THE KRITIOS BOY

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THE KRITIOS BOY
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THE BASICS

• three-quarter life-sized figure 1.17m tall.
• made from Parian marble.
• dated around 485 BC at the start of the Early
  Classical Period.
• he was found buried on the Akropolis to avoid
  being captured by the Persians when they invaded
  Athens in 480BC.

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• remains of bird-droppings
  on the head show that it
  was in the open.
• the sculpture shows what
  the athletic ideal would
  have been for
  the youth.
• it may have been an offering from a victorious
  Athenian athlete.

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MALE KOUROI

• Kritios Boy very similar to Archaic male nude
  figures known as male kouroi.
• these nude youths were used as funerary
  monuments.
• stood erect,
• their arms by their sides,
• with one foot advancing,
• their weight evenly disturbed.
• early figures very geometrical.
• later figures become more natural as the
  sculptors acquired a fuller knowledge of the
  structure of the human anatomy.

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HAIR

• does not hang long and loose.
• the hair is plaited and is wound around the head.
  
• odd wisps and curls of hair at the back of the
  neck.

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FACE

• has lost the earlier smile and has a serious
  expression.
• eyes were inlaid and are now missing.
• thick nose.
• big chin.

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BODY

• strict frontality has been abandoned
• head is slightly turned to the right.
• the hips and shoulders slant.
• the spine has a sideward curve.
• horizontal pectoral muscles.

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LEGS

• weight is mainly on the left leg.
• right knee slightly bent.
• right leg advancing slightly forward.

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