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65-459: The Victorious Youth was found in the summer of 1964 in the sea off Fano on the Adriatic coast of Italy, snagged in the nets of an Italian fishing trawler . In the summer of 1977, the J. Paul Getty Museum purchased the bronze. Bernard Ashmole , an archaeologist and art historian, was asked to inspect the sculpture by Munich art dealer Heinz Herzer; he and other scholars attributed it to Lysippos ,

130-709: A colonia , and built a wall, some parts of which remain. In 2 AD Augustus also built an arch (which is still standing) at the entrance to the town. In January 271, the Roman Army defeated the Alamanni in the Battle of Fano that took place on the banks of the Metauro river just inland of Fano. Fano was destroyed by Vitiges ' Ostrogoths in AD 538. It was rebuilt by the Byzantines , becoming

195-471: A Roman ship carrying looted objects was on its way to Italy when it sank. The statue has been roughly broken off its former base, breaking away at the ankles. The clay core inside may give further detail to where and when it was made. In 1972 Heinz Herzer and Volker Kinnius, the Munich gallery owner, wrote a report on the conservation project of Rudolph Stapp. Stapp, known for his specialty in ancient bronzes,

260-484: A flawed assumption of a foundation in linear ratios rather than areal proportion. He conjectured that the Canon begins from the length of the outermost part (the " distal phalange ") of the little finger. The length of the diagonal of a square of this side (mathematically, √ 2 , about 1.4142) gives the length of the middle phalange. Repeating the process gives the length of the proximal phalange; doing so again gives

325-451: A focus on classical bronzes. The sculpture may have been part of the crowd of sculptures of victorious athletes at Panhellenic Greek sanctuaries like Delphi and Olympia . Analysis of fibres from the core revealed that they are flax ; Pausanias noted in the second century CE that the only flax being grown in Greece was to be found around Olympia. Other research has developed an argument that

390-512: A half millennia, making dating and attribution challenging to determine with confidence. Despite slightly different interpretations, a collective agreement states that production can be dated to between the late fourth century and middle of the third century BCE. Many statues from Greek cities and sanctuaries moved into Roman possession by the second century BCE. Vast collections of the antique style flourished, various statuary were looted and repurposed for Roman decoration. Like many other bronzes,

455-434: A male nude exemplifying his theory of the mathematical basis of ideal proportions. Though his theoretical treatise is lost to history, he is quoted as saying, "Perfection ... comes about little by little ( para mikron ) through many numbers". By this he meant that a statue should be composed of clearly definable parts, all related to one another through a system of ideal mathematical proportions and balance. Though his Canon

520-504: A precise commensurability ( symmetria ) of all the parts to one another." He also wrote that the Kanon defines beauty "in the proportions, not of the elements, but of the parts, that is to say, of finger to finger, and of all the fingers to the palm and the wrist, and of these to the forearm, and of the forearm to the upper arm, and of all the other parts to each other." The art historian Kenneth Clark observed that "[Polykleitos's] general aim

585-553: A prolific sculptor of Classical Greek art. The research and conservation of the Victorious Youth dates from the 1980s to the 1990s and is based on studies in classical bronzes by ancient Mediterranean specialists in collaboration with the Getty Museum. The entire sculpture was cast in one piece through a casting technique is called the lost wax method: the sculpture was first created in clay with support to allow hot air to melt

650-533: A relative humidity under 35% is necessary to keep the statue from deteriorating. After the bronze was retrieved in 1964 it was brought to land in Italy, where it reportedly passed through several hands on the black market. It emerged in 1971 under the ownership of the Artemis Consortium, an association of several international art dealers, and was then stored with a Munich art dealer, Heinz Herzer. The Getty Museum

715-422: A thick layer of encrustation covered the statue, suggesting it has been immersed since antiquity, rather than as a result of medieval or late Venetian ships transporting the object as spoils of war or recycling it for scrap metal. The precise location of the shipwreck, which preserved this object from being melted down like all but a tiny fraction of Greek bronzes, has not been established; it seems most likely that

