no advance in representing the expression of the face, nor in the treatment of the hair. He was daring in his art, for he not only imitated what he saw in life, but he also represented grotesque imaginary creatures, and in many ways proved that he had a rich creative fancy.