New York Kouros
Summary
TLDRThe video explores a room in The Metropolitan Museum of Art dedicated to archaic Greek sculpture, focusing on the kouros, a life-size marble figure of a young man. The narrators discuss the sensuality and timelessness of Greek art, noting its Egyptian influences and symbolic nature. The kouros is described as both idealized and human, with its free-standing form representing movement and autonomy. The dialogue contrasts archaic symmetry with later classical contrapposto, highlighting how Greek sculpture evolved while preserving a deep connection to the past.
Takeaways
- 🪨 The video takes place in a room at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, dedicated to archaic Greek sculptures, primarily funerary in nature.
- 👋 A man in the museum touches a 2,600-year-old sculpture, collapsing the time between the modern viewer and ancient Greece, evoking the sensuality the Greeks once saw in such works.
- 🗿 The kouros sculpture being discussed is a life-sized nude male figure made of marble, symbolizing an idealized form of manhood and perfection.
- 👗 In ancient Greek sculpture, female figures were typically clothed while male figures were nude, but both were equally sensual in design.
- 🛠 The kouros sculpture was created not as a portrait but as a symbolic figure, representing the connection between an individual, their family, and lineage.
- 🏛 This archaic sculpture style was influenced by Egyptian art, yet it shows a significant departure, with the figure cut away from the stone, unlike the embedded Egyptian statues.
- 🚶 The sculpture has an autonomy and appears to stand and move on its own, with a forward-striding stance, though the limbs are locked in place.
- 🏋️♂️ The 2,000-pound sculpture is a technical marvel, balanced on narrow points with subtle support from stone bridges between the arms and torso.
- 🌀 The lack of contrapposto (weight shift) in the figure, combined with its symmetry and distant gaze, places it in an idealized, almost otherworldly realm.
- 🔲 The kouros retains a geometric, block-like quality, reminding viewers of the stone it was carved from, blending flat and intricate details, especially in the face and hair.
Q & A
What is the primary purpose of the sculptures discussed in the script?
-The sculptures discussed are primarily funerary, meaning they were meant to mark graves.
How does the man's action of caressing the sculpture reflect the intended sensuality of the piece?
-The man's action of caressing the sculpture shows that despite the passage of 2,600 years, the sculpture still evokes a sensual response, similar to what the Ancient Greeks felt when they made it.
What is a kouros and why was it created?
-A kouros is a funerary sculpture of a young man, often nude, meant to represent an ideal of manhood and perfection. It was created to exist longer than any individual, marking a tomb and serving as a reminder of the deceased's life and family lineage.
How does the kouros differ from the female figures in terms of clothing?
-While female figures in the sculptures were clothed, the kouros, representing a young male figure, was nude, yet both were considered equally sensual.
What is the significance of the kouros being carved free from the stone?
-The kouros being carved free from the stone gives it a sense of autonomy and makes it more relatable and human, as opposed to the Ancient Egyptian figures which were often embedded in the stone, giving them a sense of transcendence.
How does the kouros' stance reflect a sense of movement?
-The kouros' stance, with squared shoulders and hips and one leg forward, gives a sense of movement despite the limbs being locked in place, symbolizing the forward movement of the figure.
What changes in sculpture style occurred as Greek society moved towards democracy?
-As Greek society moved towards democracy in the fifth century, sculptures were made and commissioned for the state, becoming very different from those made for aristocratic families during the archaic period.
How does the kouros' posture differ from the contrapposto stance seen in later classical Greek sculptures?
-The kouros has a symmetrical posture with one foot forward but no weight shift, unlike the contrapposto stance where figures stand with their weight on one leg and one knee bent, creating asymmetry.
What is the significance of the geometric shapes used in the kouros' features and body parts?
-The use of geometric shapes in the kouros' features and body parts isolates them from each other, creating a sense of formality and referencing the stone block from which it was carved.
How was the kouros sculpture balanced and supported given its weight?
-The kouros sculpture was balanced and supported on two narrow angles, with a little bit of a bridge left between the clenched fists and hips to support the arms, as free-hanging arms would be too fragile.
What can be inferred about the kouros sculpture's condition and history from the script?
