A quick look at: the Archaic smile. How does this slightly creepy smile fit into the scheme of Greek sculpture? Why was it depicted?
The ever-intriguing, yet somewhat terrifying, archaic smile holds its place in the chronology of Greek sculpture, and in the minds of students who have studied art history. A few years ago, in an introductory art history paper I took at university, I still remember the huge image of the Kouros of Tenea shown (photo 1), staring down at the room full of freshmen, and the muffled laughter that ensued.
Greek art historian John Boardman amply describes the smile as an expression of ‘strained cheerfulness’. The smile features predominately on Archaic Greek statues from about 570 to 480 BC, and is characterized by the expression of a smile with a tight, upwards mouth, and a flat curve. This ‘smile’ persists in even seemingly highly inappropriate contexts (for example, note photo 4, where a dying warrior with an arrow in his chest grins broadly out to the viewer).
Following the collapse of the Mycenaean civilization, the Greek Dark Ages saw relative artistic impoverishment. About 600 BC, at the beginning of the Archiac era, we see sculpture in stone reemerge throughout the Greek world. The sculptural works of this era were highly influenced by the monumental statuary of Egypt, particularly evident in their rigid form and posture. However, the Greeks soon developed new manners of sculptural representation -this animated ‘smile’ being one such break from the Egyptian prototypes.
There have been many theories as to why this very distinct smile was depicted in Archaic sculpture. Some writers have suggested that it was a way for the sculptor to indicate that the person is alive (depicting the ‘vividness of life’), or to express a state of well-being or health. Another line of thought is that the ‘Archaic smile’ saw its origin with the technical difficulties the early sculptors experienced in attempting to fit a curved mouth onto the block-like form of kouroi heads. While we may not ever know the true intentions of the iconic smile, it is true that as time progressed, the increasing use of chisels led to the discontinuation of the Archaic sculpture’s block-like characteristic. Accordingly, the Archaic smile was no longer depicted as we know it, but replaced with a more serious, straighter expression of the mouth.
Works used to illustrate post:
Kouros of Tenea, ca. 560 BC, courtesy of & can be viewed at the Glyptothek in Munich, Germany. Photo taken by Richard Mortel.
Limestone male head, late 6th century BC, Cypriot. Courtesy of & can be viewed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: 74.51.2836.
Archaic kouros known as the Apollo Milani, ca. 550 BC, courtesy of & can be viewed at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Firenze, Italy. Photo taken by Richard Mortel.
Dying Warrior, West Pediment, Temple of Aphaia, c. 490-480 BC. Courtesy of & can be viewed at the Glyptothek in Munich, Germany. Photo taken by Steven Zucker.
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