Hellenistic sculpture is less concerned with Classical Greek ideals of perfection and more concerned with displaying inner emotion and taking artistic risks.
At the end of the 400's B.C., Greece was devastated by the Peloponnesian War, a terrible 75-year-long war fought between Athens and Sparta which involved nearly all the Greek city-states. After the war, the Greeks began creating sculpture in a new Hellenistic style that displayed more emotion, especially feelings of grief or despair, and was less encumbered by the standards of Classical ideals of perfection and beauty.
A very early example is the "Cnidian Aphrodite," originally created by Praxiteles [330 B.C.] in a 6 1/2-foot tall marble form, which shows the goddess in perfect form and simple naturalistic beauty. In ancient literature, according to Janson, this Aphrodite is “the synonym for absolute perfection” and the artist Praxiteles is known for his ways of perfecting feminine beauty and sensuous grace in marble. Today we know of the Greek Cnidian Aphrodite only through the Roman copies left to us.
In another early example, “Apoxyomenos (The Scraper),” originally done in bronze by the Greek artist Lysippus [330 B.C.], begins to represent the movement away from the Classical toward the Hellenistic Green style. Here the arms of the athlete as he cleans himself with a scraper tool are thrust forward toward the viewer in a spontaneous and freeing sort of way. Indeed this artistic choice represents a bold break from the Classical tradition even at the risk of partially obstructing the view of the athlete’s torso. The athlete’s free leg is extended at a diagonal. This shows the beginning of the freedom, expressionism, and three-dimensional movement evident in Hellenistic art.
The Hellenistic is an energetic style where each sculpture, even if contained within a group or within a frieze, stands alone in its individual likeness. In the “Dying Gaul,” again available to us only through a Roman copy, the agony of impending death is plain. Though the warrior’s legs apparently no longer work, all his body strength is gathered into his arms as he tries to keep an invisible weight from crushing him to the ground. The warrior’s form is full of dignity; the statue evokes pathos for the dying warrior, even though he is an enemy.
In the “Barberini Faun,” again a Roman copy of a Greek original of 220 B.C., a drunken satyr, apparently passed out, is gripped in an uneasy slumber. His face seems to show the unease of a disturbing dream while his right arm convulses perhaps against his will. Similar to the “Dying Gaul,” the “Barberini Faun” shows the expression that belies underlying emotion that is so prevalent in Hellenistic art.
Perhaps the dramatic representation of Hellenistic art is the masterpiece, the “Nike of Samothrace" [c. 200-190 B.C.] of marble 8 feel tall and currently in the Louvre. Nike, the goddess who personified triumph, has just walked onto the prow of a ship. Her powerful wings are spread widely and she appears partly airborne by a powerful headwind. The force of this rush of air affects every aspect of the sculpture: it balanced the forward movement of her figure, it lifts her wings, it shapes and animates every fold of her gown. The state creates a fascinating interplay with the space that surrounds it.
It is frustrating that today we have, in the words of Janson, “no single undisputed original by any of the famous sculptors of Greece.” All have been lost. What are left are Greek copies made centuries later or Roman copies that, as far as scholars know, are pale by comparison.
The Hellenistic period ended in 31 B.C., when Rome defeated Egypt, the last of the Hellenistic kingdoms.
Source:
Janson, H.W. History of Art. N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1974.
