Kouroi and Korai

An Evolution of Sculptural Style

Kouros (Kouroi)

• New York Kouros (600 BCE)

• Sounion Kouros (580 BCE)

• Kleobis and Biton (580 BCE)

• Tanagra Boys (580 BCE)

• Anavysos Kouros (530 BCE)

• Aristodikos Kouros (510 - 500 BCE)

• Kritios Boy (490 - 480 BCE)

NY KOUROS

• NY MMA 32.11.1• 1.84 m in height• From Attica• 600 BCE• Egyptian grid-design• Attention to patterning• No real anatomy

Sounion Kouros

• Athens, National Museum• Restored height 3.05 m • Found in a pit at the sanctuary

of Poseidon at Sounion• Like NY Kouros but more

achieved• Seashell like curls, washboard

stomach, rounder musculature

Design

• Ionic volute ear• Careful attention to

texture of hair• Love of geometric

form and symmetrical patterning

Kleobis and Biton

• Delphi Museum • Restored height of 1.97 m • 580 BCE• Story of their sacrifice in

Herodotus i.31• Artist’s inscription:

[Poly]medes the Argive made this.

Boys from Tanagra

• Athens, National Mus.• From Tanagra • 1.47 m in height• Limestone• 580 BCE• “Amphialkes put this

up for Dermys and Kittylos”

Some Awkwardness

• Awkwardness of the embrace is seen in Egyptian couple statues.

Anavysos Kouros

• National Mus. 3851• 1.94 m in height• 530 BCE• “Stay and mourn at the

monument for dead Kroisos whom violent Ares destroyed, fighting in the front rank.”

Problems with Hips

• More robustly modeled

• Struggle with the weight of the marble

• Unsuccessful solution

Aristodikos

• National Museum, Athens• 510 - 500 BCE• 1.95 m in height• Base inscribed with name

Aristodikos• More skillfully handled

body masses

Kritios Boy• Acropolis Museum,

Athens• 0.86 m in height• 490 - 480 BCE• Precursor to the

Classical period• Shift of weight -

confidence in body masses

Sculptor in Bronze?

• Engrave lines of the hair

• Hollow eyes characteristic of bronze work

• Broken limbs and head

Archaic Horsemen

• Rampin Rider• 550 BCE• Head from the Louvre• Fragments from the

Acropolis circuit wall

Remarkable join

• Payne saw that this head from the Louvre joined the body on the acropolis

• Lace-like carving of the hair and beard

• Celery crown - Nemean or Isthmian games.

• Delicacy of features• Same sculptor as Peplos

Kore?

Persian Rider

• Newly restored

• 520 BCE

Paint on Archaic Statues

• Encaustic Paint

• Depth to Flat Surfaces

• Lost in late Classical Period

Kore (Korai)

• Auxerre Kore (640 - 630 BCE)

• Nikandre Kore (640 - 630 BCE)

• Berlin Kore (570-560 BCE)

• Peplos Kore (530 BCE)

• Cheramyes Kore (570 - 560 BCE)

• Ionic Korai, Acropolis (520 - 500 BCE)

• Phrasikleia (540 BCE)

Auxerre Kore

• Louvre 3098• From Crete. • 0.65 m in height• 640 - 630 BCE• Incision and traces of

painted lines• Daedalic style• Large hands and position

suggest adoration.

Nikandre

• Athens, National Museum

• From Delos• 640 - 625 BCE• 1.75 m in height• Earliest life-sized statue• Nowhere thicker than 20

cm .

Nikandre Inscription

• Boustrophedon. • “Nikandre dedicated

me to the Far Darter, the Arrow Shooter, outstanding of women, daughter of Deinodikes of Naxos, sister of Deinomenes, wife of Phraxos.”

Berlin Kore

• Berlin Antikensammulungen.• 1.93 m in height• 570 - 560 BCE• Found wrapped in lead in

Keratea, suburb of Athens. • Crown (polos) of meander

pattern and lotus and bud motif. • Funerary?

Peplos Kore• Acropolis Museum, Athens. • 1.17 m in height• 530 BCE• Peplos over the chiton• Same sculptor as Rampin

head?

Traces of Paint• Embroidered

dress. • Colored belt. • Strands of

hair, irises, lips all colored.

• Added jewelry pegged in.

Cheramyes Kore

• Louvre 686• 1.92 m in height• 560 BCE• From Samos• Epiblema, mantle, and

chiton• Dedication:”Cheramyes

dedicated this statue to Hera.”

Ionic Korai on the Acropolis

• Acropolis 681: Antenor Kore

• Acropolis 682• Acropolis 670• Acropolis 674• Acropolis 686:

Euthydikos Kore

Antenor Kore

• Acropolis Museum • 2.155 m in height• 530 - 520 BCE• “Nearchos the potter

dedicated this to Athens. Antenor the son of Eumares made this statue.”

• Nearchos signed pots 757 - 540 BCE.

• Eyes: rock crystal set in lead.

Early Chian

• Acropolis 682• 530 - 520 BCE• 1.82 m high• “most peculiar” • “the less one sees of

the whole, the more of the detail, the better”

Unusual Chiton Style

• Acropolis 670• 1.15 m high• 520 - 510 BCE• Sculptor: same hand

as the Aristodikos • No himation. Unusual

chiton use.

Advanced Chian Style

• Acropolis 674• H (preserved) 0.92 m • 500 BCE• Preliminaries to the

Severe Style.

Euthydikos Kore

• Acropolis 686• 490 BCE• Euthydikos, son of

Thaliarchos, dedicated me.

• Same sculptor as the Kritios Boy.

Phrasikleia

• Excavated from Merenda (ancient deme site of Myrrhinous) in 1972.

• Found almost intact with a male kouros.

• Cemetery context, on the road to Athens.

• 1.72 m in height

• 540 BCE

Bridal Garb

• Stephane or crown of lotus buds and flowers.

• Earrings, necklace, bracelets.

• Embroidered gown.

• Fancy belt.

• Special shoes.

• Iconography of bride.

Inscription• Fit into previously discovered base (1729).

• Artist’s signature: Aristion of Paros.

• Metrical epitaph: – “Sema” of Phrasikleia. – I shall be called kore– always, instead of marriage– by the gods that – having been alloted name.