Who's Who Ancient Greece: The Arts

Polyklitos (5th century BC)

Sculpture & Archetecture

This sculptor worked mostly in bronze, and was regarded as one of the greatest sculptors of his century, along with Phidias and Myron, who were among his teachers, along with Ayeladhas of Argos. He was himself the son of a sculptor (Patrokleos).

His book on the ideal proportions in the male form, entitled 'Canon', was a major work of the time, these proportions demonstrated in his well-known 'Doryphoros' (Spear-bearer)
<-Left, which was also known as 'Canon', the title of his book.

A young athlete holding a spear or javelin is depicted in this handsome statue, with its perfectly toned musculature and manly aspect.

The original has been lost, but many copies exist. One of Polyklitos' final works was the 'Diadumenos', which is very similar to the 'Dhoryphoros', which shows a similar naked youth with ideal and manly proportions but with a headband (which he was tying around his forehead, though the arms have been lost in the one copy) .

This second youth was seen by ancient writers as exhibiting more gentleness and tenderness than the Doryphoros, who seems to embody the image of perfect virility.

A bronze 'Amazon' was also among Polyklitos' later works, created for a contest for such a statue to be dedicated at the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, with Polyklitos winning against the most esteemed sculptors of his time. His work had a wide influence on many students throughout the following century (4th century BC), and the many copies of his statues dating from the Roman era demonstrate the continuance of his influence for more than half a millennium.