-The kouros sculpture is 2,600 years old and has been reconstructed by the museum, indicating that it has broken over time and has undergone restoration.
Outlines
🗿 Ancient Greek Sculpture and Sensuality
The script describes a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's room dedicated to archaic Greek sculpture, primarily funerary in nature. It discusses the inappropriate interaction of a visitor touching a 2,600-year-old sculpture, highlighting the sensuality intended in the creation of these ancient works. The kouros, a life-size marble sculpture of a young man, is examined as an example of art transcending time, symbolizing aristocratic ideals and family lineage. The sculpture's nudity and stylized features are noted as both sensual and symbolic, contrasting with the clothed female figures of the era. The influence of Ancient Egyptian art on these early Greek sculptures is also mentioned, with a focus on the kouros's autonomy and human-like qualities, as opposed to the transcendent figures of Egyptian art.
💪 The Engineering Marvel of Kouros Sculpture
This section of the script delves into the technical aspects of the kouros sculpture, emphasizing the remarkable feat of balancing such a massive, approximately 2,000-pound, piece of stone on two narrow points. The sculptor's ingenuity in leaving a 'bridge' of stone for stability during the carving process is also discussed.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Archaic Greek sculpture
💡Funerary sculpture
💡Sensual
💡Kouros
💡Aristocratic
💡Contrapposto
💡Autonomy
💡Symmetry
💡Geometric shapes
💡Proportions
💡Reconstruction
Highlights
The Met room is devoted to archaic Greek sculpture, much of which is funerary in nature.
A man touches a 2,600-year-old sculpture, collapsing the time between ancient and modern appreciation of its sensuality.
Archaic Greek sculptures, though funerary, also carry a deep sensuality, resonating with ancient and modern audiences.
The kouros, a life-size marble sculpture of a young man, symbolizes perfection and an ideal of manhood.
Male figures were sculpted nude, while female figures were clothed, but both were intended to be equally sensual.
The kouros sculpture, although symbolic of an aristocratic family, is not a portrait but a symbol of idealized manhood.
The transition from the sixth-century aristocratic sculptures to the fifth-century democratic commissions marks a significant cultural shift.
Greek kouros figures were heavily influenced by Egyptian sculptures but differed in the removal of stone, allowing the figure to stand independently.
The kouros is cut away from the stone completely, creating a sense of autonomy and making the figure more human and less transcendent.
This kouros stands as a bridge between the symbolic and the human, moving toward but not quite entering human space.
The kouros' stance, with squared shoulders and one leg forward, suggests movement but lacks the full dynamic energy seen in later classical sculptures.
Unlike later classical sculptures with contrapposto, the kouros maintains a symmetrical and static posture.
The gaze of the kouros looks past the viewer, placing it in a world of idealism, disconnected from the present.
The kouros features geometric shapes and body parts that are isolated from one another, reflecting the influence of the stone block it was carved from.
The sculptor alternates between flat and deeply carved areas, particularly evident in the contrast between the face and the braided hair.
Despite the weight of the marble, the sculpture is supported on two narrow angles, demonstrating the artist's technical skill.
Transcripts
(soft piano music)
- [Voiceover] We're in the room
in The Metropolitan Museum of Art
that's devoted to archaic Greek sculpture.
- [Voiceover] Most of it funerary
so sculpture meant to mark graves.
- [Voiceover] But I just saw a man walk over
to this 2,600 year old sculpture
and put his hand as a kind of caress against her backside.
Of course, this is wrong in so many ways
but what happened is, for him, 2,600 years collapsed.
That sculpture was this sensuous female figure.
- [Voiceover] That man walking through
the Met felt something that the
Ancient Greeks felt when they made these sculpture.
They were a lot of other things
but they were also deeply sensual.
- [Voiceover] We came into this room to look at a kouros.
A funerary sculpture of a young man.
It's a life size marble--
- [Voiceover] And we should say a nude young man
because as we've just learned,
although the female figure is clothed,
and when the Greeks made these the female figures
were clothed and the male figures
were nude both were equally sensual.
- [Voiceover] The only thing he's wearing is a little choker
around his neck and a headband to fill it
but what struck me was that the man
who sculpted this kouros figure was creating something
that was meant to trespass lifetimes
to exist longer than any individual.
