Lysippos sculptor of ancient Greece. Lysippos

Lysippos, ancient Greek sculptor

Lysippos(Lesippos), ancient Greek sculptor of the 4th century. BC e. The largest representative of the late classics. Born in Sikyon. He was the court artist of Alexander the Great. The works of Lysippos, made primarily in bronze, are known mainly from descriptions of ancient authors, Hellenistic and Roman copies. Anticipating Hellenistic art, Lysippos moved away from the ideal canons of Polykleitos, striving for greater vital spontaneity of images. Lysippos' work is characterized by a sense of dramatic complexity and variability of life phenomena. In contrast to the calm, harmonic balance of the statues of Polykleitos, Lysippos depicted figures in complex, unstable, multifaceted movements that seemed instantly captured. His main work is the statue “Apoxiomenos” (depicting an athlete cleaning his body with a scraper after a fight; Roman copy, Vatican collections), internally tense in composition, and is one of the first works of ancient sculpture designed for all-round viewing. Among the most famous works of Lysippos: the colossal statue of Zeus in Tarentum, the statue of Helios on a chariot on the island of Rhodes, numerous images of Hercules and his exploits, which were repeatedly copied in antiquity ("Hercules of Farnese", "Hercules with a lion", Roman copy, GE), " Resting Hermes" (National Museum, Naples), Lysippos also created monumental groups (for example, the equestrian warriors of Alexander the Great who fell in the Battle of Granicus), and was one of the first in ancient art to turn to the art of portraiture. The idealized portrait of Alexander the Great created by him (Hellenistic copy, Archaeological Museum, Istanbul) embodied the desire to reveal the complex, intense inner life of a person.

Ancient Greek sculptor.

Started out as a foundry worker; learned the skill of a sculptor by studying the proportions of sculptures Polykleitos.

The bulk of his works were bronze statues depicting gods, Hercules, athletes and other contemporaries, as well as horses and dogs. His statues have not reached us, but are known from descriptions of ancient authors and Roman copies.

According to Pliny the Elder, depicted people not “as they are, but as they appear (to our senses).”

“The list of sculptors of this century includes the brilliant name of Lysippos. Researchers attribute him to the Argive school and claim that he had a completely different direction than the Athenian school.
In essence, he was her direct follower, but, having adopted her traditions, he stepped further. In his youth, the artist Eupomp answered his question: “Which teacher should I choose?” - answered, pointing to the crowd crowded on the mountain: “Here is the only teacher: nature.”
These words sank deep into the soul of the brilliant young man, and he, not trusting authority Polykleitan canon, took up the precise study of nature. Before him, people were sculpted in accordance with the principles of the canon, that is, in full confidence that true beauty lies in the proportionality of all forms and in the proportion of people of average height. Lysippos preferred a tall, slender figure. His limbs became lighter, his stature taller. His extraordinary fertility helped him create up to 1,500 statues.
He carved and carved Zeus, Apollo, Poseidon, heroes, demigods. He was especially famous for his Helios in a chariot drawn by four horses.
Nero He even ordered it to be gilded and thus spoiled the group. His statue “Opportunity” gained great fame. This is a very nice allegory. A young man, with fluff just emerging, is rolling on a ball. His legs are winged (the chance is fleeting), in his hands are scales and a razor - after all, the happiness of chance fluctuates, hangs on the edge of a razor. He has a tuft of hair on his forehead, and the rest is cut short: you have to catch the chance by the hair in a big way, right away, if it slips away, you won’t catch it.
At times Lysippos made colossal groups.
By order Alexander the Great he made the "Battle of Granicus", which consisted of thirty-five figures, 26 of them mounted. Alexander allowed only him to sculpt busts of himself. The most excellent example of his modeling has come down to us in the statue of Apoxyomenes - an athlete cleaning off dirt from himself after a fight with an iron comb.”

Gnedich P.P., World History of Arts, M., Sovremennik, 1996, p. 103-104.

