Praxiteles

Praxiteles (prăksĭt`əlēz), fl. c.370–c.330 B.C., famous Attic sculptor, probably the son of Cephisodotus. His Hermes with the Infant Dionysus, found in the Heraeum, Olympia, in 1877, is the only example of an undisputed extant original by any of the greatest ancient masters. It was found in the same place where Pausanias had seen it 17 cent. earlier. The workmanship of the sculptor can be judged directly from it—the delicate and perfect modeling, as well as the strength and grace of conception, are characteristic of his figures. His most renowned statues are lost entirely or known only through Roman imitations. Out of some 50 works mentioned as his in ancient writings, the one chosen as finest of all was the Aphrodite of Cnidus. There is a copy in the Vatican. Of the Eros of Thespiae, only the fame remains. Praxiteles made several statues of young satyrs; the one in the Capitoline Museum (Rome) is celebrated in Hawthorne's Marble Faun. Other copies of the sculptor's works are Apollo Sauroctonus (Vatican); Apollino (Florence); and Silenus and Dionysus (Louvre). All of these illustrate his choice of youthful gods and other beings in which joy of life finds expression. Praxiteles' modeling of face and hair and his treatment of the surface of the marble are unsurpassed.

---

Praxiteles

(flourished c. 370–330 BC, Greece) Greek sculptor. His only known surviving work, the marble Hermes Carrying the Infant Dionysus, displays delicate modeling and exquisite surface finish. A few other works survive in Roman copies. His most celebrated work was the Aphrodite of Cnidus, which Pliny the Elder considered the best statue in the world. Through Praxiteles' influence, figures were increasingly shown standing in graceful, sinuous poses, leaning lightly on some support, a pose further developed by sculptors of the Hellenistic Age. Greatest and most original of the 4th-century Attic sculptors, he profoundly influenced the later course of Greek sculpture.

---

Praxiteles

4th-century bc. Greek sculptor: his works include statues of Hermes at Olympia, which survives, and of Aphrodite at Cnidus

---

Praxiteles 

Born circa 390 B.C., in Athens; died circa 330 B.C. Ancient Greek sculptor, a representative of late classicism.

Praxiteles, the son and pupil of the sculptor Cephisodotus, worked primarily in Athens. His works, executed for the most part in marble, are known from ancient copies and the writings of ancient authors. The only original that has been preserved is the group Hermes with the Infant Dionysus (c. 340 B.C., Olympia Museum), which was found at Olympia. A number of scholars consider the Hermes to be a copy. In his early works, such as The Resting Satyr (c. 375 B.C.), Praxiteles basically followed the principles of Polyclitus. A contemplative mood predominates in his representations of the gods and goddesses. The artist attained an idyllic and sensitive spiritual quality through an extremely refined working of the marble and a virtuoso play of light and shadow. The latter causes the separate surfaces to flow smoothly into each other, giving the sculpture a “moist appearance.”

Among Praxiteles’ best-known works are Apollo Sauroktonos (Apollo Killing a Lizard, c. 370 B.C.), Aphrodite of Cos (c. 360–350 B.C.), Aphrodite of Cnidus (c. 350 B.C.), and The Resting Satyr. The Aphrodite of Cos seems to have held a mirror, and the Aphrodite of Cnidus, Praxiteles’ most famous work in antiquity, is represented disrobing before bathing.

REFERENCES

Zeest, I. B. Praksitel’. Moscow, 1941.
Belov, G. D. Praksitel’. Leningrad, 1973.
Rizzo, G. E. Prassitele. Milan-Rome, 1932.