Centaur Abducting Lapith Woman Essay

Perhaps the most interesting period in Greek sculpture is the Classical period. During this glorious period of unbelievable craftsmanship, numerous pieces celebrated the Greek's infatuation with fable and war. The sculpture, nicely titled Centaur Abducting Lapith Woman and Fallen Lapith Man, is a wonderful symbol of the artistic period and image of war. Sculpted somewhere around 447-438 B.C., the sculpture was carved out of solid marble to produce a beautiful, and yet horrifying scene from a battle. This sculpture was most likely the artist's attempt to capture the essence of some fable that had been passed down through the generations. Perhaps more likely, it could have been the artist's own imagination that fathomed the macabre beauty of the rendered scene. The sculpture is done in high relief, carved out of a solid block of marble. The lines and curves of the sculpture give each character within it great definition. It almost appears though, from the
It depicts a valiant centaur with a Lapith woman slung over his shoulder. A Lapith man lies dead at the centaur's feet. Given such little information about the context of the sculpture, one is likely to assume that the centaur was after the woman alone, and not some larger goal, like taking over the township in which she lived. The man, most likely her husband, perished trying to defend his wife from the ominous half man, half horse. The centaur pulls up proudly on his rear two hooves, as if to proclaim his triumph to his fellow centaurs, somewhere off in the distance. The dead man underneath his body appears to have lost a limb or two while engaged in the fighting. The placement of the man directly underneath the centaur, and the woman directly above him, really gives the sculpture a strong sense of unity. In fact, the way the man's leg intertwines with that of the centaur almost makes the three figures appear as if they were one and the