Editing Contrapposto

{{Short description|Sculptural disposition of human figure}}
{{Italic title}}
[[File:Chiasmo Contrapposto-Canone Canon policleteo (2of3pages)-scheme-diagram-photo Paolo Villa 2024 CC BY-SA 4.0 (and italian Law & MiC)- Doryphoros by Polykleitos, photo-scheme-diagram.pdf|thumb|A marble copy of [[Polykleitos]]' ''[[Doryphoros]]'', an early example of classical ''contrapposto''.]]
[[File:Chiasmo Contrapposto-Canone Canon policleteo (3pages)-scheme-diagram-photo Paolo Villa 2024 CC BY-SA 4.0 (and italian Law & MiC)- Doryphoros by Polykleitos, photo-scheme-diagram.pdf|thumb|[[S-curve (art)]]]]

{{lang|it|'''Contrapposto'''}} ({{IPA|it|kontrapˈposto}} 'counterpoise'), in the [[visual arts]], is a human figure standing with most of its weight on one foot, so that its shoulders and arms twist off-axis from the hips and legs in the [[axial plane]].

First appearing in [[Ancient Greece]] in the early 5th century [[Common Era|BCE]], ''contrapposto'' is considered a crucial development in the history of [[Ancient Greek art]] (and, by extension, [[Art of Europe|Western art]]), as it marks the first time in Western art that the human body is used to express a psychological disposition. The style was further developed and popularized by sculptors in the [[Hellenistic Art|Hellenistic]] and [[Roman Empire|Imperial Roman]] periods, fell out of use in the [[Middle Ages]], and was later revived during the [[Renaissance]]. [[Michelangelo]]'s statue of ''[[David (Michelangelo)|David]]'', one of the most iconic sculptures in the world, is a famous example of ''contrapposto''.

==Definition==
''Contrapposto'' was historically an important sculptural development, for its appearance marks the first time in Western art that the human body is used to express a more relaxed psychological disposition. This gives the figure a more dynamic, or alternatively relaxed appearance. In the frontal plane this also results in opposite levels of shoulders and hips, for example: if the right hip is higher than the left; correspondingly the right shoulder will be lower than the left, and vice versa. It can further encompass the tension as a figure changes from resting on a given leg to walking or running upon it (so-called ''ponderation''). The leg that carries the weight of the body is known as the ''engaged'' leg, the relaxed leg is known as the ''free'' leg.<ref name=Janson>[[H. W. Janson|Janson, H.W.]] (1995) ''History of Art''. 5th ed. Revised and expanded by Anthony F. Janson. London: [[Thames & Hudson]], p. 139. {{ISBN|0500237018}}</ref> Usually, the ''engaged'' leg is straight, or very slightly bent, and the ''free'' leg is slightly bent.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jane Bassett |first1=Peggy Fogelman |title=Looking at European Sculpture: A Guide to Technical Terms |date=1997 |publisher=J. Paul Getty Museum |isbn=0-892-36-291-X |pages=23–24 |chapter=Contrapposto}}</ref> ''Contrapposto'' is less emphasized than the more sinuous [[S-curve (art)|S-curve]], and creates the illusion of past and future movement.<ref>"Contrapposto". Grove Encyclopedia of Materials & Techniques in Art: 142–143. October 2008. {{ISBN|9780195313918}}.</ref> A 2019 [[eye tracking]] study, by showing that ''contrapposto'' acts as [[supernormal stimulus]] and increases perceived attractiveness, has provided evidence and insight as to why, in artistic presentation, goddesses of beauty and love are often depicted in ''contrapposto'' pose.<ref name=pazh1>{{cite journal | last1 = Pazhoohi | first1 = F. |last2 = Macedo | first2 = M. F. |last3 = Doyle | first3 = J. F. |last4 = Arantes | first4 = J. | year = 2019 | title = Waist-to-Hip Ratio as Supernormal Stimuli: Effect of Contrapposto Pose and Viewing Angle | journal = Archives of Sexual Behavior | volume = 49 | issue = 3 | pages = 837–847 | doi=10.1007/s10508-019-01486-z| pmid = 31214904 | s2cid = 254261050 }}</ref> This was later supported in a [[neuroimaging]] study.<ref name=pazh2>{{cite journal | last1 = Pazhoohi | first1 = F. |last2 = Arantes | first2 = J. |last3 = Kingstone | first3 = A. |last4 = Pinal | first4 = D. | year = 2020 | title = Becoming sexy: Contrapposto pose increases attractiveness ratings and modulates observers' brain activity | journal = Biological Psychology | volume = 151 | page = 107842 | doi=10.1016/j.biopsycho.2020.107842| pmid = 31958547 | s2cid = 210678442 | hdl = 1822/90973 | hdl-access = free }}</ref> The term ''contrapposto'' can also be used to refer to multiple figures which are in counter-pose (or opposite pose) to one another.

