As documented by Tarbell, discobolus the discus thrower is a statue of a discus thrower that was originally made by a Greek artist called Naucydes Myron between 460-450 BC. His Discobolus statue was called the Discobolus of Myron, and was made of bronze. This original statue is lost, and at the moment, many copies of it have been made of marble by Romans. The initial copy of the original was discovered in 1781 at the property in Rome-Villa Palombara, a property of the Massimo family. It was called the Palombara Discobolus and was discovered by an archaeologist from Italy. A second statue, Townley Discobolus was discovered in 1790 at Hadrian’s Villa in Rome.
This statue depicts a discus thrower who is about to make his throw. The thrower is completely naked, which was a natural phenomenon among the Greek athletes. This statue portrays an athlete full of athletic vigor and energy. The instance captured by the statue, as debated upon by athletic students is not practical. The style portrayed by this statue is that of harmony and stability, a style that was first displayed by Myron. The posture of the statue is alleged to be extraordinary and at the moment, it is considered a very ineffective way of throwing the discus. Naturally, every discus thrower, at that instance as portrayed by the statue, will express some sentiments in his face. Myron, in his artwork, did not consider his fact. In addition, at the same instance portrayed by the statue, muscle strain should be inevitable, another factor that Myron left out while designing the sculpture (Crowther and Nigel 34).
As Barr and Sandra argue, the procedure followed by Myron in his creation of his Discobolus is quite hard to describe in an exact way. This is because the original Discobolus: Discobolus of Myron, is not in existence at the moment. Nevertheless, taking into consideration the time at which the statue was made, the inventiveness of the artists at that moment in time and their practical handiness, it is possible to describe the procedure that Myron followed in his artwork.
As mentioned earlier, Myron used bronze to make his Discobolus. This is the medium that Myron used in all is art works for example Athena and Marsyas. In modern times, bronze sculptures are made as a single unit without segmentation of parts that make up the sculpture. In the days of Myron, making sculptures using bronze was quite a complex task. Every segment of the sculpture was cast separately and the assembly of these segments followed to form the whole sculpture.
According to Wright and Alexa (23), in the ancient days, most works of art that were made of bronze were small thus they did not require any diverse skills in their creation. However, the Discobolus was one of the large bronze sculptures to be made. Making such a big and heavy statue using bronze was not an easy task. Consequently, Myron and his colleagues devised a new method of sculpting that they called “the lost wax method", method that would still permit every single detail of the sculpture to be portrayed. It included several phases such as putting a mold of clay all around the sculpture including the joints and then drying the mold thus allowing the different segments to be held together (Honour and Hugh 40). Addition of Investment on the outside then followed and then wax in its melted state was added, followed by bronze in its melted state. The investment was then removed, and the last piece of bronze was modelled. The lost wax method, was quite a hard and complex task to be performed by a single person and, therefore, Myron could not do it all by himself. He needed several people to help him as his assistants. Nevertheless, he is considered the sole artist in the creation of his statue, the Discobolus of Myron.
The Discobolus of Myron is one of the works of art that brought out a changing stage of the work of art from the initial form of art of the Archaic Period. This statue had several similarities and differences to those of the Archaic Period. As highlighted by Wright and Alexa, the similarities included nakedness, similarity in the features of their faces, their noses were round-shaped, and they all had big closed eyes. In addition, they both used stones like marble to make their sculptures. Finally, the sculptures had bodies of athletes. The differences included display of motion in the Discobolus of Myron, which was contrary to the sculptures of the Archaic Period, which did not portray any state of motion. Before the Discobolus of Myron, all the other sculptures were rectangular. The features on the faces of the sculptures in the Archaic Period were quite simple compared to those of the Discobolus of Myron. Finally, the Discobolus of Myron portrayed natural and realistic human features.
Discobolus depicted the image of envied and respected sportsman during the ancient times. Discobolus was considered as one of the most prominent images from the ancient world. The importance of this statue in ancient times was associated with its representation of an athletic ideal (Crowther and Nigel 65). For a long time, discuss throwing has been a sport of choice for many people. In the 470 BC, discus throwing was the first element in the pentathlon who were considered inferior to athletics, who were successful in every sport. As Crowther and Nigel confirm, during that era, sportsmen were more valued due to their attractive physical appearance. The athletes were stronger with overdeveloped muscles that achieved rhythm, symmetry, harmony, and balance. The sculpture was created by Myron to significantly depict an enduring pattern of energy in athletic.