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780-662: A victor's palm branch in his left arm. Claims state there are actual traces of palm after studying the statue. Interpreting the anatomy is important in identifying the statue, from the detail in the joints, delicate attention to the wrists and ends of fingers there is a youthful representation. Greek games functioned as a major aspect in Greek culture and art. During the second century CE, athletic contests were consistent events in various cities throughout Greece. At Olympia, these games were categorized for men, youths and boys. The Panhellenic Games occurred at religious sanctuaries in honor of

845-709: Is a town and comune of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy . It is a beach resort 12 kilometres (7 miles) southeast of Pesaro , located where the Via Flaminia reaches the Adriatic Sea . It is the third city in the region by population after Ancona and Pesaro. An ancient town of Marche , it was known as Fanum Fortunae after a temple of Fortuna located there. Its first mention in history dates from 49 BC, when Julius Caesar held it, along with Pisaurum and Ancona. Caesar Augustus established

910-556: Is as long as the upper arm; a diagonal on that square yields the distance from the crown to the line of the nipples. Tobin validated his calculation by comparing his theoretical model with a Roman copy of Doryphoros in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples . Polykleitos and Phidias were among the first generation of Greek sculptors to attract schools of followers . Polykleitos's school lasted for at least three generations, but it seems to have been most active in

975-626: Is considered as one of the most important sculptors of classical antiquity . The 4th century BCE catalogue attributed to Xenocrates (the "Xenocratic catalogue"), which was Pliny's guide in matters of art, ranked him between Pheidias and Myron . He is particularly known for his lost treatise, the Canon of Polykleitos (a canon of body proportions ), which set out his mathematical basis of an idealised male body shape . None of his original sculptures are known to survive, but many marble works, mostly Roman, are believed to be later copies. His Greek name

1040-748: Is difficult to reach a consensus. Classical Greek and Roman sculptures have been found in various parts of the Mediterranean; both Greek and Roman settlements existed in the Iberian Peninsula, on Africa's northern coast, in Asia Minor, the Middle East, and modern-day Europe. Many underwater bronzes have been discovered along the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts. Sponge divers found the Antikythera Youth and

1105-461: Is involved in a controversy regarding proper title to a number of the artwork in its collection. The Museum's previous curator of antiquities , Marion True , was indicted in Italy in 2005 along with Robert E. Hecht on criminal charges relating to trafficking in stolen antiquities. The primary evidence in the case came from the 1995 raid of a Geneva , Switzerland warehouse that was found to contain stolen artifacts. Italian art dealer Giacomo Medici

1170-652: The Austro-Hungarian Navy . During World War II it was massively bombed by Allied aeroplanes due to hit the strategic railway and street bridges crossing the Metauro river. When the Nazis withdrew from the town they destroyed all of the bell towers in the town. During the 1916 Rimini earthquakes , two spires of Fano Cathedral collapsed, a large stucco angel fell in the Church of Sant'Agostino  [ it ] , and part of

1235-513: The Bronze represents a victorious athlete and a young prince whose lineage relates to Alexander the Great . Therefore, this Olympic statue might have been dedicated anywhere within the ancient Greek world rather than Delphi or Olympia. A possible reconstruction of the Victorious Youth is that the statue could have held a palm frond, as these were gifts given to the victors. His right hand reaches to touch

1300-679: The Olympian Zeus by Pheidias. He also sculpted a famous bronze male nude known as the Doryphoros ("Spear Bearer"), which survives in the form of numerous Roman marble copies. Further sculptures attributed to Polykleitos are the Discophoros (" Discus -bearer"), Diadumenos ("Youth tying a headband") and a Hermes at one time placed, according to Pliny, in Lysimachia (Thrace) . Polykleitos's Astragalizontes ("Boys Playing at Knuckle-bones")

1365-606: The Portrait Head of a Stoic at Antikythera in 1900. Other well-known underwater bronze finds include those from the Mahdia shipwreck off the coast of Tunisia, 1907; the Marathon Boy off the coast of Marathon, 1925; the standing Artemision Bronze of Zeus or Poseidon found off Cape Artemision in northern Euboea, 1926; the Jockey of Artemision found off Cape Artemision, 1928 and 1937;

