Severe style

also: Early Classical style

style c. 490-450 BCE Greece Aegean

The Severe style, or Early Classical style, was the dominant idiom of Greek sculpture from about 490 to 450 BCE. It marks the breakdown of the canonical forms of archaic art and the transition to the greatly expanded vocabulary of the classical moment of the late fifth century. Its name comes from the grave, restrained expression of its figures, which replace the archaic smile with calm seriousness. An international style found at many cities of the Hellenic world, it appears in bronze sculpture in the round, stelae, and architectural relief, and perhaps realized its greatest fulfillment in the metopes of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. Its figures gain weight, anatomical truth, and a new quiet - Greek sculpture that breathes rather than decorates.

Apollo, figure of the west pediment of the Temple of Zeus in Olympia. Plaster reproduction of original in the Olympia Museum (see below).
Apollo, figure of the west pediment of the Temple of Zeus in Olympia. Plaster reproduction of original in the Olympia Museum (see below).Public domain (credit: Plaster cast of a sculpture by the Olympia Master) · source

Defining characteristics

  • Grave, calm expressions replacing the archaic smile
  • Naturalistic anatomy and true weight shift (early contrapposto)
  • Simplified, restrained modeling without decorative surface detail
  • Heavy drapery falling in deep, unadorned folds
  • Motion held in reserve: energy balanced by stillness
  • Broad facial planes with strong jaw and heavy-lidded eyes

Key figures

  • Kritios (fl. c. 480 BCE) — Athenian sculptor to whom the Kritios Boy, the style's touchstone, is attributed
  • Myron (fl. c. 480-440 BCE) — Sculptor of the Discobolus, capturing motion within the Severe idiom

Example works

Sources

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