L.Barlow A2 Classical Civilisations
Early Classical
Advantages of Bronze
• Bronze Casting.
• Began building up the body in clay, which was advantageous.
• Could quickly and cheaply try out new effects in a way that was impossible for marble;
explore far freer arrangement of limbs and much wider range of poses because great
tensile strength of bronze.
• Whole figure could rest securely on a very slight support and limbs could safely be
separated from the body.
• They used the lost wax method.
• Covered clay model with a thin, even coating of wax.
• Encased wax-covered model in a mould made mainly of clay which had to be flexible
enough to follow contours of wax and thick and hard enough to withstand heat and
pressure.
• Mould held in place with metal rods which ran through the clay core of the statue.
• Wax then melted out, leaving a gap between the clay model and the outer model.
• Molten bronze (alloy of tin and copper) poured in to fill space where wax had been.
Piraeus Apollo
• Archaic style pose
• Probably sculpted in 520-530 BC
• Apollo dedicated to Apollo
• Excavated at Piraeus but probably made in Delos (found with three other statues)
• Lifesize at 1.92m
• Archaeological Museum of Piraeus
• Made of bronze
• Defined and unrealistic nipples
• Holding what is though to be a bow in his left hand but has broken off
• Stocky neck
1
Early Classical
Advantages of Bronze
• Bronze Casting.
• Began building up the body in clay, which was advantageous.
• Could quickly and cheaply try out new effects in a way that was impossible for marble;
explore far freer arrangement of limbs and much wider range of poses because great
tensile strength of bronze.
• Whole figure could rest securely on a very slight support and limbs could safely be
separated from the body.
• They used the lost wax method.
• Covered clay model with a thin, even coating of wax.
• Encased wax-covered model in a mould made mainly of clay which had to be flexible
enough to follow contours of wax and thick and hard enough to withstand heat and
pressure.
• Mould held in place with metal rods which ran through the clay core of the statue.
• Wax then melted out, leaving a gap between the clay model and the outer model.
• Molten bronze (alloy of tin and copper) poured in to fill space where wax had been.
Piraeus Apollo
• Archaic style pose
• Probably sculpted in 520-530 BC
• Apollo dedicated to Apollo
• Excavated at Piraeus but probably made in Delos (found with three other statues)
• Lifesize at 1.92m
• Archaeological Museum of Piraeus
• Made of bronze
• Defined and unrealistic nipples
• Holding what is though to be a bow in his left hand but has broken off
• Stocky neck
1
