Doryphoros And Polykleitos Comparison

Regardless of nearly 2000 years separating the creation of Polykleitos’s Doryphoros and Donatello’s David, the two sculptures share astonishingly similar features, yet both remain true to the stylistic characteristics of each respective time periods. The artists incorporated both predictable and cutting edge ideas in their work. Doryphoros, also known as the Spear Bearer, is a marble remake of Polykleitos’s original bronze sculpture circa 450 - 440 BCE. Most ancient Greek statues were made of bronze, and because bronze is so valuable and can easily be melted down to make weapons, very few of the original figures remain. Therefore, our understanding of ancient Greek sculptures come from Roman marble replicas. (Khan Academy) Spear Bearer is nude male figure, or a kouros. Kouri (plural for kouros) were typically made in honor of …show more content…
Details down to the mathematical calculations set the figures apart. Polykleitos meticulously measured every detail of his masterpiece with the “perfect” proportions. This reflected the same standard of perfection ancient Greek men strove to achieve in real life. Every measurement needed to be exact, from the distance between the head to the chin to the size of the veins on the back of the hand. Perfect symmetry and understanding of human anatomy reflected his higher knowledge of the natural world. Not to say that David was not proportional or reflective of Donatello’s understanding of anatomy, he is proportioned and so forth. However, Donatello was not in the same mindset to construct a near perfect human being. He simply wanted to capture the beauty and glory of young David for his patron. Donatello brought back the male nude but blended it with Christian and Renaissance ideals. Perhaps he did not have it down to a science, but he still emphasized every detail of liveliness and vitality seen in Polykleitos’s