ACROPOLIS MUSEUM, First Floor Kritios Boy And Peplos Kore

The Kritios Boy is one of the finest masterpieces of Greek sculpture, and is one of the most important in the museum because it is the first example of the shift from Archaic art to the so-called Severe style: the happy smile characteristic of the faces on works from the Archaic Period has disappeared, replaced by a sense of awareness and greater realism.   

This 86-centimeter-high marble statue was sculpted around 480 BC. The Boy’s short hair, styled around a ring, presumably made of metal, resting on the temples, suggests the statue depicts a god or a hero.

In Ancient Greece, it was common for youths to be portrayed nude, walking forward, as you can see from the position of the legs. These statues were known as kouros, meaning boy. In this room you’ll see others from different periods.

The kouros was always portrayed nude, since there was nothing taboo about male nudity: even athletes competed without any clothing....