Metropolitan Kouros Analysis

Throughout the history of art, the human body and figure has captivated both artisans and their audiences. This can be said especially of the Greeks and their sculptures. Even from the earliest periods, Greeks motivation for the search of the ideal human body can be seen through the sculpture Metropolitan Kouros (c 120-50 BCE), created in the Archaic period and said to be found in Attica, Ancient Greece (Richter 1931, p. 220). However, it is not until High Classical period that they truly achieve their goal with Polykleitos’ The Spear Bearer (c. 120-50 BCE) or the Doryphoros (its Greek name). The sculpture, found in a Palestra in Pompeii, Italy is said to be the epitome of perfection during its period. Although there is exquisite rendering and beauty in both sculptures, there are also a vast number of differences that make each work unique.

It is important to first begin with the basics of each piece of artwork. The graywacke statue of Menkaure and a Queen was made between c. 2490-2472 BCE during the Old Kingdom period in Giza, Egypt. Although the artist is unknown, it is understood that the time during which this artwork was made was during the Old Kingdom period, which lasted from c. 2575-2150 BCE. This statue is smaller in height than the average human being, being 51 ½ inches tall, which is a little over four and a quarter feet tall (Stokstad and Cothren: 60). The stone that it is made from is a rocky, rough stone, that took a considerable amount of sanding to get the statue to look as smooth as it is. The second set of statues I will be comparing and contrasting to the Menkaure and Queen are the limestone statues, Anavysos Kouros and the Peplos Kore. Both were made in c. 530 BCE during the Archaic period in Athens, Greece. Similar to Menkaure and a Queen, the Anavysos Kouros and the Peplos Kore do not have a known artist, however it is known that the time period in which the statues were made was during the Archaic Period, which lasted from c. 600-480 BCE. These statues are more life-like in size. The Kouros statue is around the size of a tall male, six feet four inches tall. On the other hand, the Kore statue is smaller in stature, about four foot tall . Both statues were made from carved marble, although some of the other kouros and kore statues that were made were from terra cotta, wood, or limestone

The Anavysos Kouros exhibits form in the use of marble. During the Ancient Greek era, new techniques of sculpting and carving caused precise curves and shape to be applied to plentiful rocks such as marble. The sculptures represented power and youth as translated from the word “kouros” in the body curves and stature of the figure. Art historians believe sculptures such as the Anavysos Kouros may have functioned as grave markers, offerings in sanctuaries, or may have even represented a god, specifically Apollo. It may have been possible to see the Anavysos Kouros at either a grave of a powerful elite, or a sanctuary of Apollo.

The Greeks’ increased confidence after defeating Persian invaders in 480 BCE is recognized in the artwork of that time. Sculptures evolved from rigid, less lifelike structures to more relaxed and humanlike works, typically evoking self-confidence. The work “Kritios” Boy exemplifies this shift. Assumed to be the work of the Greek sculptor Kritios, “Kritios” Boy was created at the close of the Persian wars. I love how realistic this piece and others like it appear in comparison to the Kouroi before it. These sculptures are visibly relaxed and confident, perfectly emulation the Greek attitude of that era. The way the statue’s weight appears to be shifted onto one leg is the most significant factor in presenting the “Kritios” Boy as self-confident.

Then there is a sculpture called ‘Kouros/statue of Standing Youth’ which represents the meant back in the day and age. The sculpture is a very young, athletic, toned man. This man has the body every man wants. This sculpture is desirable to every women. This man represents power, and desire. Unlike the sculpture of the woman this man has a face and a very powerful looking

The marble statue of Diadoumenos is a copy of the original bronze statue displaying a young man tying a fillet around his head. The original was created in c.a. 430 B.C. by a man called Polykleitos of Argos. Polykleitos was a Greek sculptor who worked during the mid-fifth century B.C. . he was one of the most famous artists of the ancient world. Polykleitos' figures are carefully designed with special attention to bodily proportions and stance. The statue of Diadoumenos has its thorax and pelvis tilt in opposite directions, setting up rythmic contrasts in the torso that create an impression of organic vitality. The position of the feet, (poised between walking and standing), give a sense of potential movement.

The Laocoon is a magnificent piece with a lot of mystery. A lot of people have speculated as to the creator and period of the foundation. A few questions I will answer during this discussion pertains to whether I believe this piece is a Greek, Hellenistic, or Roman original. Was Michelangelo the creator? I have expressed my opinions along with some supporting evidence as to my beliefs.

