Tours: Bronze in Argos

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Visit the city of Argos and learn more about the sculpting of bronze.

Opening RemarksIntroduction to ArgosSmelting and MeltingLost-Wax ProcessWelding and FinishBronze Sculpture ErasPolykleitos' LegacyClosing Remarks

• Herodotos: Welcome to Argos, traveler.

("Who are you?")

• Herodotos: My name is Herodotos, and I am a traveler from Halikarnassos. I retrace the various events, such as wars and great calamities. I describe what I see and record what I am told — all with the aim of providing a better understanding of why these things occur. Look for me to introduce you to many sites.

("What do you think of this place?")

• Herodotos: I have always admired the dedication of Greek metalworkers. Without them, we would not have the inspiring monuments that stir the hearts of Greek citizens everywhere.

("Let's begin the tour.")

• Herodotos: This is Argos, one of the oldest cities in Greece. The Argives were an ingenious people famous for inventions in areas like military tactics. However, what they were most renowned for was their metallurgic artistry, especially with bronze. I hope you enjoy yourself. Look for me at the end of your visit.

Bronze hydria with inscription revealing that it was awarded as a prize at games for the goddess Hera in Argos / Mid-5th cent. BCE

The area that would become Argos was inhabited as early as the 3rd millennium BCE, but it was in the 7th century BCE that it officially became a city-state.

One of Argos' major pillars was its metallurgical industry.

As far back as the 8th century BCE, the city was famed for making products like long dress pins and tripod cauldrons, as well as impeccable body armor.

In addition to their technical excellence, the Argives were also creative, as seen in their masterful bronze sculpting, which became prominent in the city during the 6th and 5th century BCE.

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Archaeologists have discovered a unique bronze set of armor consisting of a helmet and corslet in a warrior's tomb at Argos. The bell-shaped corslet is the earliest known piece of body armor from Iron Age Greece.

The corslet and helmet display both the technical excellence and general sculpting skills Argos was known for.

Copper ingot in animal skin shape / 1450-1050 BCE (Mycenaean Period)

Bronze is an alloy composed of ninety percent copper and ten percent tin.

Because of this, copper and tin needed to be smelted and combined to create the material needed for sculpting.

After the bronze alloy was formed, it was melted in special furnaces.

They required a tremendous amount of fuel, and were usually supplied with charcoal made from specific types of wood.

It's possible they were also coated with a protective lining of clay, which would have been sensible given the melting point of bronze is approximately 950 degrees Celsius.

Once the required bronze was melted and collected, the furnaces were dismantled and dumped.

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"Black bronze" is a modern term for ancient bronze artifacts with a fine black patina. Examples of black bronze include a special class of prestigious but non-functional Mycenaean bronze daggers that date back to the 2nd millennium BCE. The daggers were decorated with black inlay and gold and silver foil using a technique called "painting in metal".

"Korinthian bronze", meanwhile, was the name given to copper alloys that were depletion glided to acquire a golden surface hue. According to legend, Korinthian bronze was originally created by accident during the burning of Korinth in 146 BCE, which melted the city's immense quantities of gold, silver, and copper together. However, Pliny doubted the authenticity of this story, because most of the artists with worked with Korinthian bronze lived long before the 2nd century BCE.

Mold for a large female head, from Taras in southern Italy / 4th cent. BCE

In the 8th century BCE, most small-scale statues were molded using a complicated and lengthy method called solid lost-wax casting.

From the 7th century BCE onwards, metal workers adopted the more efficient hollow lost-wax casting.

At its core, this process involved using sculpting models from wax, making molds over these models, then filling the molds with bronze to produce the desired shapes.

The process was advantageous because it saved on materials, produced lighter statues, and reduced the change of possible defects.

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Lost-wax casting was one of the main techniques used in ancient jewelry making, along with hammering, filigree, and granulation. The technique was used to manufacture finger rings, earrings, bracelets, and dress pins.