"Installed Polycletus the ideal of beauty dominated for almost a hundred subsequent years - until the time of Lysippos, the author of the portrait Alexander the Great and the creator of a new canon.
The figures of Lysippos are slender, long-legged and small-headed. The proportions are easy. This is how Lysippos himself defined the difference between the ideal Polykleitos and with his canon: “Polykleitos portrayed people as they really are, and I as they seem.”
This moment of illusoryness is associated with certain desires for pathos. The personification of this ideal is the statue of Apoxyomenos, a young man scraping a mixture of olive oil, sand and dirt from his body with a spatula.
A marble Roman copy of the bronze original by Lysippos is in the Vatican Museum in Rome. According to the new canon, the head of the depicted figure was placed along the length of the statue 8,5 times."

Alicia Kuczynska, Beautiful. Myth and reality, M., “Progress”, 1977, p. 97-98.

Lysippos creativity flourished during the reign of Alexander the Great(336–323 BC), of which he was a court artist. Alexander the Great, according to legend, did not allow anyone except Lysippos to portray himself...

Pliny the Elder claimed that everything was created by Lysippos 1500 statues, but this number is exaggerated and is probably based on a legend according to which, when creating each statue, the sculptor put one precious stone in a chest, where after his death more than 1,500 stones were discovered...

Lysippos called him his teacher Polykleitos. Among Lysippos's many students were his three sons. His student, Chares of Lindos, created the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Imagine a sculpture of Alexander the Great. Introduced? This is how he is depicted in all famous sculptures. It is known that the Macedonian king Alexander the Great (356 - 323 BC) had a special head position: his chin was raised, his face was turned to the right, and his head and neck were tilted to the left. This characteristic feature of the great emperor is described in detail by Plutarch. He notes that Alexander's personal sculptor Lysippos created statues of the king with his face turned to heaven. This was also pointed out by other, later authors. Thus, Tzetzes (12th century) argued that Alexander preferred the sculptures of Lysippos to the works of Stasicrates of Bithynia, who depicted the emperor with a perfectly straight neck, apparently out of flattery. Archaeological finds, which are likely copies of lost copper statues created by Lysippos, also show a characteristic turn of the head and neck. The first of these statues was found by Chevalier Hazard in Tivoli in 1797 and presented as a gift to Napoleon. It is currently kept in the Louvre.

During excavations in Virginia, where the ancient capital of Macedonia was located, an ivory statue was found in 1977, in which these features of the emperor were especially emphasized. It is noteworthy that this statue was created during Alexander's lifetime and must have been approved by him. Some researchers, in particular E. Schwarzenberg, supported the version that Lysippos in his works rather emphasized certain character traits of the emperor, namely pride and unbending will, than his physical features. Kiilerich suggested that Aristotle himself directed Lysippos how to depict Alexander in sculptures in order to best represent the greatest living man. Leibach, on the contrary, believes that Lysippos' works were the most realistic. And Schreiber and Stewart, after a detailed study of the problem, even came to the conclusion that the sculptor was hiding some (congenital or acquired) defects of his model. There are several medical explanations for the incorrect position of Alexander’s head. Dechambre believed he had orthopedic torticollis; Schachermayer suggested that the curvature of the neck was due to kyphosis resulting from trauma. The first of these assumptions seems the most plausible. The author of this theory conducted a thorough anatomical study of the statue discovered by Chevalier Hazard. This made it possible to identify facial hemiatrophy, which is characteristic of orthopedic torticollis. However, the most logical and, therefore, probable explanation for this feature of the emperor is from an ophthalmological point of view. A compensatory change in the position of the head is observed in various ophthalmological pathologies - paralysis, limitation of eye movements, bilateral ptosis, etc. The position of Alexander's head can be explained either by unilateral paralysis of the left inferior oblique muscle of the eye, or by Brown's syndrome. These conditions are usually congenital, but can also result from trauma to the orbit. Alexander participated in battles from his early youth and his biographers point to multiple wounds, one of which led to temporary loss of vision. And although Dechambre revealed facial hemiatrophy, it was still not as pronounced as the hemiatrophy usually noted with orthopedic torticollis. In addition, when examining the Hazard statue, as well as others, there was no thickening or tension of the sternocleidomastoid muscle. There is another argument in favor of ocular torticollis - complete freedom of movement of the head and neck. In orthopedic torticollis, on the other hand, rigidity of the sternocleidomastoid muscle leads to a permanent change in the position of the head and neck that cannot be passively or actively corrected. This condition makes any military activity, especially horse riding, impossible.

