Editing Lysippos (section)

== Lysippos and Alexander ==
[[File:AlexandreTheGreat Louvre.jpg|thumb|''Hermes Azara'', a Roman copy of an Alexander bust found at Tivoli, attributed to Lysippos ([[Musée du Louvre|Louvre]])]]
During his lifetime, Lysippos was personal sculptor to [[Alexander the Great]]; indeed, he was the only artist whom the conqueror saw fit to represent him.<ref>[[Plutarch]], Life of Alexander, iv</ref> An epigram by [[Posidippus (epigrammatic poet)|Posidippus]], previously only known from the [[Anthology of Planudes]] (APl 119), but also found on the recently discovered [[Milan Papyrus]] (65 Austin-Bastianini), takes as its inspiration a bronze portrait of Alexander:

{{poemquote|Lysippus, sculptor of Sicyon, bold hand,
cunning craftsman, fire is in the glance of the bronze,
which you made in the form of Alexander. In no way can one blame
the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persians]]: cattle may be forgiven for flying before a lion.<ref>Translation taken from C. Austin and G. Bastianini, ''Posidippi Pellaei quae supersunt omnia'', Milan 2002, p. 89.</ref>}}

And similarly, an epigram by [[Asclepiades of Samos|Asclepiades]] (APl 120):

{{poemquote|Lysippus modelled Alexander's daring and his whole form.
How great is the power of this bronze! The brazen king
seems to be gazing at Zeus and about to say:
"I set Earth under my feet; thyself, Zeus, possess Olympus."<ref>Translation taken from W.R. Paton's Loeb edition, ''The Greek Anthology V'', Cambridge, Massachusetts 1918, p. 227.</ref>}}

Lysippos has been credited with the stock representation of an inspired, godlike Alexander with tousled hair and lips parted, looking upward<ref>''The Search for Alexander'', a [[1976 in literature|1976]] exhibition catalogue, illustrates several examples and traces the development of the type.</ref> in what came to be known as the 'Lysippean gaze'. One fine example, an early Imperial Roman copy found at [[Tivoli, Lazio|Tivoli]], is conserved at the [[Musée du Louvre|Louvre]].