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1430-786: The Riace bronzes , 1972; the Dancing Satyr of Mazara del Vallo near Brindisi, 1992; and the Apoxyomenos off the Croatian island of Lošinj , 1999. The Victorious Youth was found in the summer of 1964 in the sea off Fano on the Adriatic coast of Italy, snagged in the nets of an Italian fishing trawler, the Ferri Ferruccio . Italian art dealers paid the fishermen US$ 5,600 for it. The Getty Museum bought it from German art dealer Herman Heinz Herzer for almost US$ 4 million in 1977. Before conservation,

1495-463: The Victorious Youth traveled across the Mediterranean on its way to Italy for reinstallation, possibly in public areas or in private homes. According to Jiri Frel, the stance and proportion of the " Getty Bronze" (Frel's name for the statue) are similar to those of Lysippos's portrait of Demetrios Poliorketes (336–283 BCE). The least controversial theory is that the strong calves emphasize his athletic abilities, making him an Olympic runner who held

1560-486: The Youth to Lysippos. Using Polykleitos 's statues as a comparison, scholars see a change from Polykleitan Kanon : the proportions become more subtle and richer in detail. There is a shift from the squareness in the face and innovative applications of elongation in the details of face and body. Lysippos was praised for his ability to evoke the soul from his statues through fleeting expressions. Establishing an exact artist for

1625-526: The Elder and Cicero , and Ἀργεῖος (lit. "The Argive", trans. "of Argos") by others like Plato and Pausanias . He is sometimes called the Elder, in cases where it is necessary to distinguish him from his son , who is regarded as a major architect but a minor sculptor. As noted above, Polykleitos is called "The Sicyonian" by some authors, all writing in Latin, and who modern scholars view as relying on an error of Pliny

1690-590: The Elder in conflating another more minor sculptor from Sikyon , a disciple of Phidias, with Polykleitos of Argos. Pausanias is adamant that they were not the same person, and that Polykleitos was from Argos, in which city state he must have received his early training, and a contemporary of Phidias (possibly also taught by Ageladas ). Polykleitos's figure of an Amazon for Ephesus was admired, while his colossal gold and ivory statue of Hera which stood in her temple—the Heraion of Argos —was favourably compared with

1755-463: The Greeks called symmetria . On this sculpture, it shows somewhat of a contrapposto pose; the body is leaning most on the right leg. The Doryphoros has an idealized body, contains less of naturalism. In his left hand, there was once a spear, but if so it has since been lost. The posture of the body shows that he is a warrior and a hero. Indeed, some have gone so far as to suggest that the figure depicted

1820-496: The Hellenistic period suggests the Youth as a member of one of the royal families descended from Alexander. However, this theory did not survive the criticism of other scholars. Not until the 1990s was the next attempt made to identify the sculpture, and the Getty Museum did not approve the suggested name. Now much debate and research is specific to anatomy, date and authorship, but with the uncertainties of stylistic assessments it

1885-525: The Italian Minister of Cultural Heritage declared that Italy would place the museum under a cultural embargo if all the 52 disputed pieces did not return to Italy. On August 1, 2007, an agreement was announced providing that the museum would return 40 pieces to Italy out of the 52 requested, among them the Venus of Morgantina , which was returned in 2010, but not the Victorious Youth , whose outcome depended upon

1950-458: The Museum, radiocarbon-dated a piece of wood that came from the statue's core, establishing the bronze as an ancient piece of work. Over one month, conservator Rudolph Stapp removed the core of the bronze to eliminate issues related to humidity. During the removal, thermoluminescence dating and carbon-14 methods confirmed the dating of the Victorious Youth to pre-Roman times. The rectangular plate on

2015-412: The artist could take a long cord and make knots separated from each other by a distance which equals the diagonal of the square drawn on the preceding length. On the body proper, the process is repeated but the geometric progression is taken and retaken from the top of the head (rather than additively, as on the hand/arm): the head from crown to chin is the same size as the fore-arm; from crown to clavicle

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2080-477: The belltower wall of the Church of Santa Maria del Gonfalone  [ it ] collapsed. Part of a wall of the Church of San Paterniano collapsed. The earthquake of 16 August caused an exodus from the town. Outside the city, in the place called Bellocchi, is the church of St. Sebastian (16th century), for the construction of which parts of the ancient cathedral were used. The Ultimate Frisbee Fano Association