Thus, most likely, the abnormal position of Alexander's head, represented in sculptures and described by his biographers, is due to ocular torticollis, resulting from paralysis of the inferior oblique muscle of the left eye or Brown's syndrome.

One Hundred Great Treasures.
Sarcophagus of Alexander the Great

Lysippos. Lifetime
sculpture of Alexander, 4th century. BC.

If the turbulent life of Alexander the Great is known to us in more or less detail, then his death at less than 33 years old remains a mystery: did he die a natural death or fell victim to a conspiracy? Some historians (I.G. Droizen, P. Clochet and others) reduce the causes of the king’s death to illness: Alexander’s body was exhausted by inhuman stress and could not withstand malaria. According to this version, Alexander the Great, upon returning to Babylon, fell ill with oriental fever in some special severe form, from which he soon died.

This version was questioned even by ancient historians, and some of them left us information about the violent death of the great commander. So, for example, according to one version, Alexander fell ill with a fever after repeated feasts at Media. The ancient historians Flavius ​​Arrian, Plutarch, Diodorus and Justin write about this, differing with each other only in their views on the course of the disease.

Diodorus wrote that Alexander the Great, having drunk a large cup of wine, suddenly (as if struck by a strong blow) screamed loudly and groaned. His friends carried him out in their arms, put him to bed and sat with him all the time. The disease intensified, but the doctors could not help the Macedonian king. Justin, confirming this information, definitely states that the matter is not an oriental disease, but an insidious murder...

Alexander on his deathbed

So far, not a single material monument has been found that directly indicates the date of death of Alexander the Great (as well as the date of his birth). The evidence of ancient authors that has reached us is ambiguous and insufficiently definite: some historians call the date of death of Alexander the Great only as a month in the language of the ancient calendar (without indicating the year of any era), others, on the contrary, only the year - the 113th or 114th Olympiad. It is impossible to accurately translate ancient calendar dates into the Julian calendar, since our knowledge in this matter is incomplete. Therefore, in historical literature you can find more than ten different dates for the death of Alexander the Great according to the Julian calendar - from May 324 to September 323 BC.

Head of Alexander the Great

As soon as Alexander the Great died, disputes and strife began over his inheritance. The military leaders and nobles began to quarrel among themselves: seven days passed, and his body remained unburied. Finally, the body was embalmed, placed in a golden coffin, and a royal crown was placed on the head of the deceased. Alexander the Great was temporarily buried in Babylon, but for another two years the companions argued about where to take the golden sarcophagus of their former master on the triumphal chariot.

Then the sarcophagus was dug up and sent to Macedonia, but in Syria, Ptolemy I attacked the funeral cortege, took the “trophy” and transported it to Memphis, where he buried it near one of the ancient temples of the god Amun. True, other historical evidence suggests that the high priest of Memphis opposed the burial of the body of Alexander the Great in the city: “It cannot be left here. Take him to the city built near Rakotis. For his burial place will be unlucky, marked by wars and bloody battles.”

Bourdon. Sebastian - Augustus before the tomb
Alexander the Great

When the body of Alexander the Great arrived in Alexandria in a luxurious boat, Ptolemy ordered the embalming to be repeated, and the body was placed in a new sarcophagus, which was installed in the mausoleum in the central square. Flavius ​​Arrian describes the funeral procession moving through the streets of Alexandria:

“A chariot with golden spokes and rims on wheels was drawn by 8 mules, decorated with golden crowns, golden bells and necklaces of precious stones. On the chariot stood a structure cast in gold, resembling a palanquin with a vaulted dome, decorated on the inside with rubies, emeralds and carbuncles.

Four paintings hung inside the palanquin. The first depicted a rich chariot of skillful workmanship, in which a warrior sat with a scepter in his hands. The chariot was surrounded by guards in full armor and a detachment of Persians; warriors of the ancient Greek heavily armed infantry walked in front.