The creation of image of the discus thrower was significant in the sense that it was a sign that was supported by leaders to enhance the growth art. During the fifth century B.C, more emphasis was placed on the construction and architectural works compared to art. However, Athenian leader Pericles had dedicated his efforts in the support of the Greek architectures and artists. His support in architecture can be directly linked to the completion of the construction of Parthenon and his support to art is associated to the Myron’s successful art on discus throwing. The completion of the discus throwing was significant as it was used to reference Petricles’ support and respect for the culture of the Greeks (Tarbell 29).
Discobolus discus thrower had a great impact on art. Through the Discobolus, Myron introduced the concept of realism to art. Through this piece of art, Myron enlarged the scope of realism. Before Myron’s time, most sculptures that were created by men represented static people or animals. They were simple and upright postures of people and animals staring straight ahead. However, Myron’s work introduced a new idea into art, a new creativity in thinking that resulted to sculptures with the Greek athletes in motion. Many artists borrowed this idea, and the concept is widely used to date. Barr and Sandra also agree that indeed Myron had come up with a different approach on the manner in which the Greek sculptures were constructed and conceptualized (25). This author points out the hint of realism as the main difference between his arts and those of his main rivals, the Polycleitus.
Discobolus emphasized on the value of mastery and perfection in art. According to Honour, Hugh, and Fleming (54), Myron is depicted as a more careful artist in his proportions and prolific in his art than Polykleitos, who was considered as the finest sculptors and theoreticians of the time. Myron’s ability to create art that diverges from the norm is also confirmed by the choice of material used for construction. According to Barr and Sandra (34), the Discus Thrower was created from a different quality of bronze. Normally, Polykleitois used a higher quality and valued materials such as Corinthian bronze and Deblian bronze to cast images of gods and men. However, Myron considered using material made only from Aegina (37). Although he had access to the two types of bronze, he chose a cheaper material, which had more tensile strength and was more dynamic to extend the sculpture forms of his art. According to Barr and Sandra (39), discobolus is an output of an artist who had mastered his art. The mastery of the work is associated to the use of Aegina bronze, a material that was easier to pour and finish as compared to the other types of bronze. This is how Myron achieved a better sheen compared to those of his rivals (27).
In my opinion, I concur with Barr and Sandra on the account that the image of the Discus Thrower highlights a great relationship between perfection, innovation, and the quality of art. On these aspects, I believe that Myron is one of the greatest artist ever known because he brought up a new style and introduced a change in art. For instance, although previously sculptures of men and animals were precisely upright he decided to use a different path of creativity. Resultantly, his output triggered a full attention and criticism of the audience even at this age. He created an image in motion, something that still sounds impossible. Skillfully, he portrayed the muscular, balanced, and fearless athlete about to release the discus. His choice of the material used to create discobolus is as a result of several experiments that he undertook to come up with Aegina.
Some critics argue that Myron could have done better in creating an image of discobolus. They believe that the pose of the discus thrower is unnatural to any human with the skills of throwing a discus. Because of his desire for perfection, the sculpture of discobolus has suppressed emotions. The face of the discus thrower has very little emotions especially from the fact that a discus thrower muscles are expected to be under strain. However, through this unique artistic product, the issue of realism, innovation, and perfection is brought to the light. Therefore, it is beyond any reasonable doubt that the discus thrower has stood the test of time, and it has been important in the growth and transformation of art.
Works Cited
Barr, Sandra M. Making something out of next to nothing: Bartolomeo Cavaceppi and the major restorations of Myron's "Discobolus". Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI, 2008. Print.
Crowther, Nigel B. Sport in ancient times. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers, 2007. Print.
Honour, Hugh, and John Fleming. A world history of art. London: Macmillan Reference Books, 2005. Print.
Tarbell, F. B. A history of Greek art: with an introductory chapter on art in Egypt and Mesopotamia. Meadville, Pa.: Flood and Vincent, 1896. Print.
Wright, Alexa. Monstrosity: the human monster in visual culture. London: I.B Tauris & Co. Ltd., 2013. Print.
