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Lysippus(4th
Century BC)The sculptor
Lysippus was born and worked in Sicyon. He claimed to self taught, but acknowleged
Polycleitos statue Doryforos as a source of inspiration. In contradiction
to Polycleitos who wanted to depict people as they were, Lysippus claimed
to picture them as they seemed to be.
All Lysippus statues were of bronze, and he is said to have made 1500 of them.
He prefered motifs like heroes, athletes and gods. The most famous of them
is Apoxyomenos, the scraper: a young athlete scraping off oil after his exercises.
Another famous statue is the one of an aged Herakles, leaning tired against
his club.
He was most the famous as the exclusive portraitmaker of Alexander the Great.
He used some of the kings physical weaknesses, like the fraility that made
the head slightly tilted making him look heroic. Even though portraits were
made before Lysippus, he was with his realism the real founder of the art
of portraits.