The second picture showed a line of elephants in battle dress; Indians sat on their necks, and soldiers from the army of Alexander the Great sat on their rumps.

The third painting depicted a cavalry detachment maneuvering during a battle.

The fourth picture showed ships in battle formation, ready to attack the enemy fleet visible on the horizon.

Under the palanquin was a square golden throne decorated with relief figures; Golden rings hung from it, into which were threaded garlands of fresh flowers, changing every day. When the rays of the sun fell inside the palanquin, the precious stones of the dome sparkled dazzlingly and illuminated the heavy golden sarcophagus in which the body anointed with incense rested.”

Over the course of many centuries, archaeologists from many countries have made more than 100 attempts to trace the tomb of Alexander the Great. Many of them were convinced that the great king was buried in Alexandria. The researchers relied on historical facts, which confirmed that after the death of Alexander, many prominent people came to worship at his tomb. When the Roman Emperor Augustus arrived in Egypt to personally punish the rebellious Antony and Cleopatra, he (on learning of their suicide) demanded to be taken to the tomb of the greatest of the Macedonians. However, for some reason the famous commander of antiquity was already lying in a glass sarcophagus...

Caesar Caligula owned the shield of Alexander the Great, which he (according to legend) took from a burial place during one of his Egyptian trips. However, not a single historical chronicle indicated where the tomb of the invincible commander was located. Maybe that's why all attempts to find her ended in vain.

Golden sarcophagus, glass... And there is also a marble sarcophagus from Sidon, widely known as the “Sarcophagus of Alexander”. It is a work of Hellenic masters from the late 4th century. On one of its longitudinal sides, the battle of Alexander the Great with the Persians is depicted in high relief.

Sarcophagus of Alexander from Sidon. Marble. Around 325-310 BC Archaeological Museum. Istanbul

“The battle was hot on both sides, the Greeks and Persians mercilessly killed each other. Everyone got angry and fought like fierce animals. The Macedonians and Greeks rushed at the Persians with such desperate fury that Darius himself was confused and did not know what to do. Near his chariot there were already piles of dead.”

These scenes of this battle were depicted on the “Sarcophagus of Alexander”. The large composition consists of figures full of movement, very convincingly conveying the height of the fight. The figures of the fighters are full of strength and energy; the lifeless bodies of the dead seem in sharp contrast to them. The ancient sculptor carefully conveyed the differences in clothing and weapons of the Persians and Greeks, only one of the heroically fighting is represented naked.

The figures depicted on the sarcophagus were very well preserved; only parts made of metal and some parts of the warriors’ weapons were lost. The value of the “Sarcophagus of Alexander” also lies in the fact that the polychrome on it is well preserved. The palette that the master used when painting the sarcophagus was very rich: he used lilac, purple, blue, yellow, reddish and brown paints. The saddlecloths of the horses are marked with paint, the clothes and weapons of the warriors, as well as their hair and eyes are colored with them. It was thanks to polychrome that the impression of a lively, concentrated gaze was achieved.

Alexander's head. She is 2000 years old!

In 1989, in search of the tomb of Alexander the Great, specialists from Greece began excavations 25 kilometers from the Siwa oasis, choosing this area not by chance. Alexander the Great visited Siwa to convince the Egyptians and his army that the blood of the god Amun flowed in his veins. In the temple of this god there was a statue of Amun, decorated with gold and precious stones. The head and arms of the statue were attached to the body with hinges.

When Alexander the Great appeared before Amon, the chief priest of the temple informed him that God recognized him as his son. At the words of the priest, the statue seemed to make a movement with its head and arms, which was interpreted as the consent of God.

The name "Miraki" (as scientists have suggested) comes from the ancient Greek word "mirakion", which translated means "a person who died very young." In addition, the oasis itself began to be called Siwa only a few centuries ago, and before that it was known as Santaria. Experts in the field of ancient languages ​​gave the following interpretation of this name: “The place where Alexander rests.”

Coin and image of Alexander the Great

So where is this place? Since 1990, Greek archaeologists have concluded that they are excavating an “extraordinarily magnificent structure” that could only belong to a particularly revered royal person.

