Evolution of Ancient Greek Sculpture: From Geometric to Hellenistic

Ancient Greek sculpture is celebrated for its ground-breaking representation of the human figure. Nevertheless, this prominent artistic established practice did not just emerge fully developed. Ancient Greek sculpture is generally branched in the various stages of progression: the three fundamental stages are the archaic, classical, and Hellenistic periods. It is also worth noting that there is an earlier phase referred to as the Geometric Period in which the characteristics that would come to define ancient Greek sculpture were starting to take shape. The Archaic Period (600-590 B.C.) is the start of a transformation headed for a more realistic representation of the human form. One type of sculpture that surfaced in this period is the korai, sculptures of women dressed in draped clothing representative of ancient Greek attire. Kore (maiden), can be seen at the Louvre in Paris, dated 630 B.C. and to most likely be from Crete. Another important sculpture of the period is known as the New York Kuoros (Youth) is a depiction of a nude young man, dated around 600-590 B.C. and can be seen at the Metropolitan Museum. Although the sculptures look stiffly frontal like in Egyptian art, their figures have a more naturalistic approach.

It is distinguished by progressive survey of movements through space, a fusion of idealistic form and realistic depiction, and the refining of canon of proportion. A famous sculpture from this period is the Kritios Boy, dated 480 B.C. from Athens. It contrasts significantly from Archaic kouroi sculpture in that the Kritios Boy’s weight is shifted creating what we know as the contrapposto. The groundbreaking movement in the body gives the observer the impression that muscles are underneath the exterior of the marble skin, and that a skeleton expresses the whole as a real