Life Size Discus Thrower Discobolus Myron Statue
Millon discus thrower, marble replica, about 152 cm high, collected by the National Museum of Rome, the Vatican Museum, and the Terme Museum, originally in bronze.
This statue, known as the “God of Sports”, shows a typical momentary action of throwing a discus at a glance: the human body is bent over and bent into an S shape. This makes a single human body rich in movement changes, but this change often causes a sense of instability.
Therefore, the author moved the character’s center of gravity to the right foot, letting the left toe point to support, and the head as the center of the two arms stretched up and down symmetrically so that the unstable body gains a sense of stability. The front side of the body rotates, and the front and back of the lower limbs are separated, which not only conforms to the motion law of discus throwing but also creates a beauty of form that sees various changes in simplicity.
The reason why athletes appear naked is determined by the social customs of ancient Greeks. Because when the ancient Greeks were engaged in sports and religious theatrical performances, men were often naked. They believe that a perfect and healthy human body is human pride and a manifestation of divinity. This social custom in turn promoted the development of Greek human statues and formed the artistic tradition of advocating human beauty in the history of Western art.
The period from 449 BC to 334 BC was the heyday of Greek sculpture art. It is called the “classical period” in art history. A large number of excellent sculptures come from this period. The discus thrower is one of the most widely circulated artistic masterpieces in existence. A masterpiece of the famous ancient Greek sculptor Millon.
This work is a milestone in ancient Greek sculpture art, showing that Greek sculpture art has fully matured. The sculpture praises the beauty of the human body and the vitality of the movement and shows the author’s superb artistic skills. Although the original work has been lost, we can still feel the strong shock of the explosion of vitality from the copy, and it is also an important material for us to study ancient Greek carvings.
The discus thrower is based on real-life sports activities in Greece and portrays the most expressive moment of a strong man in the process of discus throwing. The moment when the discus chosen by the sculpture swings back to its highest point and is about to be thrown, it has a strong appeal. Although it is a static sculpture, the artist grasped the key link of transition from one state to another and achieved the effect of giving the audience a sense of movement psychologically, becoming a model of artistic creation for later generations.
The author Miron created an outstanding and energetic athlete image in this work. Especially the author’s ingenuity is that he brilliantly summarized the entire continuous process of the discus throwing movement, showing a dynamic beauty. The open arms of the discus thrower resemble a full bow, giving people an association of shooting. The two round shapes of the discus and the human head echo left and right; the right leg close to the ground is like an axis, keeping the tortuous body stable. The impression of the entire sculpture is fit, strong, harmonious, full of youthful vitality.