Bronze diskos thrower

Bronze diskos thrower

Greek

Bronze Diskos Thrower is a bronze-cast statuette from the Peloponnese, and dated to the beginning of the Classical period of Ancient Greece. It is significant to note that this is a statuette, not a statue, as it is only 9 5/8 inches tall. It features a nude athlete with a discus raised slightly above his head. He wears a helmet and is in an activated stance as he is about to throw the discus. The artist especially highlights the muscular, well-defined, body. The face and body of the athlete are recognizable elements of the natural world, but a lack of any imperfection and fine detail, especially in the face, creates a generic figure rather than an individualistic portrait. During the Classical period, nude, idealized figures were frequently depicted in sculpture. In order to idealize the human form, the Greeks focused on conveying the idealized muscular body in natural movement.

Although the Bronze Diskos Thrower is much smaller and in a more activated stance, it resembles the Kritios Boy that is mentioned in Janson’s History of Art. Both figures possess nude, idealized bodies in contrapposto. The bodies are not rigid, and there is a clear understanding of how the body naturally moves. This perfection of form and movement is given prominence over individuality; a lack of fine detail in the face leaves both figures as generic representations. Both Kritios Boy and Bronze Diskos Thrower are important as early representations of naturalism in the Classical period, but Bronze Diskos Thrower should additionally be included in Janson’s History of Art. Unlike Kritios Boy, it demonstrates this early naturalism in bronze that would have required an entirely different sculptural technique.

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/247967

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

ca. 480–460 B.C.

Lily Valentine, '19

Public Domain

07.286.87

Greece

Bronze

H. 9 5/8 in. (24.51 cm)