A catalogue of sculpture in the Department of ... - Warburg Institute

266 CATALOGUE OF SCULPTURE.make and square build, but somewhat heavy when comparedwith the graceful youths of the Parthenon frieze.But the words of Quintilian, who says (Inst. Oral., xii.,10, 7) that some critics objected to the works of Polycleitosas being wanting in weight and unduly elegant, suggestthat the extant copies do not convey an accurate impressionof the bronze originals, and in fact some of thenumerous Doryphoros heads which have been found inItaly present a profile which strikingly recalls the profilesof the youths on the Parthenon frieze.Polycleitos was alsonoted for his technical skill and perfect workmanship.The works that have been associated with Polycleitos,in the British Museum, are here described (Nos. 500-503).A fragment, however, of a group of two boys playingwith knuckle-bones (Mus. Marbles, ii., pi. 31), which wasascribed by Winckelmann to Polycleitos (Hist, de V Art,Bk. vi., chap. 2; Pliny, H. N., xxxiv., 10), is no doubt ofa later period, and is therefore omitted.500. Graeco-Eoman copy of the Diadumenos of Polycleitos.Statue of a nude youth, tying a band (taenia)about hishead. He stands principally on the right leg, restinglightly on the left leg, and has both hands raised. Theleft hand is lost. The band was made of bronze, andholes remain for its attachment. The left side of theface has been very much rubbed down. By the side ofthe figure is a tree-stump.That this figure is the Diadumenos of Polycleitos isindicated by its close resemblance in style to the figure atNaples, believed to be a copy of the Doryphoros (seeNo. 502). It would be a remarkable coincidence if we hadtwo companion statues representing respectively a Diadumenosand a Doryphoros, known from the number ofreplicas to be copies of important works, and agreeing instyle with what would be expected of the art of Polycleitos,but yet derived from independent sources.