Evolution of Ancient Greek Sculpture: From Geometric to Hellenistic

Ancient Greek sculpture is celebrated for its ground-breaking representation of the human figure. Nevertheless, this prominent artistic established practice did not just emerge fully developed. Ancient Greek sculpture is generally branched in the various stages of progression: the three fundamental stages are the archaic, classical, and Hellenistic periods. It is also worth noting that there is an earlier phase referred to as the Geometric Period in which the characteristics that would come to define ancient Greek sculpture were starting to take shape.

The Archaic Period (600-590 B.C.) is the start of a transformation headed for a more realistic representation of the human form. One type of sculpture that surfaced in this period is the korai, sculptures of women dressed in draped clothing representative of ancient Greek attire. Kore (maiden), can be seen at the Louvre in Paris, dated 630 B.C. and to most likely be from Crete. Another important sculpture of the period is known as the New York Kuoros (Youth) is a depiction of a nude young man, dated around 600-590 B.C. and can be seen at the Metropolitan Museum. Although the sculptures look stiffly frontal like in Egyptian art, their figures have a more naturalistic approach.

These statues had the tendency to be carved with poses that convey movement and an “archaic smile.”
The Classical Period began after the Greeks had defeated the Persians at the start of the fifth century B.C., and is the most prominent era of Greek sculpture.

It is distinguished by progressive survey of movements through space, a fusion of idealistic form and realistic depiction, and the refining of canon of proportion. A famous sculpture from this period is the Kritios Boy, dated 480 B.C. from Athens. It contrasts significantly from Archaic kouroi sculpture in that the Kritios Boy’s weight is shifted creating what we know as the contrapposto. The groundbreaking movement in the body gives the observer the impression that muscles are underneath the exterior of the marble skin, and that a skeleton expresses the whole as a real

person.
The Hellenistic Period starts with the death of Alexander the Great in the early third century B.C. Hellenistic sculpture significantly broadened the spectrum of analysis of the human form, with lifelike portrayals of people of all areas of society, depictions of eroticism, representations of chaos and raw fervor, portrayals of the nude female figure, and a reproduction of portrait sculpture contracted by the upper classes. Possibly the most acclaimed archetype from this period is the Venus di Milo, a 200 B.C. sculpture of the goddess Aphrodite that conveys enchantment to an extent not palpable in works of the classical period.