User:Wzy0831/Polykleitos's Diadoumenos and Doryphoros



The Statue of Diadoumenos also known as Youth Tying a Headband is one of Polykleitos' sculptures. The gesture of the boy tying his headband represents a victory, possibly from an athletic contest. “It is a first-century A.D. Roman copy of a Greek bronze original dated around 430 B.C.” Polykleitos sculpted the outline of his muscles significantly to show that he is an athlete. “The thorax and pelvis of the Diadoumenos tilt in opposite directions, setting up rhythmic contrasts in the torso that create an impression of organic vitality. The position of the feet poised between standing and walking give a sense of potential movement. This rigorously calculated pose, which is found in almost all works attributed to Polykleitos, became a standard formula used in Greco-Roman and, later, western European art.” Another statue created by Polykleitos is the Doryphoros, also called the spear bearer. It is a typical Greek sculpture depicting the beauty of the male body. “Polykleitos sought to capture the ideal proportions of the human figure in his statues and developed a set of aesthetic principles governing these proportions that was known as the Canon or ‘Rule.’ ” He created the system based on mathematical ratios. “Though we do not know the exact details of Polykleitos’s formula, the end result, as manifested in the Doryphoros, was the perfect expression of what the Greeks called symmetria.” On this sculpture, it shows characteristics of the contrapposto pose; the body is leaning most on the right leg. “The proportions of the Doryphoros together with the perfect balance between tension and relaxation, create a visual image of harmony.” The Doryphoros has an idealized body, contains less of naturalism. In his left hand, there is though to have been a spear but was lost. It was believed that either the sculpture was a normal civilian, or he could be Achilles going off to war. The posture of the body shows that he is a warrior and a hero.