Scopas (redirected from Scopas of Paros)

Scopas (skō`pəs), Greek sculptor, fl. 4th cent. B.C., b. Paros. Although numbered among the Athenians, he wandered from place to place and did not attach himself to any school. He was the first to express violent feeling in marble faces. Some mutilated fragments from the temple of Athena Alea at Tegea, of which he is recorded as architect, furnish evidence of his style and method. They are in the national museum at Athens. He is also credited with work on the temple of Artemis at Ephesus and the Mausoleum of Halikarnassos. Of his nonarchitectural work, known through Roman copies, are a statue of Meleager (Fogg Mus., Cambridge, Mass.); an Apollo Citharoedus (Villa Borghese, Rome); and the celebrated Ludovisi Ares (Rome).

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Scopas

 or Skopas

(flourished 4th century BC, Greece) Greek sculptor and architect. Ancient writers ranked him with Praxiteles and Lysippus as one of the major sculptors of the late Classical period. He helped establish the expression of powerful emotions as an artistic theme. He apparently worked on three monuments: the temple of Athena Alea at Tegea, the temple of Artemis at Ephesus, and the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. Of many freestanding sculptures attributed to him, the Maenad in Dresden and the Pothos in Rome are the most noteworthy.

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Scopas

4th century bc, Greek sculptor and architect

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Scopas 

(also Skopas). An ancient Greek sculptor and architect of the fourth century B.C. Representative of late classicism.

Scopas, who was born on the island of Paros, worked in Te-geum (now Piali), Halicarnassus (now Bodrum), and other cities of Greece and Asia Minor. His work as an architect included the construction of the Temple of Athena Alea in Te-geum (350–340 B.C.) and the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus (mid-fourth century B.C.). Of his surviving sculptural works the most important is a frieze at Halicarnassus that depicts the battle of the Amazons (mid-fourth century B.C., in collaboration with Bryaxis, Leochares, and Timotheus; fragments are in the British Museum, London). Numerous works by Scopas are known through Roman copies, for example, sculptures of Pothos, a young Heracles, Meleager and a maenad.

Rejecting the harmonious and tranquil treatment of the human figure characteristic of fifth-century art, Scopas strove to convey powerful psychological experiences and the conflict of passions. He used dynamic composition and new methods of rendering details, especially facial features. His sculptures have deeply sunken eyes, a wrinkled forehead, and a slightly open mouth.

Filled with drama, Scopas’ art exerted a great influence on the sculpture of the Hellenistic period, particularly on the works of third- and second-century masters working in the city of Pergamum.

REFERENCES

Chubova, A. P. Skopas. Leningrad-Moscow, 1959.
Arias, P. E. Scopas. Rome, 1952.