Today we can quite accurately imagine what the “tomb” of Alexander the Great looks like. The complex consisted of a temple and the tomb itself. It was surrounded by a wall (2 meters thick) decorated with frescoes and paintings. The main gate led to a spacious room guarded by two stone lions. In a hall with an area of ​​10 square meters, archaeologists unearthed small chambers littered with slabs, which had not been opened by anyone until then. In one of them, according to legend, the remains of King Log were supposed to be kept.

This version is supported not only by the size of the excavated complex. According to experts, all the buildings and paintings are completely uncharacteristic of ancient Egyptian architecture and wall painting, but have much in common with the design of Macedonian tombs. In addition, fragments of an alabaster sarcophagus made outside Egypt were found here.

In the tomb, archaeologists also unearthed a unique image of a lion, the like of which had previously been found only in ancient Greek houses. However, the most convincing evidence is a bas-relief above the entrance to the tomb with an eight-pointed star - the personal symbol of Alexander the Great.

Ancient Sidon (Saida)

At the end of January 1995, objects were discovered that made the hearts of many scientists beat faster. These were three steles with inscriptions in ancient Greek, the deciphering of which almost completely confirmed the assumptions of archaeologists.
The inscription on the first stele reads:

"Alexander. Amon-Ra. In the name of the most venerable Alexander, I make these sacrifices at the direction of God and transfer here a body that is as light as the smallest shield - while I am the lord of Egypt. It was I who was the bearer of his secrets and the executor of his orders. I was honest to him and to all people. And since I am the last one still alive, I declare here that I did all the above for his sake.”
This text was written approximately in 290 BC, and its author is Ptolemy I, the closest ally of the great Alexander, to whom the famous commander bequeathed to transport his remains to Siwa.

The inscription on the second stele reads as follows:
“The first and only one among all who drank poison without a moment’s doubt.”

The third stela testifies:
“400 thousand people live in this area, 100 thousand of them serve in the army and 30 thousand soldiers guard the tomb.”

Bust of Alexander the Great. 4th century BC Marble

After the results of the excavations were announced, the quiet oasis of Siwa began to look more like a multimillion-dollar city. Foreign correspondents and journalists, delegations of Egyptian ministries and societies for the protection of valuables rushed here. The flow of people was so great that a highway was even built to the excavation site.

Meanwhile, despite the sensational finds, the number of skeptics who doubt that the burial in Siwa belongs to Alexander the Great has not decreased. One of the Egyptian historians, for example, believes that there is nothing surprising in the fact that a “Macedonian tomb” was found in Siwa. In his opinion, it only means that the oasis was on a busy route between Egypt and the Greek settlements in Libya.

A similar point of view is shared by M. Jones, director of the Norman archaeological mission, who believes that only Alexandria needs to look for the burial place of the great commander. But in his opinion, Alexander the Great's desire to be buried in Siwa does not yet serve as proof that his body was actually transported from Babylon to this remote oasis.

However, Greek archaeologists hope that further excavations will answer the question that worries world science: where are the remains of the great conqueror buried?

Lysippos Lysippos

(Lesippos), ancient Greek sculptor of the 4th century. BC e. The largest representative of the late classics. Born in Sikyon. He was the court artist of Alexander the Great. The works of Lysippos, made primarily in bronze, are known mainly from descriptions of ancient authors, Hellenistic and Roman copies. Anticipating Hellenistic art, Lysippos moved away from the ideal canons of Polykleitos, striving for greater life-like spontaneity of images. Lysippos' work is characterized by a sense of dramatic complexity and variability of life phenomena. In contrast to the calm, harmonic balance of the statues of Polykleitos, Lysippos depicted figures in complex, unstable, multifaceted movements that seemed instantly captured. His main work is the statue “Apoxiomenos” (depicting an athlete cleaning his body with a scraper after a fight; Roman copy, Vatican collections), internally tense in composition, and is one of the first works of ancient sculpture designed for all-round viewing. Among the most famous works of Lysippos: the colossal statue of Zeus in Tarentum, the statue of Helios on a chariot on the island of Rhodes, numerous images of Hercules and his exploits, which were repeatedly copied in antiquity ("Hercules of Farnese", "Hercules with a lion", Roman copy, GE), " Resting Hermes" (National Museum, Naples), Lysippos also created monumental groups (for example, the equestrian warriors of Alexander the Great who fell in the Battle of Granicus), and was one of the first in ancient art to turn to the art of portraiture. The idealized portrait of Alexander the Great created by him (Hellenistic copy, Archaeological Museum, Istanbul) embodied the desire to reveal the complex, intense inner life of a person.