Kritios Boy was sculpted in the figure of a human male, and was quite distinct from similar pieces of artwork of earlier Greek and Egyptian history. Kouros, from only forty-five years prior to Kritios Boy, was much more closely related to the heavily idealized Egyptian sculptures like the Triad of Mycerinas. Those earlier sculptures were similar in that

The Statue of Asklepios is a classic Greek sculpture that portrays a person of the most perfect and athletic form. The piece is of a man standing beautifully while draped in a toga. The toga is draped over his left shoulder and cuts across to the right side of his body near his lower abdomen and then continues to cover his legs until his ankle. The toga also is draped over the pieces entire back. The piece is missing his head, his left arm and both his right foot and almost its entire right arm. The piece has a smooth, but not glossy, exterior in all of the areas except for the parts that have been broken off. Asklepios is portrayed as an incredible fit and beautiful being. The abdomen is extremely muscular and shows off the miraculous fitness of the model. The toga has many wrinkles, creating a lot of shadow and darks and lights. It also is wrapped in a way that is both loose and tight in different areas of the sculpture. It is tied right next to the left pectoral and the left armpit. This piece emphasizes the muscular body of this man while at the same time portraying him standing in such a nonchalant way through the curvature and relaxed look of the figure. And unlike the Torso of a God, this piece clearly shows movement through the shape of the body and the folds of the toga because

Egyptians used art as a way to reflect every aspect of their lives. Sculptors were important artist, and in these different architectural sculptures, you will see how models of people and different figures were depicted in stone during the New Kingdom and Old Kingdom eras. Nikare with his Wife and Daughter is a statue that was made from limestone and paint in Egypt during the Old Kingdom era about 2420-2389 B.C or later. Stelophorous Statue of Bay made in 1294–1250 B.C is another sculpture that was also made from limestone about one thousand years apart from the other one. This statue was also made in Egypt. Both sculptures share some similarities to have been made a millennium apart, but with that also comes several differences. Although both statues as a whole may depict different things, it’s the little details in them that we don’t usually analyze in art that make them both similar.

Both Kouros and Menkaure are statues in the round depicting front-facing male figures stepping forward toward the viewer. Both figures are stiff in form with their arms at their sides and fists clenched. Menkaure is made of graywacke and is ancient Egyptian in origin whereas Kouros composed of marble and originates from ancient Greece. Menkaure's stature and posture reflect ancient Egypt's religious beliefs at the time; Egyptian artists depicted their subjects to convey a timeless stability so the subject's ka, or soul, would have an eternal home. This is shown in the fact that even though Menkaure is stepping forward, his weight is not shifted forward on his left foot. His feet also remain completely wedded to the block and there are

The overall all renditions are block-like and sculpted with geometric reduction of details. The anatomy is made up of planes, completely symmetrical. The hair, ears, and eyes have been reduced to simple shapes – again, all identically symmetrical. Kouros is depicted nude, symbolic of Archaic Greece's emphasis on the ideal individual male and autonomous Greek citizen. In contrast, Aphrodite is a considerably large female (7 feet tall and substantially wider than the Kouros). Given the larger than real-life scale, this statue probably served as a cult image in a temple. The statue's excellent state of conservation also suggests that it was kept indoors. It is free standing but also in an anatomical, not just mechanical sense. The pose is full and rounded, not solely frontal. You get a sense of the body being relaxed, with one hand extended in a gesture that gives a sense of it moving forward.

This interest in the order of nature eventually evolved into a fascination with the human form and the idea of human perfection. The way in which the perfect human form was portrayed by Greek artists was of a highly intellectual nature. The early sculptors of the period explored basic human anatomy and its aesthetic value, creating such sculptures as the Kritios Boy, of the Acropolis. The precision and realism of this sculpture captured a more accurate portrayal of the human form than ever before seen. This accomplishment in itself showed strong advancements in intellectual thought, and inspired future generations to further explore aesthetic and order. Artist such as Polyclitius later envisioned human perfection as a series of mathematical proportions. The

Over the years of art history, there are many great empires that we think of and two of those were ancient Greek and Egyptian. When talking about Greek and Egyptian art history, it is the sculptures that come to mind when you are comparing and contrasting artworks. Egyptian art and Greek art both had mesmerizing sculptures but Egyptian art was more oriented towards religion and Greek art was more focused on philosophy. The Egyptian statue of the Menkaure and a Queen was similar to the Greek statue of Metropolitan Kouros in their posture but both of these statues also had many differences. Menkaure and a queen statue was created from an unusual stone and the statue was discovered in Menkaure’s valley temple. The sculpture has a hard texture and because of the time-consuming task of polishing this sculpture was never completely polished. So, the sculpture is greywacke and has traces of red paint on king’s face, ears and neck because male figures were traditionally painted red and there are traces of black in queen’s hair. The sculpture itself is 54 ½ inches in height and is displayed in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Metropolitan Kouros was created from marble which seems like it has a rough and hard texture. The statue is 6 feet in height and is displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

The Archaic period dates from 800 B.C. to 480 B.C. The Greeks were inspired by monumental stone sculpture of Egypt and Mesopotamia, sculpting in stone began in Greece. However, although this was inspired by Egypt, there were significant differences between how they were sculpted. For instance, take the Greek sculpture Kouros (c 580 B.C. made of marble, standing at 6’4” tall) the standing male nude. While this resembled characteristics of Egypt sculptures such as pose and proportion, his form becomes more dynamic as the sculpture is nude. Kouros also appears to wear jewelry around his neck and the exquisite detail in the braids of his hair suggest he is groomed and dressed properly. Another difference in Egypt and Greek sculptures, is that Egypt’s sculptures depict rulers and people of higher stature, where Greek sculptures would depict