Greek Sculpture: Function, Materials, and Techniques in the Archaic and Classical Periods

by Olga Palagia (editor)

During the sixth and fifth centuries BC, Greek sculpture developed into a fine art. With the human figure as its main subject, artists worked to represent it in increasingly natural terms. This book explores the material aspects of Greek sculpture at a pivotal phase in its evolution. Considering typologies and function, an international team of experts traces the development of technical characteristics of marble and bronze sculpture, the choice of particular marbles in different areas, and the types of monuments that were created on the Greek mainland, the islands and the west coast of Asia.

350 pages, Paperback

First published January 16, 2006

Reviews

[Erik Graff · Rating 2 out of 5]

During adolescence I was much impressed by Edith Hamilton's noting that the classical Athenian agora was a visually vibrant place, more “Eastern” than “Western” in appearance, our stark gray and white public buildings and monuments patterned on theirs lacking the original details of color characteristic of Greek and later Roman architecture and sculpture. Now, having read Palagia's collection, I have learned that much more than color has been lost. So, too, have been the inlaid eyes, the bronze lashes, the silver teeth, the horse harnesses, the weapons in the soldier's hands et cetera. Rather than looking like our statue of Liberty, classical statues in the round were more like what might be found today in a wax museum.
Greek Sculpture is a profusely illustrated, amply documented collection of essays, some very technical, about, as the subtitle indicates, “function, materials, and techniques in the archaic and classical periods.” John Boardman's “Sources and Models” is about kouroi and korai figures and their Egyptian, Syrian and Cretan sources. As such, it is too narrowly focused, not serving well as an introductory essay. Mary C. Sturgeon's “Archaic Athens and the Cyclades” is about marble sculpture in general. Covering such topics as quarrying, marble varieties, plinthing, statuary types, attachments, piecing and coloring, it would have served better as the lead article. Barbara A. Barletta's “Archaic and Classical Magna Graecia” expands the scope of the preceding essay both geographically and materially, terra cotta being far more prominent in the west, marble being scarce. Olga Palagia's “Classical Athens” is a very general survey of the period roughly spanning the Persian repulse in 479 to about 400. Particular sculptural types and examples of them are emphasized. Peter Higgs' “Late Classical Asia Minor: Dynasts and Their Tombs” focuses almost exclusively on “the Nereid Monument at Xanthos and the Mausoleum at Halikarnassos.” Carol C. Mattusch's “Archaic and Classical Bronzes”, notably more coherent than the prior pieces, covers bronzes “from soup to nuts”, their history and the methods of their manufacture. Palagia's highly technical “Marble Carving Techniques” emphasizes the practices of copying and mass-production. It might be of considerable interest to contemporary sculptors. Finally, Norman Herz' “Greek and Roman White Marbles: Geology and Determination of Provenance”, the most technically specialized essay of the lot, provides an overview of contemporary scientific methods for establishing provenance, facilitating accurate restoration and determining authenticity.
As a whole, Greek Sculpture is neither a well-organized nor an exhaustive work. Pagalia's very brief preface fails to establish a structure within which the essays which follow are organized—likely because there is no such structure. The first essay notably fails to provide such a needed general introduction to the topic, being far too narrow in scope. One has the impression that the editor simply approached experts in various areas of this broad field, soliciting articles and taking the best of what she got arranged in no particular order. The essays themselves would be all right in their appropriate journals, but the whole is spotty, unorganized. Also, given the nature of the contents, far more illustrations are necessary to illustrate the hundreds, if not thousands, of visual references made to material artifacts. Last, but certainly not least, it is notable that the expensive paperback review edition sent by the Cambridge University Press began to lose pages immediately upon opening.