Polyclitus - Definition and Overview

There was also a less well-known sculptor named Polykleitos in the early 4th century BC.

Polykleitos (or Polycletus, Polycleitus, Polyclitus) was a Greek sculptor of the 5th century BC.

He was of the school of Argos, a contemporary of Pheidias and in the opinion of the Greeks his equal. He made a figure of an Amazon for Ephesus which was regarded as superior to the Amazon of Pheidias made at the same time; and his colossal Hera of gold and ivory which stood in the temple near Argos was considered as worthy to rank with the Zeus of Pheidias. He also sculpted a famous bronze figure of a nude man known as the Doryphoros, or spear-carrier, which survives through numerous Roman copies.

References

• Polyclitus, 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica; [1] (http://35.1911encyclopedia.org/P/PO/POLYCLITUS.htm)

Greek works mentioning Polykleitos include:

• Pausanias, Description of Greece
• Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.