Skip to main content
Video Loading
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 8

Plaster Figure of the Doryphoros of Polykleitos, Early 20th Century

$23,650
£17,662.84
€20,495.09
CA$32,755.42
A$36,718.56
CHF 19,147.90
MX$450,079.91
NOK 242,636.01
SEK 230,681.69
DKK 152,919.94
Shipping
Retrieving quote...
The 1stDibs Promise:
Authenticity Guarantee,
Money-Back Guarantee,
24-Hour Cancellation

About the Item

Plaster Figure of the Doryphoros of Polykleitos, Early 20th Century Cast of 5th century Classical Greek sculpture Description: A splendid plaster model of the Doryphoros or ‘spear-bearer, cast from the Roman marble copy in the Altes Museum, Berlin. The cast displays the same condition of the original Altes marble, with only the torso, upper thighs and right arm surviving. The figure is rendered in contrapposto, the right hip and leg weight bearing with the remaining arm pendant, the remnant of a strut visible on the upper thigh. The left hip too bears the remnants of a strut, although positioned higher than that on the right side, indicating the left forearm would have been raised. The contrast between tension and relaxation of the languid masculine physique exhibits exactly why Polykleitos is famed for his mastery of dynamic counterbalance, implying the composition of the full-bodied original. The model is supported on a plinth with a corniced base. The cast bears the Munich spread eagle stamp of the Museum of Casts of Classical Images and numbered 160. Notes: One of the two most well-known works by perhaps the most celebrated Greek sculptor of the classical period, Polykleitos’ Doryphoros displays the artist’s expertise in understanding the human form, it’s movement and how physical tension and relaxation affects the overall composure of the physique. Particularly renowned for his bronzes of young athletes, Polykleitos’ works are significant not only for their beauty, but for the development of numerical techniques he implemented to determine proportions of the human form. Along with three of his Athenian contemporaries, Myron, Pheidias and Praxiteles, Polykleitos is regarded as one of the definitive sculptors of the Classical period. Whilst archaic sculpture had exemplified uniformity and expressed great Egyptian influence, early Classical sculpture saw a departure from this more static and rigid physicality towards dynamic counterbalance. Where the archaic had been symmetrical and inflexible, classical sculptures such as the Doryphoros appear as in a state of motion, naturalistic in form as if the sculptor has captured the model at a moment of candid ease. Dimensions: (base included) Height: 230cm Width: 70.5cm Depth: 59.5cm Provenance: The Museum of Casts of Classical Statues, Munich (Museum für Abgüsse Klassischer Bildwerke München).
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 90.56 in (230 cm)Width: 27.76 in (70.5 cm)Depth: 23.43 in (59.5 cm)
  • Style:
    Classical Greek (In the Style Of)
  • Materials and Techniques:
    Plaster,Cast
  • Place of Origin:
  • Period:
  • Date of Manufacture:
    1920s
  • Condition:
    Wear consistent with age and use. Minor losses.
  • Seller Location:
    ARMADALE, AU
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: CP/JBBWRH1stDibs: LU8952242319182

More From This Seller

View All
A Roman White Marble Statue of Dancing Satyr, 19th Century
Located in ARMADALE, VIC
A Roman White Marble Statue of Dancing Satyr, 19th Century Provenance: Private Australian Collection. Description: In the Grand Tour Style, the figure with only the trunk remaining...
Category

Antique 19th Century Italian Classical Roman Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Marble

A Large Terracotta Statue of Discobolus, 19th Century
Located in ARMADALE, VIC
A Large Terracotta Statue of Discobolus, 19th Century A Terracotta statue of the classical Greek 'Discobolus" by Myron. This particular figure is modelled after the 2nd century Roma...
Category

Antique 19th Century Italian Classical Roman Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Terracotta

A Large Bronze Torso
Located in ARMADALE, VIC
A Large Bronze Torso A Bronze cast after original marble 4th Century BC Greek sculpture of Lysippian type, possibly depicting Agias. Including pedestal. Provenance: Private Austral...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Australian Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

A Roman Marble Sculpture of Hercules, Circa 1st / 2nd Century AD Ex Sotheby's
Located in ARMADALE, VIC
A Roman Marble Sculpture of Hercules, Circa 1st / 2nd Century AD The sculpture is nude except for the draped Nemean lion skin. Provenance: Sotheby's London, December 14, 1981, lot ...
Category

Antique 15th Century and Earlier Italian Classical Roman Figurative Scul...

Materials

Marble

A Bronze of the Bronze Seated Hermes, 19th Century
Located in ARMADALE, VIC
A 19th Century bronze of the bronze Seated Hermes Based on the life-size bronze Roman statue found at the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum in 1...
Category

Antique 19th Century Greek Classical Greek Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

A Bronze Figure of a Faun Dancing with Clappers, 19th Century
Located in ARMADALE, VIC
A Bronze Figure of a Faun Dancing with Clappers, 19th Century Provenance: Private Victoria Collection. Description: The Grand Tour bronze modelled after the ‘Dancing Faun’, a Roman...
Category

Antique 19th Century French Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

You May Also Like

Lifesize Plaster Statue of a Greek Athlete or Apoxyomenos
Located in Essex, MA
A Lifesize Late 19th Century to Early 20th Century Plaster and Composition Cast from the Vatican Original of Apoxyomenos, The Scraping Athlete. Originally found in Trastevere in 184...
Category

Antique Late 19th Century Italian Classical Greek Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Plaster

Large 19th-Century Plaster Sculpture of a Greek Figure 180 CM
Located in Madrid, ES
This impressive 19th-century plaster sculpture depicts a classical Greek figure and was crafted in a French atelier. Standing at 180 cm tall, the sculpture is in very good condition,...
Category

Antique 19th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Gesso

Male Nude Plaster Sculpture
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Male nude plaster sculpture on painted base. Nice detail work on figure and original painted finish. Chip on back shoulder, but adds to the char...
Category

Vintage 1950s American Other Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Plaster

Midcentury French Plaster Statue
Located in London, GB
A French plaster statue, circa 1950s. Likely a reduction of a roman statue. Some losses to the fingers but nothing substantial (see phot...
Category

Mid-20th Century French Busts

Materials

Plaster

Antique Apoxyomenos Male Marble Torso Sculpture, White Carrara Marble, XIX Sec.
Located in Rome, IT
Antique male marble torso, circa 1850 A copy of the roman marble statue Apoxyomenus in Musei Vaticani in Rome (I sec d.c.) copy of a greek bronze athlete statue...
Category

Antique Mid-19th Century Italian Classical Greek Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Carrara Marble

Magnificent "Dorso Masculino" Sculpture in Carrara Marble the, Late 19th Century
Located in Madrid, ES
Magnificent "Dorso Masculino" sculpture in Carrara marble from the late 19th century. Italy Measures: H. 108cm x 37cm Perfect conditions.
Category

Antique Late 19th Century Italian Baroque Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Carrara Marble