The Technique of Greek Sculpture in the Archaic and Classical Periods

214 Pages·1966·40.57 MB·English

by  Sheila Adam

THE OF
TECHNIQUE
GREEK SCULPTURE
IN THE ARCHAIC AND
CLASSICAL PERIODS
BY
SHEILA ADAM
THE BRITISH SCHOOL OF ARCHAEOLOGY AT ATHENS
THAMES AND HUDSON
1966
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, OXFORD
BY VIVIAN RIDLER
PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY
PREFACE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This workc ould not have been beguno r finishedw ithoutt he help of manyp eople. My first
debti s to ProfessoRr . M. Cook,w ho has patientlyg ivena dvice and encouragemenats well as
practicalh elp on manyo ccasions.T o ProfessoBr. AshmoleI owe thes uggestionof t hes ubject
and frequenitn spiratiotnh roughoutth ew ork.P rofessoJr. M. C. Toynbeeh as beenk inde nough
to read and criticizem osto f the originald raft.M y husband has patientlya ssisteda nd en-
couragedm e throughout.
ProfessoPr. E. Corbettg ave me a practicali ntroductiotno thes tudyo ft echniquesa,n d Mr.
M. Batten,M iss P. Jenkinsa,n d Dr. R. Nockoldsh ave givenm e theb enefito f theire xperience
in varioust echnicalm attersM. r. R. Johnsona nd Mr. B. Cook helpedc onsiderablyw itht he
photographsP. rofessoRr . J. Hopper has seen the volume throught he Press.
I shoulda lso liket o expressm yg ratitudet o them useuma uthoritieasn d stafff ort hef acilities
I was givent o studya nd photographin Cambridge,L ondon, Copenhagen,B erlin,M unich,
and Vienna. In Greece the officerosf the ArchaeologicalS ervicew ere mostk ind,a nd I am
especiallyg ratefutl o the late Dr. J. PapadimitriouD, r. C. Karouzos, Dr. S. Karouzou, Dr.
G. Dondas, and Dr. N. Yalouris.T he AmericanF, rench,a nd GermanS choolsa t Athensw ere
all veryg enerousw itht heirm aterial.
I have usedm ostt hoseb ooksw hicha re listedi n thea bbreviationsO. thers ourcesa re acknow-
ledgedi n footnotesT.h e photographasr e myo wnu nlessI have statedo therwiseI. apologizef or
not havingc learerp hotographos f some details,b ut as I was photographintgh e statuesb y
naturall ighti n theirp ositioni n the museum,i t was not alwaysp ossiblet o obtain the views
I shouldh ave liked.
Finallym yt hanksa re due to thet rusteeosf t heW alstonS tudentshiapn d theC ravenF und of
CambridgeU niversityt,o the Mistressa nd Fellowso f GirtonC ollege,a nd to the Ministryo f
Education,f orf inancingm y studies.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction ...... i
PART ONE
1. The Point, Punch, and Mallet . . . 3-17
2. The Claw ...... 18-22
3. The Drove ...... 23-25
4. The Flat Chisel ..... 26-39
5. The Drill ...... 4°~73
6. The Rasp ...... 74-77
7. Abrasives ...... 78-79
8. a. Cements and Glues .... 80-82
B. The Cutting Compass .... 82-83
c. The Saw ...... 83
PART TWO
Introductory Note ..... 85
9. Freestanding Statues
1. Kore, AcrM 682 (plates 36-37) . . . 86-89
2. Prokne and Itys, AcrM 1358 (plates 38-39) . . 89-92
3. Hygieia, NM 299 (plates 40-41) . . 92-94
4. Apollo Patroos, Athens, Agora (plates 42-43) . 94~97
5. The Daochos Dedication, Delphi (plates 44-49) . 97-102
6. Asklepios, Eleusis 50 (plates 50-51) . . . 102-4
7. Seated Woman fromR heneia, NM 380 (plate 52) . IO4~5
