Critios boy

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The Critios boy

The so-called Kritios boy was found in several parts in 1866 and 1888 during excavations on the Acropolis in Athens . The sculpture was previously attributed to the workshop of the sculptors Kritios and Nesiotes , who also created the sculptural group of the tyrannicide . Its scientific name comes from this time. The 1.17 meter high marble statue is under inventory number 698 in the Acropolis Museum in Athens.

Finding circumstances

The torso was found in late 1865 or early 1866 as part of what is known as the Persian rubble . During these excavations, the calf carrier and the Angelitos-Athena were also unearthed. However, in the same context of the find, fragments of statues came to light that could only have arisen after the devastation of the Persians. The associated head was not discovered until 1888 during the excavation campaigns led by Panagiotis Kavvadias and Georg Kawerau , in a context of discovery that the excavators stated that it did not look like Persian rubble. A head that was previously connected to the torso and originating from its complex of finds (Acropolis Museum Inv. 699) was then removed again, and the boy's matching head was connected to the torso.

reconstruction

The break lines between the torso and the neck show gaps all around. That is why the opinion was repeatedly expressed that the head was due to a restoration carried out in antiquity and that it represented a different time position than the torso. In 1987, therefore, the head and torso were again examined separately and separately, especially with regard to the question of how and where they both fit. As a result, it was found that there is a position in which the head “locks” into the body and the inner fracture surfaces fit together perfectly. In contrast, there are no indications or traces of work that justify the assumption of a subsequent fitting of the head and thus an antique repair. The togetherness and simultaneity of head and torso has since been considered proven.

In addition to the torso and head, three other parts belong to the statue and have been reattached. This includes the lower end of the left upper arm and two parts of the left leg below the knee joint. Including these parts, the height of the torso to the breaking edge of the neck is 1.02 meters, the head and neck are 0.19 meters high. Combined, the height of what has been preserved is 1.167 meters. The statue is missing both forearms, the left foot from the ankle and the right lower leg. The eyes, which were once separately inserted, are also lost. The head as a whole has been more severely affected, with damage to the nose, chin and cheeks. The original height can be reconstructed to approximately 1.25 meters.

Dating and position

The Kritios boy is predominantly found in the late Archaic-Early Classical period, specifically in the decade 490/480 BC. Dated. The basis is above all the connection with the Persian rubble and its apparently fixed date in the year 479 BC. In addition, the well-preserved, hardly weathered surface is cited as evidence that the sculpture could only have been set up outdoors for a few years.

The sculpture is still in the tradition of the archaic Kouroi and depicts a young blond man, as can be seen from the remains of paint on his hair. The statue made of Parian marble was erected as a dedication on the Acropolis, possibly to honor a young competition winner.

The uniformly shaped curl approach proves that the statue belongs to an art-historical transition period, which is known as the Strict Style . The type of hair treatment is typical of this period and can be compared with that of Apollo from Olympia , the blond head from the Acropolis and Ephebe from the Agrigento Museum . The legs are no longer, as is customary with the archaic kouroi - such as the monumental Sounion kouros - stiffened in a pretended striding posture. Rather, the body weight of the Kritios boy rests on the left leg as a supporting leg , while the right leg is slightly angled as a free leg . A clear inclination of the pelvis, in which the pelvis emerges from the orthogonal axes of the composition, is not yet produced. In this respect the statue resembles the Ephebe of Agrigento at the same time.

In the case of the Kritios boy, it is only hinted at what will prevail a little later: at the latest with the works of the sculptor Polyklet , from 460 B.C. The contrast between standing and free leg, the so-called contrapost , causes a clear inclination of the pelvis, which runs through the entire system of the statues and is canceled out in the ponderation , the balance of carrying and loads. In the Polyklets school this compensation, which leads to lowering the shoulder on the side of the raised hip, is elevated to the canon and remains exemplary for subsequent sculpture schools such as those of Praxiteles or Lysipp . The Kritios boy initiated the development of this solution, which cannot yet be recognized in the slightly older Aristodikos of Anavyssos .

literature

Web links

Commons : Kritios-Knabe  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ Panagiotis Kavvadias : Ἀνασκαϕαὶ ἐν τῇ Ἀκροπόλει . In: Archaiologikon Deltion. 1888, pp. 103-104; Paul Wolters : Miscelles. In: Communications from the German Archaeological Institute, Athens Department. Volume 13, 1888, p. 226; Panagiotis Kavvadias, Georg Kawerau: The excavation of the Acropolis from 1885 to 1890. Η ανασκαφή της Ακροπόλεως από του 1885 μέχρι του 1890 (= Βιβλιοθήκη της εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογικής Εταιρείας. Belt 13). Typographeion Hestia, Athens 1906, pp. 15-16.
  2. ↑ Panagiotis Kavvadias, Georg Kawerau: The excavation of the Acropolis from 1885 to 1890. Η ανασκαφή της Ακροπόλεως από του 1885 μέχρι του 1890 (= Βιβλιοθήκη της εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογικής Εταιρείας. Belt 13). Typographeion Hestia, Athens 1906, pp. 15-16.
  3. ↑ Jeffrey M. Hurwit: The Kritios Boy: Discovery, Reconstruction, and Date. In: American Journal of Archeology . Volume 93, Issue 1, 1989, p. 55.
  4. ↑ For the history of the find and reconstruction, see Jeffrey M. Hurwit: The Kritios Boy: Discovery, Reconstruction, and Date. In: American Journal of Archeology. Volume 93, Issue 1, 1989, pp. 41–80, on the question of the connection between head and body, especially pp. 57–61.
  5. ↑ Dimensions of the autopsy in Jeffrey M. Hurwit: The Kritios Boy: Discovery, Reconstruction, and Date. In: American Journal of Archeology. Volume 93, Issue 1, 1989, p. 80 Appendix.
  6. ↑ On the problem of Persian rubble, see Martin Steskal: The Destruction Report 480/79 of the Athens Acropolis. A case study on the established chronological framework (= Antiquitates. Archaeological Research Results. Vol. 30). Publishing house Dr. Kovač, Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-8300-1385-X .
  7. ↑ For discussion, see Jeffrey M. Hurwit: The Kritios Boy: Discovery, Reconstruction, and Date. In: American Journal of Archeology. Volume 93, Issue 1, 1989, pp. 41–80, on the question of the connection between head and body, especially pp. 63–64.