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| Youth of Agrigento (about 480 BC) Agrigento Marble, East Greek Museo Archeologico Regionale di Agrigento, inv. C 1853 [Cat. no. 72] |
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Youth of Agrigento (about 480 BC)
Rivaling any freestanding sculpture created on the Greek mainland during the early Classical period, the Youth of Agrigento stands on the threshold between the Archaic and Classical periods. The artist has now begun to break away from the block-like rigidity of earlier periods wherein symmetry ruled the depiction of the human form, such as that seen in the bronze Hoplite Statuette. The human body now has tension and rest, subtlety of modeling, and a seeming flexibility. Exceptional in its use of marble, imported from the east, the statue, costly to produce, must have been specially made for a victorious athlete of the time. It likely once held a phiale in its right hand for pouring a libation. Its closest cousin is surely the famous Kritios Boy found on the Athenian acropolis which dates to the same period.Page 18 of 23 | On the next page: Ephebe (Youth) of Mendolito (about 460 BC)