8. PortraitS tatue of a Roman, NM 1828 (plate 53) . IO5~7
10. Grave Reliefs
1. Aristion,N M 29 (plates 54-55) . . . 108-10
2. Athens, NM 715 (plates 56-59) . . . 1 10-13
3. Athens, NM 726 (plates 60-61) . . . 113-15
4. Ameinokleia, NM 718 (plates 62-63) . . 1 15-17
5. Athens, NM 870 (plates 64-66) . . . 117-20
6. Athens, NM 869 (plates 67-69) . . . 121 -3
viii CONTENTS
Appendix on the Hermes at Olympia (plates 70-72) pages 124-8
Indexes ....... 129-33
List of Plates, with principal referencest o the text . X34~7
Plates 1-72 . . . . . . . at end
INTRODUCTION
When the technicalm ethodsb y which the Greeksc arved theirs tatuesw ere firstd iscussed,
no one doubtedt hatt he rangeo f theirt oolsa nd the way theyu sed themw ere verys imilar
to thosec ustomaryat thet imeo fs uchd iscussion.I1t was generallyag reedt hath ammerp, unch,
saw, drill; pointed,f lat,r ounded,a nd claw chisels; files,r asps, and emeryw ere all used
throughoutth eh istoryof G reeks culpture.S2o le exceptiont o thei dentityof a ncienta nd modern
techniquews as thep ointingp rocessc, ommoni n then ineteentche nturyb,u to ut off ashionn ow;
forG ardner'vs ieww as widelya ccepted: thatt hisp rocessw as introducedo nlyi nt hef irscte ntury
by Pasiteles.
The beauty of the work producedb y the Greeksw as regardeda s due not to any trick
techniquesb, ut to theg reatp atiencea nd skillw ithw hicht heya pplied standardm ethodsa, nd
even moret o thel ovelinesos ft heirc onceptions.
Since 1927t hei dea has gainedg roundt hatw hilet het oolsw eret he same them ethodsu sed
by theG reeksd ifferefdr omt hoseo fo thers culptorsa,n d theire volutionh as had morea ttention.
Currento pinioni s perhapsb esti llustratedb y Richter,w3 ho says: 'The tools. . . seemt o have
been mucht he same as thosee mployedt o-day.. . . Apparentlyin the earlierp eriodst he use
of thef latc hisela nd theg ougew as limitedw, hilet hep ointeda nd claw chiselsw eree xtensively
used. Fromt he laterf ifthce nturyo nwardst he flatc hiselw as employedo n the nude partsf or
the finals moothing.5
The purposeo ft hep resents tudyi s to see whatf oundationth erei s fors uch views.T his will
be done firsbt y examiningh ow the Greeks culptorus sed each tool,a nd secondlyb, y following
stageb y stageh ow theya ccomplishedt he carvingo f individualw orks.F or the latterp urpose
it will be necessaryt o considers everalp ieceso fs culptureN. o one piece can possiblyil lustrate
a fullr angeo ft hem ethodst ypicalo fi tst ime,b ut,a s Blümels ays,' thef irma nd unifiedt radition
ofh andworka5m ongt heG reeksa llowsu s to arguef romo ne examplet o anotherc ontemporary
withi t. Part One, thereforeis, a surveyo f exampleso f the use of the individualt ool as it is
attestedm ostp lainlyo n variousw orks.T his surveyw ill help us to determinein Part Two
what happeneda t thoses tagesf orw hicht herei s no directe videnceo n the particularp ieces
thered iscussed.
1 Clarac, Musée de sculpturea ntiquee t moderne(P aris, 1841- 2 Gf. fig. 1 and Blümel,E rg. xi, pl. 1.
53) i. 5 f., pl. i. Blümner, Technologi(eL eipzig, 1884) in 3 Richter,S culpturaen dS culptors(N2 ew Haven, 1930) 144.
187 f. Treu, Jdlx (1895) 3 f. Gardner,J HSxi (1890) 129 f.
