Doryphoros

This Doryphoros, or spear carrier, is one of several versions of the same sculpture to have been made in the Roman Empire. The bronze original on which these are based is now lost. Famed for its balance and idealised proportions, the Doryphoros is regarded as one of the best known examples of fifth century BCE Greek sculpture and an image of ideal masculinity. He must have been made before 79 CE when the volcano Vesuvius erupted burying Pompeii and everything in it

Number

181

Material

Carrara marble

Location of Original

Naples, Archaeological Museum 146

Size

2.02m

Accession

Purchased in 1884 from the casting establishment of Naples Museum

References

Lippold: Griechische Plastik, 163 (n.14 - actually on next page), pl. 59.1
Richter: Sculpture & Sculptors of the Greeks (1950), 56 & 248, fig.645
Walston: Catalogue of Casts in the Museum of Classical Archaeology (1889), 64, no.280
Lawrence: Classical Sculpture (1928), 211-, pl. 61
Moon: Polykleitos, the Doryphoros and Tradition

Date

Early Roman. Original: c.450 BCE

Sculptor

Of original: Polykleitos

Provenance

Pompeii

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