Discuss the philosophical underpinnings of the change in sculpture from the rigid Archaic style to the more natural Classical style of Athens’ Golden Age

Question

Please provide the best answer for the statement.

Answer 1

1. One development related to Golden Age Athenians’ increasing emphasis on scientific inquiry was the cult of the human body. Hippocrates, the so-called “father of medicine,” insisted on the mind’s ability to influence the physical body and the influence of diet and environment on physical health. Accordingly, in the Golden Age, the beautiful body came to reflect not only physical but also mental superiority.
2. Compared to earlier kouros figures, Kritios Boy and the later Doryphoros display a marked naturalism. Their liveliness of posture and gesture and sense of capturing the body in action reflected Golden Age sculptors’ primary sculptural aim and the very definition of beauty in the Classical world. Doryphoros also exhibits symmetria, meaning, in the sculptor Polykleitos’ usage, “commensurability,” or “having a common measure.” Thus, the figure reflects a higher mathematical order and embodies the ideal harmony between the natural world and the intellectual or spiritual realm.