O 3288 B
REFERENCES
I have generallyr eferretdo sculpturebsy t heirm useumc atalogueo r inventornyu mbersw, hich-
evera re used morec ommonlyI.f no otherr eferencies given,d etailsc an be foundi n Lippold,
GriechiscPhlaes tikI. have droppedt hep refaceB M in thec ase oft heP arthenonsc ulptureisn the
BritishM useum,a nd used the referencefsr omS mith'sc atalogue. For example,N F fig.6 2 =
Northf riezef igure6 2 in thec atalogue.I was able to obtainn o informatioanb out thei nventory
numberso f thes culptureisn the PiraeusM useum,s o I have referretdo themb y then umbers
I foundp aintedo n them( thesew eren umbersf ori dentificatiownh ent heyw ereh iddend uring
the war, but I thinkt heya re likelyt o endure). Where possibleI have given the Lippold
referencteo o.
All datesa re b.c. unlesso therwisset ated.L efta nd rightr efert o thep roperl efta nd righto fa
statueo r relieff igurel,e fth and and righth and to thes pectator'sM. easurementasr e usuallyi n
the metrics ystemI. n givingt he measuremenotf a tool witht eethl ike the claw or rasp the
formula5 t/i cm. meanst hatf ivet eethc an be measuredw ithina distanceo f one centimetre.
My use oft heG ermanA nsatzis explainedo n p. 80. 'Base' refertso thea rea ofs tonew hichw as
cut in one witht hef eeto f thes tatue,'p edestal't o theb locki n whichs tatuea nd base weres et.
I have not discussedt he questiono f paint on Greeks tatuese, xceptt o mentiona ny tracesI
haveo bservedo n thew orksd escribedin detaili n Part Two. For accountso fh owp aintw asu sed
on sculptures ee Richter,S culpturane dS culptor1s5 0 f.,a nd ReuterswärdS,t udieznu rP olychromie
derP lastik.
The originalt exto f thisw orkw as presenteda s a thesist o theU niversityof Cambridgei n
December1 961.I t has not been foundp ossiblet o make use of worksp ublisheds ince 1962.
ABBREVIATIONS
Besidest hes tandarda bbreviationtsh ef ollowingh ave been used:
AcrM AcropolisM useum,A thens. Lullies R. Lullies and M. Hirmer,G reek
Blümel,E rg. xi C. Blümel, GriechischBei ldhauer- Sculpture.
arbeitJ, dl, Ergänzungshxeif (t1 927). NM National ArchaeologicalM useum,
Blümel,G r.B ild. C. Blümel, GriechischBeil dhauera n Athens.
derA rbeit( 1 9 43). Ox TecL C Singer,e ta l., A Historyof T echno-
Blümel,H ermes G. Blümel,H ermeesi nesP raxiteles. logy.
BM BritishM useum. Pétrie,T W Sir Flinders Pétrie, Tools and
CarpenterJ, VTP Rhys Carpenter, The Sculpturoef Weapons.
the Nike TempleP arapet. Richter,K G. Richter, Kouroi,A rchaicG reek
Casson, TEGS S. Casson, The Techniqueo f Early Youths2,n d ed.
GreekSc ulpture. Schrader H. SchraderD, ie archäischMena rmor-
Lippold G. Lippold, GriechiscPhlea stik. bildwerkdee rA kropolis.
PART ONE
CHAPTER 1
THE POINT, PUNCH, AND MALLET
In 1927B lümelp ublishedt hef irsetx positiono fh ist heoryt hatd uringt hea rchaica nd classical
periods,a nd indeedu ntilt hes econdc enturyt,h eG reeksu sed quite differenmt ethodsf romo ur
own. The archaics culptora pproachedh isw orki n turnf romt hef rontt,h eb ack,a nd thes ides,
almosta s thoughh e werec arvingf ourr eliefs.H1e workeda t thes amer ateo n everys ide,s o that
one part of the workw as neverm oret han a littlea head of the rest,a nd withe ach layero f
matrixh e removedh e added a littlet o them odellingo ft hef ormsI.n thisw ay thef ormgs rew
naturallya,n d the sculptorn everf ora momentl osth is senseo f the unityo f the wholeb y be-
cominga bsorbedi n any one part. Nor was he distractedf romt he essentials tructurbe y an
interesitn the superficialw, hichw as latert o lead to the lifelesss moothnesosf many Roman
works.
