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384:. 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
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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."
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607:: the artist could take a long cord and make knots separated from each other by a distance which equals the diagonal of the square drawn on the preceding length. On the body proper, the process is repeated but the geometric progression is taken and retaken from the top of the head (rather than additively, as on the hand/arm): the head from crown to chin is the same size as the fore-arm; from crown to
603:. Next, a square of side equal to the length of the hand from little finger to wrist yields a diagonal of length equal to that of the forearm. This "diagonal of a square" process gives the relative ratios of many other key reference distances in the human male body. The process would not require measurement of
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Despite the many advances made by modern scholars towards a clearer comprehension of the theoretical basis of the Canon of
Polykleitos, the results of these studies show an absence of any general agreement upon the practical application of that canon in works of art. An observation on the subject by
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pose; the body is leaning most on the right leg. The
Doryphoros has an idealized body, contains less of naturalism. In his left hand, there was once a spear, but if so it has since been lost. The posture of the body shows that he is a warrior and a hero. Indeed, some have gone so far as to suggest
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is one of
Polykleitos's sculptures known from many copies. 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
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remains valid: "Yet it must rank as one of the curiosities of our archaeological scholarship that no-one has thus far succeeded in extracting the recipe of the written canon from its visible embodiment, and compiling the commensurable numbers that we know it incorporates."
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defines beauty "in the proportions, not of the elements, but of the parts, that is to say, of finger to finger, and of all the fingers to the palm and the wrist, and of these to the forearm, and of the forearm to the upper arm, and of all the other parts to each other."
468: 'measuring rod, standard') and designing a male nude exemplifying his theory of the mathematical basis of ideal proportions. Though his theoretical treatise is lost to history, he is quoted as saying, "Perfection ... comes about little by little (
474:) through many numbers". By this he meant that a statue should be composed of clearly definable parts, all related to one another through a system of ideal mathematical proportions and balance. Though his Canon was probably represented by his
347:. Pliny also mentions that Polykleitos was one of the five major sculptors who competed in the fifth century B.C. to make a wounded Amazon for the temple of Artemis; marble copies associated with the competition survive.
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In a 1975 paper, art historian
Richard Tobin suggested that earlier work to reconstruct the Canon had failed because previous researchers had made a flawed assumption of a foundation in linear ratios rather than
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As noted above, Polykleitos is called "The
Sicyonian" by some authors, all writing in Latin, and who modern scholars view as relying on an error of Pliny the Elder in conflating another more minor sculptor from
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Polykleitos, along with
Phidias, created the Classical Greek style. Although none of his original works survive, literary sources identifying Roman marble copies of his work allow reconstructions to be made.
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is as long as the upper arm; a diagonal on that square yields the distance from the crown to the line of the nipples. Tobin validated his calculation by comparing his theoretical model with a Roman copy of
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that the figure depicted was
Achilles, on his way to the Trojan War, as a similar depiction of Achilles carrying a shield is seen on a vase painted by the Achilles Painter at around the same time.
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we are told quite unequivocally that he related every part to every other part and to the whole and used a mathematical formula in order to do so. What that formula was is a matter of conjecture.
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observed that " general aim was clarity, balance, and completeness; his sole medium of communication the naked body of an athlete, standing poised between movement and repose".
632:. Polykleitos's school lasted for at least three generations, but it seems to have been most active in the late 4th century and early 3rd century BCE. The Roman writers
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That a "school of Argos" existed during the fifth century is minimized as "marginal" by
Jeffery M. Hurwit, "The Doryphoros: Looking Backward", in Warren G. Moon, ed.
663:, worked in the 4th century BCE. Although the son was also a sculptor of athletes, his greatest fame was won as an architect. He designed the great theatre at
227:, a disciple of Phidias, with Polykleitos of Argos. Pausanias is adamant that they were not the same person, and that Polykleitos was from Argos, in which
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noted the names of about twenty sculptors in
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Apollo of the "Mantua type", marble Roman copy after a 5th-century-BC Greek original attributed to Polykleitos, Musée du Louvre
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None of his original sculptures are known to survive, but many marble works, mostly Roman, are believed to be later copies.
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are among the best-known successors of Polykleitos, along with other, more obscure statuaries, such as
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proportion. He conjectured that the Canon begins from the length of the outermost part (the "
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99:(the "Xenocratic catalogue"), which was Pliny's guide in matters of art, ranked him between
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De la Croix, Horst; Tansey, Richard G.; Kirkpatrick, Diane (1991).
