Lysippos (Λύσιππος) was a
GreekGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
sculptorSculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard and/or plastic material, sound, and/or text and or light, commonly stone , metal, glass, or wood. Some sculptures are created directly by finding or carving; others are assembled, built together and fired, welded, molded,...
of the
4th century BCThe 4th century BC started the first day of 400 BC and ended the last day of 300 BC. It is considered part of the Classical era, epoch, or historical period.-Overview:This century marked the height of Classical Greek civilization in all of its aspects...
. Together with
ScopasScopas or Skopas was an Ancient Greek sculptor and architect, born on the island of Paros. Scopas worked with Praxiteles, he sculpted parts of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, especially the reliefs. He led the building of the new temple of Athena Alea at Tegea...
and
PraxitelesPraxiteles of Athens, the son of Cephisodotus the Elder, was the most renowned of the Attic sculptors of the 4th century BC. He was the first to sculpt the nude female form in a life-size statue...
, he is considered one of the three great sculptors of the
Classical GreekAncient Greece is the civilisation belonging to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth. It is generally considered to be the seminal culture which provided the...
era, bringing transition into the
Hellenistic periodThe Hellenistic period describes the era which followed the conquests of Alexander the Great. During this time, Greek cultural influence and power was at its zenith in Europe and Asia. It is often considered a period of transition, sometimes even of decline or decadence, between the brilliance of...
. Taken together, his large workshop, the demand for replicas of his work in his lifetime and later among Hellenistic and
RomanRoman sculpture refers to the sculpture of Ancient Rome. Although Roman sculpture initially copied much from Greek sculpture just as Greeks had originally copied from late Egyptians, it eventually became its distinct form of sculpture, which more emphasised the individual. Much Roman sculpture...
connoisseurs, the number of disciples directly in his circle, and the survival of his works only in copies all pose methodological problems to the student.
Lysippos was successor in contemporary repute to the famous sculptor
PolykleitosPolykleitos ; called the Elder, was a Greek sculptor in bronze of the fifth and the early fourth century BC...
.
Lysippos (Λύσιππος) was a
GreekGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
sculptorSculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard and/or plastic material, sound, and/or text and or light, commonly stone , metal, glass, or wood. Some sculptures are created directly by finding or carving; others are assembled, built together and fired, welded, molded,...
of the
4th century BCThe 4th century BC started the first day of 400 BC and ended the last day of 300 BC. It is considered part of the Classical era, epoch, or historical period.-Overview:This century marked the height of Classical Greek civilization in all of its aspects...
. Together with
ScopasScopas or Skopas was an Ancient Greek sculptor and architect, born on the island of Paros. Scopas worked with Praxiteles, he sculpted parts of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, especially the reliefs. He led the building of the new temple of Athena Alea at Tegea...
and
PraxitelesPraxiteles of Athens, the son of Cephisodotus the Elder, was the most renowned of the Attic sculptors of the 4th century BC. He was the first to sculpt the nude female form in a life-size statue...
, he is considered one of the three great sculptors of the
Classical GreekAncient Greece is the civilisation belonging to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth. It is generally considered to be the seminal culture which provided the...
era, bringing transition into the
Hellenistic periodThe Hellenistic period describes the era which followed the conquests of Alexander the Great. During this time, Greek cultural influence and power was at its zenith in Europe and Asia. It is often considered a period of transition, sometimes even of decline or decadence, between the brilliance of...
. Taken together, his large workshop, the demand for replicas of his work in his lifetime and later among Hellenistic and
RomanRoman sculpture refers to the sculpture of Ancient Rome. Although Roman sculpture initially copied much from Greek sculpture just as Greeks had originally copied from late Egyptians, it eventually became its distinct form of sculpture, which more emphasised the individual. Much Roman sculpture...
connoisseurs, the number of disciples directly in his circle, and the survival of his works only in copies all pose methodological problems to the student.
Career and legacy
Lysippos was successor in contemporary repute to the famous sculptor
PolykleitosPolykleitos ; called the Elder, was a Greek sculptor in bronze of the fifth and the early fourth century BC...
. Among the works attributed to him are the so-called
Horses of Saint MarkThe Triumphal Quadriga or Horses of Saint Mark is a set of Roman or Greek bronze statues of four horses, originally part of a monument depicting a quadriga .-Origin and manufacture:...
,
Eros Stringing the Bow (of which various copies exist, the best in the
British MuseumThe British Museum is a museum of human history and culture situated in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from...
),
Agias (known for a marble copy found and preserved in
DelphiDelphi is both an archaeological site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis...
), the similar
Oil PourerThe Oil Pourer is a lost Greek bronze of an athlete variously associated with the circle of Lysippos, c. 340-330 BCE, of which Roman marble copies exist, notably in the Glyptothek, Munich and in the Albertinum, Dresden. Another well-known Roman replica is conserved at Petworth House...
(
DresdenDresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
and
MunichMunich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg...
), the
Farnese HerculesThe Farnese Hercules is an ancient sculpture, probably an enlarged copy made in the early third century AD by Glykon of an original of Lysippos or one of his circle, of the fourth century BC., made for the Baths of Caracalla in Rome , where it was recovered in 1546.The heroically-scaled Hercules is...
(which was originally placed in the
Baths of CaracallaThe Baths of Caracalla in Rome, Italy were Roman public baths, or thermae, built in Rome between AD 212 and 216, during the reign of the Emperor Caracalla. The extensive ruins of the baths have become a popular tourist attraction....
, although the surviving marble copy lies in the
Naples National Archaeological MuseumThe Naples National Archaeological Museum is a museum in Naples, southern Italy, at the northwest corner of the original Greek wall of the city of Neapolis. The museum contains a large collection of Roman artifacts from Pompeii, Stabiae and Herculaneum...
