Polyclète (in Greek old Πολύκλειτος / Polýkleitos ) is a Greek sculptor of the first classicism (fifth century BC), one of most known of the ancient world.

Biography

Although Polyclète is one of the ancient artists most often mentioned by the old texts, its life is very badly known. On the basis of work which is allotted, its working life would extend from 460 with 420 av. J. - C.. Pline Old the mentions its floruit (apogee) at the time of the 90e Olympiad, i.e. in 420 - 417 av. J. - C., date which probably corresponds to the statue of worship Chryséléphantin E of Héra to Argos.

Pline indicates that it is originating in Sicyone, in the Peloponnese, but all the other sources, in particular of the inscriptions, mention it like argien. According to the tradition, he is the pupil of Agéladas and Phidias. He then founds in Argos a workshop. Among its disciples, Pline quotes Asopodoros d' Argos, Alexis, Aristéidès, Phrynon, Athénodoros and Déméas de Cleitor. Members of its family would have also been sculptors: his/her brother (?) Naucydès and the brother of this last, Daidalos. Pausanias also quotes second Polyclète, specifying that it is not “not the man who made the statue of Héra, but a pupil of Naucydès. ” Author of statues of athletes, this last especially knew a career of architect, thus completing the theater of Épidaure.

Polyclète perhaps worked with Athens. Among the indices appear the realization of a portrait of the engineer Artémon, the influence of the Doryphore on a figure of the plank of the Parthenon and the fact that Socrate twice quotes it in its remarks.

Works

List works

The old texts quote of him:

  • of the effigies of gods and hero:
  • of the scenes of kind:
    • the Diadumène (athlete girding stringcourse of the victory);
    • the Colorado beetle (carrying lance);
    • a Apoxyomène (carrying basket);
  • a portrait of engineer Artémon and the other at Philon de Byzance -, but that several ancient authors paraphrased, in particular Galien. This one just like indicates that Polyclète “confirmed its speech by a work, by creating a statue according to the principles of its speech, and by naming the statue itself, its work, the Canon . ” This statue is identified by Pline.

The whole of these testimonys make it possible to find some of the principles of the Canon . This one rests on a whole of numerical relationship between the various parts of the body: the chest and the legs have the same height, i.e. three times the addendum; the basin and the thighs respectively measure two thirds of the chest and the legs. The Canon goes down in detail: Galien speaks about the proportion “of the finger to the finger, of all the fingers to the hand and the wrist, of these with the front armlever, the front armlever to the arm, and all with all. In this respect, it is revealing that one of the most useful paraphrases of the Canon was written by a doctor: Galien declares explicitly that “the beauty body is, according to all the doctors and the philosophers, in the relationship balanced between its parts. Then, the Roman copyists use relatively few points of measurement, which involves considerable variations from one copy to another: measurements for example highlighted average deviations of 3% between various specimens of the Apollon of Cassel , contemporary a sculptor type of Polyclète. The only examination of the various copies is not thus enough to reconstitute the Canon . Lastly, the direction of the quotations and the paraphrases of the Canon are not always clear. Thus, Varron quoted by Pline? Simple comparison enters the rather squat silhouettes of Polyclète and those, more hurled, of Lysippe, discussed in the same passage?

The contrapposto

According to the tradition, it is him which introduces the concept of Contrapposto , i.e. the fact of resting the weight of the body, in station upright, on only one leg, thus attenuating the impression of roidor who often releases himself from the antiquated Greek sculpture.

August 1st

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