This accounto fa n archaicG reeks culptor'sa ims and methodsis helpfual nd convincing.I2t
is whenw e reachh isd escriptioonf t het oolsu sed thatB lumeFsi deas becomed ifficultto accept.
For he considertsh ate xceptf ora fewd etailsw hichw eree xecutedw itho thert oolst hes culptor
used onlya pick-hammera, m allet,a nd a pointedc hiselh eld at righta nglest o the surfaceo f
thew ork,t hene meryf ort he finals moothing.
In 1933 StanleyC assoni n his Techniquoef E arlyG reekSc ulpturacec eptedB liimePst heoryf or
freestandinsgc ulpturef romt he sixthc enturyt o about the beginningo f the fourthc entury.
However,h e consideredt hat therew as an earliers tage,w hen the firstc arversi n stoneb or-
rowedt heirt oolsa s well as thet ypeo f the xoanonf romw oodworkersH. e uses as evidencef or
thist hec hiselw orko n theA cropolisp oross culptureso,n Dermysa nd Kittylosa,n d on thel ime-
stoneb ustf romE leutherna.T3 he Nikandred edicationi s 'transitionafl5r omw orki n softs tone
to worki n marble,f ort het oolse mployedin itsc uttinga re in them aint hoseo ft hew oodworker;
fore xample,t hec hiself orc uttingt hei nscription'a, largeb lade, perhapse ven a plane' on the
arms and shouldersa, nd a 'flat-headedh ammer'a t the back. This is nonsenseA. chiselw as
certainlyu sed on thei nscriptiona,s ofc oursei t was on everyG reeki nscriptioonn stonea t any
period.B ut the 'plane' is weatheringan d chippingo n the arms,a nd therei s no evidenceo f
toolingo n ther oughg ranulateds urfacea t theb ack,w hichi s probablya lso due to weathering.
Casson says therei s 'no trace of systematipc unchingo f surfaces; ' theren everi s on surfaces
thoroughlsym oothedb y abrasiona s thiso ne certainlyw as- see the comparativelyfr eshs ur-
facesb esidet he inscriptionan d near the feet.B ut the traceso f tool markso n the plug at the
bottomo f the statue,i ntendedf ori nsertionin to a plinth,s eem to showg entlew orkw itht he
point.H e quotesn o othert ransitionapli ece,s o we mustc oncludet hatt herei s no evidenceo n
1 BlümelG, r.B ild.1 6f . GardnerJ, HS xi (1890) 129f .
2 And had alreadyb een proposedin its essentialbs y 3 Casson,T EGS 85.
4 THE TECHNIQUE OF GREEK SCULPTURE
•
<£2 VI ft' A A
Vj [
k <r~<S)"~i Ll 1
a b a b all b
«<^^_J
u V V V 11[
HAMMER PUNCH POINT CLAW
a. from above a. front o. front a. front
b. from front b. side b. side b. side
A n i « i û s
|
°l b ab ab M
/ ^
*
ZAv i li 1) li D i
DROVE FLAT CURVED CHISEL RASPS
o. front a. front a. front
b. side b. side b. side
ob /II
DRILL DRILL BOW
a. front with wooden handle for use withd rill
b. side for use withb ow
Fig. i. Some possible formso f tools used by Greek sculptors
(Note:i n ther aspt het eeths houldt aket hef ormV ')
THE POINT, PUNCH, AND MALLET 5
thiso r any otherG reekw orkf ora ny such use of carpenter'st oolso n stone.F rom whatever
sourcet he Greeksl earntt o workt heirm arble,t heyf oundo ut thes tandardt oolsf ort hej ob.
In the quarryt heyp robablyu sed a pick-hammears oftena s a heavyp ointo r punch and
mallet,b ut sincet hes ame typeso fs urfacec an be producedb y eitheri t is impossiblet o be dog-
matic. The pick-hammewr ould,h oweverb, e a morep owerfutl ool,a greata dvantagei n the
earlys tages,a nd ther eliefo fA rchedemoss4h owsu s thati t was known.W hent heb lowso ft he
pointede nd of the pick-hammero,r of the point or punch, are directeda t righta ngles to
the stonet he resultinsgu rfacew illb e pittedw iths mallc ratersw heret hef lakesw eres trucko ff.