Lysippos. "Resting Hermes" 2nd half 4th century BC e. Roman copy. National Museum. Naples.
Literature: O. F. Waldgauer, Lysippos, Berlin-P.-M., 1923; Johnson F. P., Lysippos, N. Y., 1968.

(Source: “Popular Art Encyclopedia.” Edited by V.M. Polevoy; M.: Publishing House “Soviet Encyclopedia”, 1986.)

(lý sippos), ancient Greek sculptor of the 4th century. BC e., court master of Alexander the Great. According to legend, he created 1.5 thousand statues of gods, heroes and famous athletes. His works, executed mainly in bronze, are known mainly from descriptions of ancient authors, Hellenistic and Roman copies. The most famous is the statue of Lysippos “Apoxiomen” (Greek: “a young man removing dirt from himself with a scraper”), known from a Roman copy, in which the author reinterpreted the classical sculptural canon in the image of a person created Polycletus. The figure of light, elongated proportions, with a small head, is presented in complex, spatially multifaceted movement. Among the most famous works of the master: a colossal statue of the god Zeus in Tarentum, a statue of Helios on a chariot on the island. Rhodes, numerous images of Hercules, “Resting Hermes” (known from a Roman copy). The sculptor created many portraits of Alexander the Great. According to legend, the commander did not allow himself to be portrayed by anyone other than his court master. Lysippos was the last sculptor of the classical era and the first sculptor of the era Hellenism. He learned to depict not frozen, but as if snatched from the flow of time and ongoing movement; the faces of his heroes are not impassive, but filled with earthly experiences.

(Source: “Art. Modern illustrated encyclopedia.” Edited by Prof. Gorkin A.P.; M.: Rosman; 2007.)

See what "Lysippos" is in other dictionaries:

Lysippos was a Greek sculptor, along with Scopas and Praxiteles, one of the triad of the greatest sculptors of classical Greek sculpture. Completes the era of the late classics (IV century BC). Born in Sikyon around 390 BC. Started... Wikipedia

Lysippos- Lysippos. Resting Hermes. 2nd half 4th century BC. Roman copy. National Museum. Naples. LYSIPPUS, ancient Greek sculptor of the 2nd half of the 4th century. BC. Representative of the late classics. Court artist of Alexander the Great.... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

LYSIPPUS, ancient Greek sculptor of the 2nd half of the 4th century. BC. Representative of the late classics. Court artist of Alexander the Great. Sculptures of Lysippos (athletes, mythological characters, preserved in Roman copies) are depicted in... ... Modern encyclopedia

Ancient Greek sculptor of the 2nd half. 4th century BC e. Representative of the late classics. Court artist of Alexander the Great. Creator of images of active heroes living a complex inner life (Resting Hermes, Apoxyomenes, bust... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

- (c. 390 c. 300 BC), ancient Greek sculptor, born in Sikyon (Peloponnese). In antiquity it was claimed (Pliny the Elder) that Lysippos created 1,500 statues. Even if this is an exaggeration, it is clear that Lysippos was extremely prolific and... ... Collier's Encyclopedia

- (Lýsippos) (probably born in the first, died in the last decade of the 4th century BC), ancient Greek sculptor, the most prominent representative of the late classics (See Classics). Born in Sikyon. He was the court artist of Alexander the Great... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Ancient Greek sculptor of the second half of the 4th century. BC e. Court artist of Alexander the Great. Creator of images of active heroes living a complex inner life (“Resting Hermes”, “Apoxiomen”, bust of Alexander the Great... ... encyclopedic Dictionary