Kritios Boy

The primary focus of ancient greek sculpture was that of the human body. The idealism of physical perfection was embodied through many aspects of Greek culture. Although the Greeks produced monumental statues of both men and women, there is an undeniable differentiation along gender lines. To the Greeks, men represented the ideal physical form they were seen as objects of beauty and furthermore often became disproportionately subjects of art and sculpture as artists strove to recreate the perfect human form in their works. Through a study of this complex form, the Greeks made significant advancements in proportions and depiction of motion while developing the human form to be depicted as more realistic. A survey of the male form throughout

The Kritios Boy, ca. 480 B.C.E. (fig. 3) is the embodiment of the transition from the Archaic Kouros to the more movement filled Greek sculpture we find in later parts of part of Ancient Greece. The changes are simply but effectively achieved by depicting the model to relax one leg and place all the weight on the other, a pose referred to as Contrapposto, breaking the frontal symmetry traditionally represent till this time. This break in posture creates a more natural posture, with one leg and and the head slightly turned to one side. In a further gesture towards realism, the Archaic smile is now replaced by a full lipped pout. It is through these gestures of naturalism while moving away from the artificial symmetry, transcendent smile, and symbolic representations of the body, we begin to soft yet engaged subjects that represent the Greek ideal of the male

While Archaic statues were adorned with their signature smile, Hellenistic artists introduced a sweeping range of the human condition such as rest, thought, and pain to the faces of their statues. Laocoön and His Sons, ca. first century B.C.E. (fig. 7) perfectly embodies the the emotional dynamism prevalent throughout the Hellenistic period, The statue depicts sea serpents viciously attacking Laocoön and his two sons, who was said to have tried to warn his compatriots of the Trojan wooden horse. In the struggle, Laocoon twists in space, his head back and muscle clenched, as his face cries in agony. Even with the sense of tragedy that is so dramatic in the figures face, there is a simultaneous sense of beauty in the figures body that is carried throughout the male form of Hellenistic