) and
ApoxyomenosApoxyomenos is one of the conventional subjects of ancient Greek votive sculpture; it represents an athlete, caught in the familiar act of scraping sweat and dust from his body with the small curved instrument that the Romans called a strigil....
(or
The Scraper, known from a
RomanThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
marble copy in the
Vatican MuseumsThe Vatican Museums , in Viale Vaticano in Rome, inside the Vatican City, are among the greatest museums in the world, since they display works from the immense collection built up by the Roman Catholic Church throughout the centuries....
).
Born at
SicyonSikyon was an ancient Greek city situated in the northern Peloponnesus between Corinth and Achaea on the territory of the present-day prefecture of Corinthia...
around
390 BC-Roman Republic:* July 18 – Brennus, a chieftain of the Senones of the Adriatic coast of Italy, in the Battle of the Allia, leads an army of Cisalpine Gauls in their attack on Rome. They capture the entire city of Rome except for the Capitoline Hill, which is successfully held against them....
Lysippos was a worker in
bronzeBronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive, but sometimes with other elements such as phosphorus, manganese, aluminium, or silicon. It was particularly significant in antiquity, giving its name to the Bronze Age...
in his youth. He taught himself the art of sculpture, later becoming head of the school of
ArgosArgos is a city in Greece in the Peloponnese near Nafplion, which was its historic harbour .-Name:The region of Argos is known as the Argolis, Argolid, or Argeia...
and Sikyon. According to Pliny, he produced more than 1,500 works, all of them in bronze. Commentators noted his grace and elegance, and the
symmetria or coherent balance of his figures, which were leaner than the ideal represented by Polykleitos and with proportionately smaller heads, giving them the impression of greater height. He was famous for his attention to the details of eyelids and toenails.
His pupil,
Chares of LindosChares of Lindos was a Greek sculptor born on the island of Rhodes. He was a pupil of Lysippus. Chares constructed the Colossus of Rhodes in 282 BC, an enormous bronze statue of the sun god Helios and also the patron god of Rhodes...
, constructed the
Colossus of RhodesThe Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of the Greek god Helios, erected in the city of Rhodes on the Greek island of Rhodes by Chares of Lindos between 292 and 280 BC. It is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World...
, one of the
Seven Wonders of the Ancient WorldThe Seven Wonders of the World is a well known list of seven remarkable constructions of classical antiquity. It was based on guidebooks popular among the ancient Hellenic tourists...
. As this statue does not exist today, debate continues as to whether it was cast bronze or hammered of sheet bronze.
Lysippos and Alexander
During his lifetime, Lysippos was personal sculptor to
Alexander the GreatAlexander III of Macedon, popularly known as Alexander the Great , was an Ancient Greek king of Macedon who created one of the largest empires in ancient history...
; indeed, he was the only artist whom the conqueror saw fit to represent him. A recently-discovered epigram of
MacedonMacedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paionia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south...
ian Poseidippus, in the
anthologyAn anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
represented in the
Milan PapyrusThe Milan Papyrus is a papyrus scroll written in Alexandria in the late third or early second century BC during the rule of the Ptolemaic dynasty. Originally discovered by anonymous tomb raiders as part of a mummy wrapping, it was purchased in the papyrus "grey market" in Europe in 1992 by the...
, takes as its inspiration a bronze portrait of Alexander:
- Lysippus, Sicyonian sculptor, daring hand, learned artisan,
- your bronze statue has the look of fire in its eyes,
- that one you made in the form of Alexander. The Persians
The Achaemenid Empire or Persian Empire was the successor state of the Median Empire, ruling over significant portions of what would become Greater Iran. The Persian and the Median Empire taken together are also known as the Medo-Persian Empire, succeeding the Neo-Assyrian Empire...
deserve
- no blame. We forgive cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
for fleeing a lionThe Lion is one of four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
.
Lysippus has been credited with the stock representation of an inspired, godlike Alexander with tousled hair and lips parted, looking upward. One fine example, an early Imperial Roman copy found at
TivoliTivoli, the classical Tibur, is an ancient Italian town in Lazio, about 30 km from Rome, at the falls of the Aniene river, where it issues from the Sabine hills...
, is conserved at the
LouvreThe Musée du Louvre or officially the Grand Louvre — in English, the Louvre Museum or Great Louvre, or simply the Louvre — is the largest national museum of France, the most visited museum in the world, and a historic monument. It is a central landmark of Paris, located on the Right Bank of the...
.
See also
- Lysistratus
Lysistratus was a Greek sculptor of the 4th century BC, brother of Lysippus of Sicyon. We are told by Pliny the Elder that he followed a strongly realistic line, being the first sculptor to take impressions of human faces in plaster....
- another Greek sculptor, his brother was Lycurgus, a deadly lion that rose from the Aegean Sea. They were linked back to Zeus, the almighty god of the sky.
- Victorious Youth
The Victorious Youth, referred to in Italian sources as the Atleta di Fano, is a Greek bronze sculpture, made between 300 and 100 BCE, in the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, California...
- a bronze sculpture attributed to Lysippos.
Further reading
- Gardner, P. 1905. ‘The Apoxymenos of Lysippos’, JHS 25:234-59.
- Serwint, N. 1996. ‘Lysippos’, in The Dictionary of Art vol. 19: 852–54.
- Stewart, A.F. 1983. ‘Lysippos and Hellenistic sculpture’, AJA 87:262.
- Vermeule, C.C. 1975. ‘The weary Herakles of Lysippos’, AJA 79:323–32.
External links