2145-497: The boy tying his headband represents a victory, possibly from an athletic contest. "It is a first-century A.D. Roman copy of a Greek bronze original dated around 430 B.C." Polykleitos sculpted the outline of his muscles significantly to show that he is an athlete. "The thorax and pelvis of the Diadoumenos tilt in opposite directions, setting up rhythmic contrasts in the torso that create an impression of organic vitality. The position of

2210-581: The burden" for practices that were known, approved, and condoned by the Getty's Board of Directors. On November 20, 2006, the Director of the museum, Michael Brand , announced that 26 disputed pieces were to be returned to Italy . These did not include the Victorious Youth , for which judicial proceedings were still pending. In an interview to the Italian national newspaper Corriere della Sera on December 20, 2006,

2275-587: The capital of the maritime Pentapolis ("Five Cities") that included also Rimini , Pesaro, Senigallia and Ancona. In 754 it was donated to the Holy See by the Frankish kings. The Malatesta became lords of the city in 1356 with Galeotto I Malatesta , who was nominally only a vicar of the Popes. Among the others, Pandolfo III resided in the city. Under his son, the famous condottiero Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta , Fano

2340-507: The condition is left untreated, the copper part of the bronze can easily be lost, leaving a disfigured image. The conservators neutralized the active corrosion by submerging it in a heated solution of sodium sesquicarbonate. The Victorious Youth was then placed in a vacuum with the solution to penetrate interior layers without washing anything out. This process was repeated twice and was finalized with one last artificial humidity test to check for bronze disease resurfacing. An environment with

2405-509: The feet poised between standing and walking give a sense of potential movement. This rigorously calculated pose, which is found in almost all works attributed to Polykleitos, became a standard formula used in Greco-Roman and, later, western European art." Another statue created by Polykleitos is the Doryphoros , also called the Spear bearer . It is a typical Greek sculpture depicting the beauty of

2470-399: The fourth century BCE, Lysippos produced a multitude of sculptures; he alone probably sculpted fifteen hundred statues. He came from a family of bronze workers who developed a new method of increasing production, and statues of athletes were a specialty. In 1974, Jerry Podany, antiquities conservator at the Getty Museum, and Marie Svoboda, a post-graduate intern in antiquities conservation at

2535-460: The gods; Delphi hosted Pythian games as gifts for Apollo and athletic events at Olympia honored Zeus. These games included footraces, combat sports, pentathlon, horse racing, and chariot racing. Delphi involved singing and playing of instruments in these Panhellenic Games. The victors received wreaths of different leaves depending on the site location: laurel at Delphi, olive at Olympia, pine at Isthmia , and wild celery at Nemea. By understanding

2600-486: The late 4th century and early 3rd century BCE. The Roman writers Pliny and Pausanias noted the names of about twenty sculptors in Polykleitos's school, defined by their adherence to his principles of balance and definition. Skopas and Lysippus are among the best-known successors of Polykleitos, along with other, more obscure statuaries, such as Athenodoros of Cleitor and Asopodorus . Polykleitos's son, Polykleitos

2665-453: The length of the metacarpal plus the carpal bones – the distance from knuckle to the head of the ulna . Next, a square of side equal to the length of the hand from little finger to wrist yields a diagonal of length equal to that of the forearm. This "diagonal of a square" process gives the relative ratios of many other key reference distances in the human male body. The process would not require measurement of square roots :

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2730-470: The male body. "Polykleitos sought to capture the ideal proportions of the human figure in his statues and developed a set of aesthetic principles governing these proportions that was known as the Canon or 'Rule'. He created the system based on mathematical ratios. "Though we do not know the exact details of Polykleitos’s formula, the end result, as manifested in the Doryphoros, was the perfect expression of what

2795-483: The nipples and lips are copper. This color choice may have interacted with the golden yellow of the bronze surface. There is a possibility of silver on the olive crown and more color to enhance the cheeks. The inserted eyes would have given the bronze statue a naturalistic look. During the casting process of the Youth , these eye sockets would have been left empty and after the casting process both eyes would be inserted. The iris and pupil would be made of stone or glass;

