Hellenistic Delphi III – The so-called Philosopher
According to the sculpture of that time (ca. 270 BC), the human figure, now distanced from the idealistic portraiture of the Classical age, moves towards realism. Unlike the idealized and impersonal features of the Thessalian athletes and military officers of the Daochos monument, his features are individualized. His massive, exaggeratedly round head with its high, protruding brow, sparse hair, sunken eyes beneath arched eyebrows, and the mouth partially hidden by a moustache that merges with the unruly curls of his beard all create a physiognomy with unique personal characteristics — a portrait, in other words. The artist, no longer interested in providing an image of the eternal and immutable man, is now interested in rendering the particular person without idealizing his features or modifying the signs of age. The sparse hair and lined, withered cheeks, as well as the stooped shoulders, flabby chest, and other anatomical details clearly compromised by age, all testify without flattery to the subject's advanced years.
Source: Rosina Colonia, “The Archaeological Museum of Delphi”
Marble votive statue
Early Hellenistic period
Ca. 270 BC
Delphi, Archaeological Museum
Hellenistic Delphi III – The so-called Philosopher
According to the sculpture of that time (ca. 270 BC), the human figure, now distanced from the idealistic portraiture of the Classical age, moves towards realism. Unlike the idealized and impersonal features of the Thessalian athletes and military officers of the Daochos monument, his features are individualized. His massive, exaggeratedly round head with its high, protruding brow, sparse hair, sunken eyes beneath arched eyebrows, and the mouth partially hidden by a moustache that merges with the unruly curls of his beard all create a physiognomy with unique personal characteristics — a portrait, in other words. The artist, no longer interested in providing an image of the eternal and immutable man, is now interested in rendering the particular person without idealizing his features or modifying the signs of age. The sparse hair and lined, withered cheeks, as well as the stooped shoulders, flabby chest, and other anatomical details clearly compromised by age, all testify without flattery to the subject's advanced years.
Source: Rosina Colonia, “The Archaeological Museum of Delphi”
Marble votive statue
Early Hellenistic period
Ca. 270 BC
Delphi, Archaeological Museum