HELLENISTIC PERIOD.
With the extension of the Greek empire under Alexander results a corresponding change in art, the Greek genius showing less of the con tinuous development upon its own lines and adapting itself more and more to the special requirements of conquered nations.
the Great ordered that no one should paint his portrait but Apelles, no one make his statue but Lysippos; thus, Lysippos had risen from being an ordinary worker in bronze to the position of a sculp tor of the first order. We see in Figure i (p1. 6) the character of the inno vation lie introduced. This figure of an athlete in the act of applying the strigil to his body is no longer modelled upon the canon of Polykleitos: the head is relatively smaller and the proportions of the body arc more slender and graceful. A similar tendency toward slender forms had characterized the development of Greek architecture.
Pew/I-allure: Sophokles and at portraiture in this period are illustrated in the figure of Sophokles (pl. 6, fig. 2) in the Lateran —whose carefully-executed drapery has served as a model for many statues of later days—and in the bust of Alexander (jig. 3) in the Capitol, where he is represented as the Sun-god, with metal rays fastened to the head. The type of Alexander established by Lysippos is reproduced in this work with its drooping head and its hair like the mane of a lion.
character and the expression of violent emotions had now become thoroughly familiar to Greek sculpture. Nowhere is this more evident than in the celebrated group of Laokoon and his sons (fig. 4), where we see portrayed the writhing agony of the father, the utter help lessness of the younger son, and the look of pitying sympathy in the face of the elder son, who is not so thoroughly ensnared in the serpent's coils. Pliny, who regarded this group as " preferable to all other works of pic torial or plastic art," tells its that it was made by three Rhodian artists, Agesandros, Polydoros, and Athenodoros. Recently-discovered inscrip tions indicate that they flourished about roo B. C.
Apollo Belvedere and ArIemis of Apollo Belvedere (fig. 5), in the Vatican, and the Artemis of Versailles (fig. 6), in the Louvre, are similarly-executed statues, and are to be more or less closely associated with figures upon the great frieze of Pergamon. Our illustration reproduces that restoration of the Apollo which places in his left hand the regis, by means of which he repelled the barbarians and saved the Temple of Delphi. Associated with him were the White Maidens, Athena and Artemis, and it is possible that the Artemis of Versailles represents that goddess in this heroic act.
Nike of the early part of the third century belongs the grand Nike of Samothrace (p1. j, fig. 1)." The figure stood upon a massive pedestal representing a ship's prow, and seems to be a thank offering for a great naval victory. A coin of Demetrios Poliorketes rep resenting a winged Victory on a vessel's prow makes it probable that this statue was erected in honor of his naval victory off Salamis, in Cyprus, in 306 B. C. The treatment of the wings is not unlike that of the Pergamon sculptures, whereas the drapery shows more refinement in detail.
Pergamon more realistic treatment appears in the sculptures from Pergamon, our knowledge of which has been largely increased in recent years. Around the archaic Temple of Athena Polias was built a stoa by Attalos II., king of Pergamon,'who reigned from 159 to 138 B. C. In the open space enclosed by the stoa were erected many bronze statues, which long since have disappeared.
A reminiscence of these may, however, be found in Figures S and 9 6), which represent the fierce Galatians against whom King Attalos I.
had fought. In the former we sec the proud barbarian, upon the death of his ‘‘ife, putting an end to his own life; in the other, the dying Galatian, who had received a fatal thrust in the side. In the rugged character of the hair and the leathery treatment of the skin the sculptor has preserved for us the physical characteristics of these sturdy peoples of the North.