Scene of cold-working finish process from a red-figure cup from Vulci / 490-480 BCE (Classical Greece)

Once all the pieces of the sculpture were molded, they were welded together and subjected to the cold-working process.

This process involved repairing the sculpture's flaws by filling any holes and cracks with specially-measured bronze patches.

Afterwards, the sculpture was scraped, chiseled, and polished until it was deemed satisfactory.

Decorative details like hair, eyebrows, and mustaches were added with the use of a sharp tool.

Eyes - which could be inset with ivory, glass, or silver - were attached to their sockets using a resinous kind of glue.

Teeth and fingernails were inlaid with silver, and lips and nipples with copper.

These small touches added color, and contributed to the sculpture's lifelike appearance.

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Bronze is subjected to corrosion from oxidation and weather. As a result, over time, the color of its surface turns green. However, once a copper oxide layer is formed, the underlying metal is protected from further erosion or weathering. This superficial protective later is called on a patina, and can develop naturally or artificially.

The patina on most Ancient Greek bronze statues is natural. Its color usually depends on the composition of the soil where the statues were found buried, or of the sea from which they were recovered. For example, the light green patina on a statuette of Zeus from Dodona is the result of the composition of the local soil.

Warrior A from Riace, bronze statue of a warrior / 460 BCE (Classical Greece)

Bronze sculptures have a long and varied history in Greece.

During the Geometric period of 900 to 700 BCE, the sculptures mainly depicted idealized heroes, charioteers, and horses, and most of them were dedicated to sanctuaries.

The Orientalizing period followed in the 7th century BCE, During this time, Greeks began adopting sculpting techniques from the Eastm and the depicted statues expanded to include mythological creatures like griffins and sphinxes.

The Archaic period saw statues that reflected a better understanding of human anatomy, which eventually culminated in the realistic and powerful human sculptures of the Hellenistic period.

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The Riace bronzes are two life-size statues that were pulled out of the sea near Calabria, Italy in 1972. The statues date back to the 5th century BCE, and display several of the hallmarks of Classical Greece sculpture in terms of order, proportionality, harmony, and symmetry.

The statues depict naked warriors of a mature age, as indicated by their beards and faces. However, their bodies are robust, vigorous, and muscular. Based on their poses, at one point, each of them held a shield with their left hands, and either a spear or a sword in their right.

While the statues were propbably sculpted in the same workshop, inquiries into the identity of their sculptor remain inconclusive.

Diadoumenos, statue of a youth tying a fillet around his head. Roman marble copy of a Greek bronze original by Polykleitos of the mid-5th cent. BCE / 69-96 CE (Roman period)

Argos was the home of Polykleitos, one of the most famous sculptors in Ancient Greece.

His works, like the Doryphoros and Diadoumenos, as well as his treatise on sculpting called the Kanon, had a massive impact on the art as a whole, particularly in regards to ideal body proportions.

Sadly, the original versions of Polykleitos' sculptures have been lost, along with most statues from Antiquity.

As time went on, many bronze statues were melted down to be recycled in things like weapons, ammunition, and even church bells.

Because of this, marble copies from the Roman period are our best evidence of the masterpieces of Greek sculpture.

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Greek sculpting culminated during the Classical period (480-323 BCE) which saw fundamental changes in both the style and function of sculpting as an art form.

The main characteristics of Classical statuary were increased accuracy of anatomy and realistic stances. Poses became more naturalistic as sculptures began depicting real people. The tensile strength and lighter weight of hollow cast bronze statuary played an important role in these developments, as the material allowed for many different, open poses without needing the struts and bridges required in marble sculpting.

• Herodotos: I see you have completed your tour. I trust you have a new appreciation for Greek sculptures, after learning of the heart and soul that was poured into each step of their creation. Now, what else would you like to do?

("I'm ready for the quiz.") ("Take on the next suggested tour.") ("Take me on a random tour.") ([LEAVE] "That's all for now.")

• Herodotos: Then farewell, traveler. May we meet again soon.