2860-465: The results of the criminal proceedings in Italy. On that same day the public prosecutor of Pesaro formally requested that the statue be confiscated as it was unlawfully exported out of Italy, giving rise to a dispute that came before the Constitutional Court. Among the arguments the Getty advanced for retaining the sculpture were that, although the sculpture was retrieved by an Italian vessel, it

2925-554: The shifting balance of the body as weight is placed on one leg, was a source of his fame. The refined detail of Polykleitos's models for casting executed in clay is revealed in a famous remark repeated in Plutarch 's Moralia , that "the work is hardest when the clay is under the fingernail". Polykleitos consciously created a new approach to sculpture, writing a treatise (an artistic canon (from Ancient Greek Κανών ( Kanṓn )  'measuring rod, standard') and designing

2990-432: The specific wreaths worn by the winners, one could hypothesize which temple the statue would have housed. Jiri Frel in 1982 examined the statue and associated it with Alexander the Great, based on the stance and other features representing not just a well-bred citizen but one higher in class. The artist's ability to not only capture beauty but produce a work of art that emphasizes the classical structures of Greek art during

3055-441: The statue's back of neck functioned as support for the Bronze's vertical position, a technique shared by two other fourth-century bronzes: the Marathon Boy and the Antikythera Youth . The curved body, raised hip, and smooth and youthful anatomy are characteristics of a universal style—the fifth century BCE developed these frameworks as a canonical expression of classical values. This form of expression went on through two and

3120-457: The subject by Rhys Carpenter remains valid: "Yet it must rank as one of the curiosities of our archaeological scholarship that no-one has thus far succeeded in extracting the recipe of the written canon from its visible embodiment, and compiling the commensurable numbers that we know it incorporates." In a 1975 paper, art historian Richard Tobin suggested that earlier work to reconstruct the Canon had failed because previous researchers had made

3185-422: The torso. Surrounding the armature was a mixture of loam, sand, pebbles, pistachio nuts, fragments of clay and ivory, and glue. This combination kept the structure stable through multiple layers of application. After the final layer of clay was applied, wax sheets covered the statue's surface. During this process wax plates supported the figure from multiple points holding the statue vertically. Nails pierced into

3250-400: The wax to the inner core and protruded outwards to keep the statue positioned with the external mold. Slow heating allowed the wax to melt and fired the center and mold into a stable position. As the wax melted, an air space formed, creating a mold of the Victorious Youth , which became filled with molten bronze. The entire sculpture was cast in one piece. Evidence of polychrome survives;

3315-563: The wax, creating a mold for molten bronze to be poured into and making the large bronze Victorious Youth . More recently, scholars have been concerned with the original social context, such as where the sculpture was made, for what context and who the subject might be. Multiple interpretations of where the Youth was made and who the Youth is are expressed in scholarly books by Jiri Frel , Paul Getty Museum curator from 1973 to 1986, and Carol Mattusch , professor of art history at George Mason University specializing in Greek and Roman art with

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3380-469: The whites of the eyes would be ivory, bone or glass. To hold the eye in place a reddish sheet of copper would have been cut to fit the eye socket and then be curled into lashes. In addition to the application of bone, copper, glass, ivory, the bronze would be painted pale and gleaming like flesh to its viewers of the ancient world. In the late 1980s antiquity scholars and Getty Museum curator Jiri Frel used radiocarbon dating and stylistic analysis to attribute

3445-420: The winner's olive wreath on his head. The powerful head has led the Victorious Youth conservators to see it as a portrait; X-rays suggest that the head was cast separately. With this technique the artist is able to focus on the head as an individual project to the full composition of the lithe body. The athlete's eyes were once inlaid, probably with bone, and his nipples are in contrasting copper. In addition to

3510-542: The work is challenging due to the lack of original Greek bronzes to use for comparison. Ancient literature gives testimony of the classical sculptors; however, the artist did not sign the statues. There is no physical evidence to support the conclusion that Lysippos was the sculptor, but Frel, Mattusch, and ancient literary source Pliny theorize that Lysippos or his student was the Youth's creator. In Pliny's Natural History , he includes information about Greek sculptors extracted from earlier texts that are lost to us. During

