CIRCA 1ST CENTURY A.D.

Polykleitos was one of the most famous and influential Greek sculptors of the High Classical Period. A native of Argos in the Peloponnesus, his artistic career flourished circa 450-420 B.C. The Doryphoros or Spear-bearer (created circa 440 B.C.), and several other of his works are described in ancient literature and are recognized in surviving Roman copies, including the Diadumenos or Fillet-binder, and the Kyniskos, identified as the Westmacott Athlete since the 19th century. His Amazon of Ephesus was famed for having been chosen in a competition over works by the sculptors Pheidias and Kresilas, while his most magnificent creation was said to be the colossal gold and ivory cult statue of Hera from the Heraeum of his native Argos. Pliny tells us that Polykleitos wrote about his theories of rhythm and proportion. J.M. Hurwit in "The Doryphoros: Looking Backward" says the most important thing about the sculpture is the "...perfect equilibrium of its pose--the ideal chiasmos it establishes between right and left, taut and loose, straight and bent, resting and moving limbs." He goes on to note that the juxtaposition of these antithetical pairs are the embodiment of the Polykleitan canon (W.G. Mood ed., Polykleitos, the Doryphoros and Tradition, p. 11). The sculpture's fame and popularity with the Romans is confirmed by the large number of surviving marble copies of the now-lost bronze original. This superbly modelled torso was altered in antiquity, perhaps from conversion of a partially draped figure.