What were the issues facing sculptors of metopes? How successfully did the sculptors of the metopes at Olympia address these issues?

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Sophie McKenzie-Howard                                                                                                  29/09/2011

What were the issues facing sculptors of metopes? How successfully did the sculptors of the metopes at Olympia address these issues?

The first most important requirement for architectural sculptor was that it should provide handsome decoration. Abstract patterns and floral motifs were made to do this and were used in subordinate positions usually to fill space, but in prominent places the Greeks preferred to represent fierce animals or terrifying monsters (which would protect a temple against evil spirits) or to illustrate myths (which would give pleasure to the gods) or both. These preferences made the design of architectural sculpture no easy task.

Metopes, being rectangular or sometimes square presented many problems to their sculptors. If the sculptor wanted to use the space effectively for story telling, like the metopes found within the porches of the temple of Zeus at Olympia – the Labours of Herakles, they had to select a significant and recognisable moment for representation to its ancient viewers. Although, as a sculptor, there would have been a large amount of scope for imaginative designs (making scale and figure involvement somewhat easier), actually making these metopes relevant and clear would have been an incredibly challenging task.

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The sculptors of these metopes at Olympia successfully addressed this particular issue by sometimes sculpting a scene either before or after the labour had been done, not only to make the whole creation of that metope easier for the sculptor, but this time composition helps us to identify which labour it is more efficiently.

A successful example of this is the, ‘Capture of Cerberus’. This metope (the 11th labour) shows Herakles dragging the Cerberus into daylight – the labour is over. It would have been hard to depict a three headed dog guarding the gates of Hades on ...

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