completes the main curving sequence that begins with the incline of the head and
flows through the body in a most satisfying way. We need only imagine the bird facing
the other way, or at the other side of the figure or on a level with her toes, to appre-
ciate the appropriateness of its positioning in the overall design.
The beauty of the painting stems also from its fluidity and refinement. The slight
incline of the head and the tapering line of the feet give the whole structure a delicate
poise. There is refinement too in the execution of detail, in the curls of the hair and
in the different textures of the headband, the smooth material of the chiton above and
below the darker rumpled material of the outer dress, and even in the suggestion of
feathers in the figure of the bird. None of the detail is fussy or draws attention to itself;
everything has its place in the larger design.
Despite the apparent naturalism there is an element of style most obviously in the
‘Grecian profile’ in which the forehead and nose are united in a continuous straight
line, and perhaps also in the ‘Grecian bend’ of the slightly rounded shoulders. The
Grecian attitude is clearly ideal but the style of the pose is not exaggerated to the point
where it becomes affected or mannered. In this restraint of style Classical art is to be
distinguished from the greater stylistic extravagance of Mannerism or the Baroque. In
the clarity and economy of its general outline, in the unity of its design where the parts
are subordinate to the whole in a harmoniously proportioned structure, in the natural
ease of its fluent style with its tendency to ideal expression and in the restrained
decorum of its content and form where there is nothing in excess, the beautiful and
dignified music of the Achilles-painter may be regarded as a touchstone distinguishing
the calm, the poise and the uplifting serenity of Classical art.
Fourth-century sculpture
The most famous master of later sculpture is the Athenian Praxiteles, who flourished
in the mid-fourth century. The Hermes with the infant Dionysus (fig. 64), discovered
in 1877, is usually thought to be an original by him and, if so, is one of the few free-
standing statues to have survived from the Classical period. It is thought that the
missing right arm dangled a bunch of grapes to which the infant makes a forward
gesture. Its beauty is softer and more delicately sensuous than that of anything
discussed so far, and in the small head and long legs Praxiteles has his own canon of
proportion that differs from that of the stockier figure of Polyclitus. The Hermes also
has more fluid lines than the doryphoros.It is often said that while the sculptors of the
fifth century made gods of men, those of the fourth made men of gods. Yet this image
of Hermes has majesty – the body has strength as well as grace – and the Homeric
description of Hermes emphasizes his youthful charm (see p. 31). However, the soft
dreaminess of the face is certainly far removed from the severity of the Olympian
Apollo (fig. 48).
256 THE GREEKS