Could he be the next Sexiest Man Alive?
The Kritios Boy, originally from Athens, Greece, is a depiction of an athletic male body. The creator of this statue, Kritios, was an important sculptor in bronze. It is estimated that the Kritios Boy was made around 480 B.C.E. Many people speculate that this statue is a transition between late archaic and early classical art styles. This transition is known as severe style. Severe style is evident in this piece as Kritios was experimenting with proportions to portray an idealized body. Severe style is also evident as the statue would have had glass insets in the hollowed-out eye sockets. This technique was very common in early classical art. In addition to the hollow eye sockets, the statue is seen posing in the famous contrapposto stance. Contrapposto is a stance where the figure is shifting its weight to one leg, causing the opposite hip to stoop down and the opposite shoulder to rise.
Unfortunately, the original glory of the statue is no more. The distressed condition of the Kritios Boy is due to the Persians invasion of Athens. The invasion led to many pieces of art being destroyed, desecrated, and stolen. The Kritios Boy seems to have taken much abuse as the majority of its limbs and head have been dislocated from its body. The statue was found in 1865 during excavations of the Athenian Acropolis, and it resides in the Acropolis Museum to this day. Do you think the Kritios Boy should be the next Sexiest Man Alive?