3575-476: The wreath, the statue's build gives clues as to the subject: this individual is a slender young man with a confident gaze, but nothing about him refers to strength; his body is not particularly muscular or powerful in its stance. Like many other Greek artworks, the bronze statue was made through the lost wax method. Initially, the artist created an armature or support made with a thick wooden stick, iron bars or wires, and ancient reed sticks to support appendages from

3640-591: Was Achilles, on his way to the Trojan War, as a similar depiction of Achilles carrying a shield is seen on a vase painted by the Achilles Painter at around the same time. Polykleitos, along with Phidias, created the Classical Greek style. Although none of his original works survive, literary sources identifying Roman marble copies of his work allow reconstructions to be made. Contrapposto , a pose that visualizes

3705-608: Was besieged by Papal troops under Federico III da Montefeltro , and returned to the Papal administration. It was later part of the short-lived state of Cesare Borgia , and then part of the duchy of the della Roveres in the Marche. During the Napoleonic Wars it suffered heavy spoliations; the city had an active role in the Risorgimento . In World War I Fano was several times bombed by

3770-503: Was claimed by the Emperor Titus and set in a place of honour in his atrium . Pliny also mentions that Polykleitos was one of the five major sculptors who competed in the fifth century B.C. to make a wounded Amazon for the temple of Artemis; marble copies associated with the competition survive. The statue of Diadumenos , also known as Youth Tying a Headband is one of Polykleitos's sculptures known from many copies. The gesture of

3835-437: Was clarity, balance, and completeness; his sole medium of communication the naked body of an athlete, standing poised between movement and repose". Despite the many advances made by modern scholars towards a clearer comprehension of the theoretical basis of the Canon of Polykleitos, the results of these studies show an absence of any general agreement upon the practical application of that canon in works of art. An observation on

3900-476: Was created in 2001. The association has 4 teams: Croccali (mixed), Mirine (women), Spaccamadoni (men) and Angry Gulls (juniors). Since 2001, the association has won 8 Italian championships. Fano is twinned with: Polykleitos Polykleitos ( Ancient Greek : Πολύκλειτος ) was an ancient Greek sculptor , active in the 5th century BCE. Alongside the Athenian sculptors Pheidias , Myron and Praxiteles , he

3965-415: Was eventually arrested in 1997; his operation was reported to be "one of the largest and most sophisticated antiquities networks in the world, responsible for illegally digging up and spiriting away thousands of top-drawer pieces and passing them on to the most elite end of the international art market". In a letter to the J. Paul Getty Trust on December 18, 2006, True stated that she was being made to "carry

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4030-564: Was found in international, not Italian, waters and that it is not the work of an Italian but a Greek artist. However, on November 30, 2018, the Supreme Court of Cassation denied an appeal by the Getty Museum, affirming that Italy has a right to reclaim the Victorious Youth . On May 2, 2024, the European Court of Human Rights affirmed the ruling of Italy's Supreme Court of Cassation. Fano Fano ( Italian: [ˈfaːno] )

4095-457: Was probably represented by his Doryphoros , the original bronze statue has not survived, but later marble copies exist. References to the Kanon by other ancient writers imply that its main principle was expressed by the Greek words symmetria , the Hippocratic principle of isonomia ("equilibrium"), and rhythmos . Galen wrote that Polykleitos's Kanon "got its name because it had

4160-404: Was the main conservationist working on the Victorious Youth . Past efforts to remove encrustation from the Bronze left scratches in the metal. The Victorious Youth took three months to clean. First, the statue went into an artificial humidity chamber, exposing 'bronze disease'. This degradation occurs when chlorides and salts in the bronze react with moisture, producing discolored spots. If

4225-418: Was traditionally Latinized Polycletus , but is also transliterated Polycleitus ( Ancient Greek : Πολύκλειτος , Classical Greek Greek pronunciation: [polýkleːtos] , "much-renowned") and, due to iotacism in the transition from Ancient to Modern Greek, Polyklitos or Polyclitus . He is called Sicyonius (lit. "The Sicyonian", usually translated as "of Sicyon") by Latin authors including Pliny

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