Or, ift hep ointi s directedo bliquelyt o thes tone,a nd drivena shortw ay along thes urfacea s it
chipsa flakea way,f urrowws illr esultL. ong furrowcsa n be madeb ya serieso fb lowsf ollowing
one another.
We findb otht ypeso fs urfacein theq uarrya t Apollona on Naxos wheret he colossalf igure
of Dionysos5r emainsu nfinisheidn the quarry.T he walls of the trenchf romw hicht he block
was takenh ave been tidiedb y chippinga way thej agged edges witht hep ick-hammerle,a ving
long continuousf urrowsP. ossibly,a s Casson says,6t hisw as done to make the trenchm ore
convenientf orw orkment o stand in. But we can see the same long furrowtsi dyingt he face
oft heq uarryo fS pelia on Penteli( plate i (a)),7 and ther easona ppearst o be to maket hen ext
stagee asier,w hena notherb lockw illb e measuredu p and removedA. blockf inishedre adyf or
transporitn a quarryo n Paros (plate i (é))8 showsh ow blocksw ere trimmedin the same
way. This neatnesso f workmanshipm usth ave ensuredt hat the minimumo f materialw as
wasted.
On thes tatueo f Dionysosi tselft he masonp referretdo use shorts trokesw, itht he tool held
moreo r lessa t righta nglest o thes tone.L ong furrowws erei deal forl evellingo ut thei rregulari-
tieso n theq uarryf ace,a nd in thisw orkt hem asonw oulds ett hep ointo ft het oolo bliquelyt o
the surfacea nd hold it therea s he strucka serieso f blowst o drivei t along. But whenh e was
carvinga figureh, e wantedn ots implyt o levelt hes urfaceb ut to shape a numbero f carefully
variedc urves,a nd to differentiabtee tweent he planes. Obviouslyt henh e needed to proceed
withm orec aution,a nd thep itteds urfaceos ft heu nfinishewd orkso ft hea rchaicp eriodf ound
in or near quarries( see below p. 7, n. 18) show us that the masonsc ut the formsw ithi n-
numerables hortc arefuls trokesN. aturallyw hereo pportunityof feredt heym ights peed the
worka littleb y a fewl ongers trokess,u ch as we findo n the rightt higho f kourosN M 14,9
anotheru nfinishewd orkf romt heA pollonaq uarry.
In all thesea rchaice xamplest hes hape of thes tatuei s quitec lear even thoughi t has noty et
been moved,o r has onlyj ust been moved,f romt heq uarry.T herea re threee xampless tilli ns itu
on Naxos whichs howt hisp lainly.W e do not knoww hethert he sculptorc ame to chooseh is
blocka nd directw orko n thes pot,o r perhapsm erelysp ecifiedth eh eighto ft hef igurhe e wanted.
If theG reeksl earntt heirm ethodso fs culptingf romt he Egyptianst,h ent heh eightw ould be a
sufficiengtu ide fort he masonsi n the quarryt o beginw orkf ort he sculptorI. t has been said
trulyt hat the influenceo f Egyptians culptureo n Greekh as been argued by classicistas nd
acceptedb y Egyptologistfso ra long time.10It seemsq uite obvious.T he stanceo f the archaic
kourosis clearlyd erivedf romt heE gyptianp atternw, hateverd ifferenciens feelingt herem ayb e.
DiodorusS iculus,h oweverw, henh e describes1t1h e Egyptianm ethodso f sculptings,a yss peci-
ficallyt hat' thism ethodo f wrorkinisg p ractisedn owherea mongt he Greeks'.N evertheleshs e
* Casson, TEGS, figs.^ and ^6. 9 Blümel, Gr. Bild., figs.1 2 and 13.
s Blümel,G r. Bild., figs.2 , 3, and 4. 10 See, however, an excellent recent account by Rhys
6 Casson, BSA xxxvii (iQ37) 21. Carpenter,G reekS culptur(eC hicago, iq6o) 7 f.
7 Photographb y B. Cook. 11 Bibliothecia. 98, 5-10.
8 Photographb y E. Hansen.