Kouros: Life-Sized Stone Figures

Kouros are life size or larger, freestanding stone figures of unclothed young man striding forward. They are considered today to be one of the most distinctive products of the Archaic era, the period of ancient Greek history from roughly about 650 to 500 BCE. The statue’s head, feet and hands all point rigidly straight forward emphasizing the frontal view. As a standing figure, the statue is taller than it is wide. Its vertical orientation is emphasized by a central axis running vertically between the legs, through the navel, the cleft of the chest and between the eyes.

When viewed frontally the figure is disposed symmetrically about this central axis. Auguste Rodin is generally recognized as the most important sculptor of the nineteenth century. The Age of Bronze is Rodin;sfirst masterpiece. To the academic practice of creating a balance between nature and an ideal, Rodin brought three innovations: an equal attention to every detail of the work; an insistence that the figure itself is the subject, not that the figure portrays a subject; and the dynamism supplied by complex asymmetrical axes.

Such innovations would have remained intellectual and technical were it not for the genius of Rodin’s hands. Rodin was able to translate his immense passion for work and his abiding love of the human form into “Nature” and “movement” were terms used by Rodin as touchstones for making sculpture Their beauty, energy, and sexuality-expressed in figures expressed the aesthetics of the fragment reveal a depth of feeling for humanity Rodin made the legs and lower torso of the figure slimmer than those of the model, and he also made the head somewhat smaller.

Get quality help now

Doctor Jennifer

Verified

Proficient in: Culture

5 (893)

“ Thank you so much for accepting my assignment the night before it was due. I look forward to working with you moving forward ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

Such details, which recall Hellenistic sculptures Rodin had seen in the Louvre and in Italy, confirm his remark that he found inspiration for his figure in a Greek Apollo. He was devoted to Greek and Roman art.…