Archaic

The real impetus for Greek large-scale sculpture came from Egypt, whence the Greeks adopted two new styles: the kouros and the kore, both of stone. The kouros ("boy") is a nude young male; the kore ("girl") is a clothed young female. The development of these styles was an excellent foil for the evolution of the Greek sculptors' skills through the Archaic Age and Classical period, in terms of both human anatomy (kouros) and the interplay of anatomy and drapery (kore).

The Kouros. This style showed a standing or striding male, arms held to the sides, fists clenched, with the left leg extended before the body. It therefore had an "active" look to it, with the "good" right side being more visible. Unlike Egyptian statues, which portrayed men in kilts, the Greeks sculpted their young men nude according to the Greek aesthetic. A good early example is the pair of kouroi known as Kleobis and Biton, who date to c. 590 b. c.e and stand 2.17 meters high. (see Image 9.17). The body is rigid, but the "striding" leg gives a sense of movement. The arms are close to the body, with the hands attached to the thighs. This design provided stability for the statue's limbs, decreasing the likelihood of breakage. Although some of the anatomical features are more or less realistic, such as the shoulders and biceps, the body on the whole has a geometric feel: the hair is a sheet of beads; the eyes are three-dimensional beads themselves; the pectorals and knees are sculpted scallops; and the abdomen, pelvis, and calves are gen-

9.17 Kleobis and Biton, Kouros figures (Corel Corp)

Tly curved lines. The sculptor clearly understood the general makeup of the male body but none of the underlying muscle structure.

This started to change at the end of the sixth century b. c.e. with statues like the Anavysos Kouros (sometimes called "Kroisos"), dated to c. 530 and standing 1.94 meters high (see Image 9.18). There is a rigidity to the striding body that is similar to Kleobis and Biton, and much of the hair still has that beaded

Look, but the contours of the body are more naturalistic, as is the face. Only the linear calves and elliptical abdomen retain the sense of "geometry." On the face is the so-called Archaic smile, a grin typifying all kouroi (pl. of kouros) and korai (pl. of kore) of the Archaic Age.

9.18 Anavysos Kouros (“Kroisos”) (Courtesy of Paul Butler)

The Greek sculptors achieved an ideal balance of realism and idealism by 480 b. c.e. with the Kri-tios Boy, standing 1.17 meters high (see Image 9.19). A slightly more realistic look is given to its hair, although it is still composed of linear and circular elements. The anatomy is realistic, indicating an understanding of underlying musculature. Furthermore, the rigid, striding posture has been abandoned for the more graceful S-curve posture that typified much Greek male sculpture from the fifth century on. The hollow eyes were originally filled with shell for a more naturalistic look. The Kritios Boy marks the transition from Archaic sculpture to classical, discussed further below.

The Kore. As with the kouros, the kore derived from Egyptian influences. Like their Egyptian predecessors, the korai were clothed and, unlike the kouroi, they had static postures; the legs were together rather than striding. An early example was the Lady of Auxerre, dating to c. 640 and standing 65 cm high (see Image 9.20). Here we see the "row of boxes" hairstyle over an elliptical face. The breasts, waist, and arms have an almost naturalistic look to them, but the hands and feet appear to be composed of geometric designs, with squares and rectangles serving as toes and fingers. Furthermore, the lower body is hidden beneath a skirt covered with geometric designs that deny not only the body under the fabric, but the natural falls of the fabric itself.

One full-scale kore statue is the Nikandre statue, dating to c. 625 and standing 1.75 meters high. Its arms are similar to those of the kouros statues from this period, although the clothed body shows even less anatomical or naturalistic detail. Essentially, the statue looks like a woman's head on a tree stump. This tendency for shapelessness changed by 530 with the creation of the Peplos Kore, standing 1.21 meters tall (see Image

9.19 Kritios Boy (The Art Archive/Acropolis Museum Athens/Dagli Orti)

9.21). It has the typical Archaic face, including "goggle" eyes and the Archaic smile, but the hair, arms, and hands are more naturalistic than previous models. Furthermore, there is a sense of a body underneath the clothing, especially at the breasts, the waist, and the legs (visible as a groove in the skirt). Of particular interest are the traces of paint still visible on the face, reminding us that the Greeks originally painted all their sculpture.

The full development of the kore appears in what remains of the Euthydikos Kore, dated to c. 490 b. c.e. and standing 58 cm tall. The remains of this piece show naturalistic hair and facial features. The light draping of the dress reveals shoulders and arms that were sculpted with an understanding of the musculature. Even the overdraping mantle falling over the right shoulder does not obscure the underlying anatomy of shoulder, arm, breast, and torso. By the fifth century, then, the Greek sculptors had learned to reveal the female anatomy while still keeping the female modestly "dressed" for public display. Female nudity in public sculpture would not appear until the fourth century b. c.e.