Kouros (Statue of a Youth)

From The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide, 1983 page 288.

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2 Kouros (Statue of a Youth)
Attic, end of 7th c. B.C. Marble; h. without plinth 76 in. (193 cm), h. of head 12 in. (30.5 cm)

This kouros is the earliest monumental Greek marble statue in the Museum. It probably stood on the tomb of a young man but could also have been dedicated in a sanctuary. Contact with Egypt provided an impetus for Greek artists to create monumental sculptures such as this one. Its blocklike form, frontal pose, advanced left foot, and clenched hands can be matched in Egyptian sculpture, but departures from Egyptian style are equally evident: the space between the elbows and waist is cut away, and there is no supporting back pillar. Anatomical details are still schematized. Later, however, the body is rendered increasingly realistically until classic perfection was achieved in the second half of the fifth century B.C. Fletcher Fund, 1932, 32.11.1