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he must have received his early training, and a contemporary of
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copies. Further sculptures attributed to Polykleitos are the
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with flute, Roman copy of a possible original by Polykleitos
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One Hundred Greek Sculptors: Their Careers and Extant Works
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519:) of all the parts to one another." He also wrote that the
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Bronze statue of an athlete from Ephesus cleaning his
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1105:. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 100.
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Richard Tobin holds a doctorate in Art History from
1254:Tobin, Richard (1975). "The Canon of Polykleitos".
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182:in the transition from Ancient to Modern Greek,
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95:. The 4th century BCE catalogue attributed to
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1218:. Translated by W H S Jones. London: Heinman.
543:Illustration of the phalanges of a human hand
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374:Another statue created by Polykleitos is the
388:. On this sculpture, it shows somewhat of a
1064:(9th ed.). Thomson/Wadsworth. p.
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1000:. Art Through Time: A Global View.
938:. Art Through Time: A Global View.
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826:. New Haven: Yale University Press.
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911:. Metropolitan Museum of Art
905:"Statue of a wounded Amazon"
868:. Metropolitan Museum of Art
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561:The Canon of Polykleitos
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1386:Polykleitos the Younger
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818:Andrew Stewart (1990).
798:Encyclopedia Britannica
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218:Early life and training
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965:www.beazley.ox.ac.uk
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110:Canon of Polykleitos
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439:Mathematics and art
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658:
627:
613:
605:square roots
567:
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547:
526:
520:
516:
512:
482:
480:
475:
462:
459:
452:
442:
430:
422:
416:
412:Contrapposto
408:
390:contrapposto
385:
382:Spear bearer
381:
375:
373:
362:
356:
354:
336:
322:
312:
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266:
255:
221:
191:
187:
183:
158:
154:
152:
141:
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1369:Discophoros
1340:Polykleitos
1304:Polykleitos
493:Hippocratic
471:para mikron
321:-bearer"),
314:Discophoros
257:Discophoros
167:Πολύκλειτος
159:Polycleitus
69:Πολύκλειτος
61:Polykleitos
1407:Categories
1362:Diadumenos
1355:Doryphoros
1347:Sculptures
1241:Polyclitus
1026:Mechanicus
983:Plutarch,
970:2021-05-20
779:References
693:Doryphoros
654:Asopodorus
614:Doryphoros
593:metacarpal
476:Doryphoros
447:(from
377:Doryphoros
370:Doryphoros
358:Diadumenos
351:Diadumenos
324:Diadumenos
301:Doryphoros
279:statue of
229:city state
188:Polyclitus
184:Polyklitos
155:Polycletus
143:Diadumenos
97:Xenocrates
89:Praxiteles
79:sculptors
44:Doryphoros
1284:191362470
1214:(1911) .
1212:Pausanias
1143:2 October
1107:cited in
665:Epidaurus
638:Pausanias
624:Followers
595:plus the
517:symmetria
488:symmetria
386:symmetria
208:Pausanias
192:Sicyonius
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1101:(1960).
844:34.19.23
646:Lysippus
609:clavicle
589:proximal
578:phalange
557:—
504:rhythmos
498:isonomia
419:Plutarch
289:Olympian
237:Ageladas
180:iotacism
101:Pheidias
81:Pheidias
77:Athenian
1379:Related
1234::
1204:Sources
1024:Philo,
915:24 June
872:24 June
803:25 June
712:strigil
671:Gallery
616:in the
582:√
563:, 1975.
423:Moralia
273:Ephesus
233:Phidias
212:his son
1282:
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642:Skopas
597:carpal
575:distal
491:, the
345:atrium
329:Hermes
319:Discus
309:marble
296:bronze
269:Amazon
225:Sikyon
200:Cicero
1388:(son)
1280:S2CID
1272:JSTOR
1038:Galen
738:Notes
634:Pliny
571:areal
521:Kanon
513:Kanon
509:Galen
483:Kanon
463:Kanṓn
456:Κανών
451:
397:Style
341:Titus
306:Roman
243:Works
204:Plato
105:Myron
85:Myron
1145:2020
1070:ISBN
1009:2020
947:2015
917:2015
874:2015
805:2023
652:and
644:and
636:and
601:ulna
429:The
292:Zeus
281:Hera
271:for
251:The
206:and
198:and
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103:and
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