- [Voiceover] It's made of stone and it endured
for millenia and it was made to mark a tomb.
So, indeed it was meant to last
and to serve as a reminder not only of his life
but of his connection to his family
of his family's lineage across time.
- [Voiceover] It's important to note that this would have
been made for an aristocratic family
but it's also important to note that this is not a portrait
in the way that we think of that in a modern era.
It's not in any way a likeness.
It is, instead, a symbol.
- [Voiceover] An ideal of manhood, of perfection.
I'm interested in the way that in the sixth century
we have sculpture during this archaic period
that's made largely for aristocratic families
for the elite in Athens and the surrounding area.
When we move into the fifth century
with the developments towards democracy
we have sculptures that are made
and commissioned for the state and by the state
and that are very different than what
we see during the archaic period.
This early Greek image, so clearly
dependent on the Ancient Egyptians.
We could go through the Ancient Egyptian galleries
and see figures very much like this.
Usually, they're wearing a loin cloth
or some kind of clothing representing the Pharaoh,
representing the kings of Egypt.
- [Voiceover] But there's a real distinction here
which is that this figure is cut away from the stone.
The stone between his legs is removed.
There is no stone backing.
He stands upright in this gallery,
in the middle of the room, completely unaided
by anything but his own two legs
and there is a kind of extraordinary autonomy that results.
- [Voiceover] Well, autonomy and so much more
because when the Egyptians embedded that figure in the stone
they gave it a sense of transcendence
of timelessness, of being godlike in some way.
By freeing the figure from the stone,
we immediately have a sense of him being
much more like us, much more human.
- [Voiceover] Existing in our space.
- [Voiceover] Exactly and moving into our
space, of striding forward.
- [Voiceover] Look at his stance.
His shoulders are squared, his hips
are squared, his leg is forward.
- [Voiceover] There's a sense of movement
but no real movement.
- [Voiceover] Those limbs are locked in place
even as they're representing symbolically
the forward movement of the figure.
- [Voiceover] So during the classical period,
in the next century, the Greeks would make figures
that stand in contrapposto that is
they've shifted their weight.
Their weight is firmly on one leg.
One knee is bent and the whole body becomes asymmetrical.
Here, really aside from that one foot being forward
the figure is very symmetrical.
It occupies a very strange place
between being here present with us
and also being absent from us and that's in the gaze too.
There's a way that he looks past us.
He doesn't engage us.
- [Voiceover] The lack of contrapposto, the symmetry,
does place him in some ways firmly
in a world that is not ours.
A kind of ideal, perfect world.
- [Voiceover] His features have
been reduced to geometric shapes,
even his body parts are very geometric.
- [Voiceover] As a result, very much isolated
from each other so you have an arm which seems distinct
from the torso as opposed to creating a smooth transition.
In fact, you might even look at this sculpture
and see it as very cubic, perhaps
even referencing the four sides
of the stone that this was carved from.
One can imagine a block of marble that this sculpturer
is approaching from four different sides.
- [Voiceover] Actually, drawing the figure
on those four sides and then cutting the stone away
and using a system of proportions,
very much like the Egyptians did.
- [Voiceover] The sculpturer has
been really careful about creating a kind of alternation
between flat areas, for instance, of the face
against much more complex and deeply carved areas,
the braided or beaded hair, which creates
this beautiful frame for the face.
- [Voiceover] Mm-hmm.
- [Voiceover] Now, this is a huge block of stone.
It weights about 2,000 pounds.
It's about a ton of stone that remains.
It really is a tremendous feat
that they've been able to create a sculpture
that is balanced and supported
on essentially two narrow angles.
- [Voiceover] Without falling over.
- [Voiceover] But you'll notice that the sculptor
has left a little bit of a bridge
between the clenched fists at his side and his hips
to help support those arms because if they were
free hanging they would be too fragile.
- [Voiceover] And even so, you can see
that this sculpture is 2,600 years old
and it was obviously put back together by the museum.
Over time it broke and it's always interesting
to look for that and to notice
what maybe a reconstruction and what's original.
Although here, I think everything
that we're seeing is original.
(soft piano music)
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