Sounion kouros

Sounion-Kouros (National Archaeological Museum of Athens)

The Sounion-Kouros is the colossal statue of a youth in the archaic style in the Kouros scheme. The Sounion-Kouros is approximately between 615 and 590 BC. BC originated. The statue made of Naxian marble was named after its place of discovery, Cape Sounion . There she was discovered in 1906 together with a torso in a deep hole east of the temple for the sea god Poseidon . It is located in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens and is stylistically named after Christiane VorsterDipylon Masters near. However, such colossal statues are not atypical for this time. For example, there is a kouros over 5 meters high on Samos and another with similar dimensions in Thebes .

The 3.05 m high statue has been restored . The left half of the face is completed with the nose and most of the mouth, part of the right arm, the right lower leg and almost the entire left leg.

From the Poseidon sanctuary of Cape Sounion. In the rear view and in the head section, the sculpture can still be seen with its old additions. The affiliation of the ancient feet is questionable. Traces of red paint can still be seen in the hair band, and fine engraving of the pupil was probably caused by the application of paint and various types of corrosion. A small drill hole on the inside of the right forearm, which can only be seen in front of the original, is important for the technical development of marble processing. It proves that arms, like the younger Kouros by Moschato, were initially separated from the trunk by parallel drill holes and that then in a further operation the webs between the drill holes were knocked out and the marks were almost completely removed by sanding and smoothing.

The anatomical details have not yet been worked out in the way that can be seen in the late archaic period ( strict style ) or the early classical period, for example on the so-called Kritios boy . Rather, the figure appears stylized, which can be clearly seen in the body parts such as the extremities with their simulated stride position as well as in the face with the disproportionately large eyes. The shape of the head and the hairstyle itself do not match nature either. It is directed strictly axially and frontally towards the viewer.

The proportions are unnaturally elongated. The statue shows clear boundaries between the individual forms. The plastic values are particularly strongly accentuated, so it shows a stronger design of the muscle structures. The statue shows a love for geometric shapes and symmetrical patterns. The muscles of the shoulder are set apart from the pectoral muscles and the shoulders are spread wide apart. There is a noticeable lump at the end of the thighbones and the chest bulges particularly strongly.

As Gisela MA Richter notes, anatomical details are worked into the surface in grooves, furrows, elevations or buttons. The torso is square and flat on the back. On the back there are herringbone-like grooves, which are perhaps supposed to show ribs too clearly. Two curved lines mark the shoulder blades. The kouros have broad shoulders and a long thin waist. The head is cubic and rather flat on the top and back. The ears are abnormally large and set very high. The eyes are large and flat, the lower lid describes a flat curve, the upper one an arch. The mouth is horizontal with sharp corners. The hair is like a wig and is tied with a ribbon at the back of the head. They consist of a complex system of convex vertical and concave horizontal curls. This gives the impression of optically opposing spiral curls. The arm is separated from the body up to the hand. The hands, whose thumbs are abnormally large, are clenched into fists.

literature

Gisela MA Richter : Kouroi. Archaic Greek Youths. A Study of the Development of the Kouros Type in Greek Sculpture. Phaidon Press, London 1960, p. 24.
Christiane Vorster : Early Archaic Sculpture . In: Peter C. Bol (ed.): The history of ancient sculpture. Volume 1: Early Greek Plastic. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2002, pp. 97-132.
Detlev Kreikenbom : Mature archaic sculpture. In: Peter C. Bol (ed.): The history of ancient sculpture. Volume 1: Early Greek Plastic. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2002, pp. 133–170.

Web links

Commons : Sounion-Kouros - collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

↑ Christiane Vorster: early archaic sculpture. In: Peter C. Bol (ed.): The history of ancient sculpture. Volume 1: Early Greek Plastic. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2002.
↑ Christiane Vorster: early archaic sculpture. In: Peter C. Bol (ed.): The history of ancient sculpture. Volume 1: Early Greek Plastic. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2002, p. 305
↑ Cf. Gisela MA Richter: Kouroi. Archaic Greek Youths. A Study of the Development of the Kouros Type in Greek Sculpture . Phaidon Press, London 1960.

[1] Christiane Vorster: early archaic sculpture. In: Peter C. Bol (ed.): The history of ancient sculpture. Volume 1: Early Greek Plastic. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2002.

[2] Christiane Vorster: early archaic sculpture. In: Peter C. Bol (ed.): The history of ancient sculpture. Volume 1: Early Greek Plastic. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2002, p. 305

[3] Cf. Gisela MA Richter: Kouroi. Archaic Greek Youths. A Study of the Development of the Kouros Type in Greek Sculpture . Phaidon Press, London 1960.