Special Exhibitions
Magna Graecia
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Special Exhibitions |
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Magna Graecia |
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Magna Graecia: Greek Art From South Italy and Sicily
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About the Exhibition
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Agrigento
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Youth of Agrigento (about 480 BC)
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Youth of Agrigento (about 480 BC) Standing perfectly poised, the Youth of Agrigento possesses a commanding presence that would have suited its likely position in a sanctuary. The sculpture may represent a dedication to a deity or a mortal youth commemorating an athletic victory. Discovered in a cistern near the Temple of Demeter, goddess of agriculture, the statue's smooth marble surface retains much of its ancient luster, and, even rarer, the original red paint of the finely delineated hair is well-preserved.Naturalistic modeling and the youth's pose date the figure to a transitional period of Greek art. During this time, sculptors abandoned the superficial realism of the Archaic period to pursue the "classical ideal," or the embodiment of physical perfection in depictions of the human form. This sculpture joins the archaic and the classical styles. The slightly lingering smile hearkens back to the "archaic smile" of earlier sculptural tradition, whereas the natural representation of musculature and an attempt to present the figure as moving in space look forward to the Classical period. Page 6 of 8 | On the next page: Statuette of Chthonic Deity with Piglet (about 410-400 BC) |
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