==History==
[[Image:009MA Kritios.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Kritios Boy]]''. c. 480 BCE, was the first known Greek statue to use ''contrapposto''.]]

===Classical===
Prior to the introduction of ''contrapposto'', the statues that dominated ancient Greece were the [[Archaic Greece|archaic]] [[kouros]] (male) and the [[Kore (sculpture)|kore]] (female). The first known statue to use ''contrapposto'' is ''[[Kritios Boy]]'', c. 480 BCE,<ref name=HF>[[Hugh Honour|Honour, H.]] and J. Fleming, (2009) ''A World History of Art''. 7th ed. London: Laurence King Publishing, p. 122. {{ISBN|9781856695848}}</ref> so called because it was once attributed to the sculptor [[Kritios]]. It is possible, even likely, that earlier bronze statues had used the technique, but if they did, they have not survived and [[Kenneth Clark]] called the statue "the first beautiful nude in art".<ref name=Clark>Clark, Kenneth. (2010) ''The Nude: A study in ideal form''. New edition. London: [[The Folio Society]], pp. 24-25.</ref> The statue is a Greek marble original and not a Roman copy.

According to the ''canon'' of the Classical Greek sculptor [[Polykleitos]] in the 4th century BCE, ''contrapposto'' is one of the most important characteristics of his figurative works and those of his successors, [[Lysippos]], [[Skopas]], etc. The Polykletian statues (''[[Discophoros]]'' ("discus-bearer") and ''[[Doryphoros]]'' ("spear-bearer"), for example) are idealized athletic young men with the divine sense, and captured in ''contrapposto''. In these works, the pelvis is no longer [[Axial skeleton|axial]] with the [[Kouros|vertical kourous archaic style]] of earlier Greek sculpture before ''Kritios Boy''.

''Contrapposto'' can be clearly seen in the [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] copies of the statues of [[Hermes]] and [[Heracles]]. A famous example is the marble statue of ''[[Hermes and the Infant Dionysus]]'' in [[Olympia, Greece|Olympia]] by [[Praxiteles]]. It can also be seen in the Roman copies of Polyclitus's ''[[Amazons|Amazon]]''.

Greek art emphasized humanism along with the human mind and the human body's beauty.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Greek Humanism|url = http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/engl257/Ancient/greek_humanism.htm|website = www.webpages.uidaho.edu|access-date = 2015-11-19}}</ref> Greek youths trained and competed in athletic contests in the nude. A great contribution to the ''contrapposto'' pose was the concept of a canon of proportions, in which mathematical properties are used to create proportions.<ref>Stanley, Max (2010). "The 'Golden Canon' of book-page construction: proving the proportions geometrically". Journal of Mathematics & The Arts. 4 no. 3: 137–141.</ref>

===Renaissance===
Classical ''contrapposto'' was revived in [[Renaissance art]] by the Italian artists [[Donatello]] and [[Leonardo da Vinci]], followed by [[Michelangelo]], [[Raphael]] and other artists of the [[High Renaissance]]. One of the achievements of the [[Italian Renaissance]] was the re-discovery of ''contrapposto''.

===Modern times===
The technique continues to be widely employed in sculpture.  Modern psychological research confirms the attractiveness of the pose.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Daley |first1=Jason |title=Why Viewers Are Drawn to Renaissance Artists' Go-To Pose |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-pose-preferred-renaissance-artists-so-appealing-180973417/ |access-date=3 November 2019 |work=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]] |date=28 October 2019}}</ref><ref name=pazh1/><ref name=pazh2/>

==Examples==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="190">
File:Etruscan Statuette.jpeg|[[Etruscan art|Etruscan]] statuette, from Italy, 3rd to 1st century BCE, bronze
File:The legendary Venus de Milo in the Louvre, 9 February 2014 cropped.jpg|The ''[[Venus de Milo]]'' depicts an S-curve body shape. Greek, c. 130–100 BCE.
File:Hermes Thrace Istanbul Archaeological Museum.jpg|''[[Hermes]]'' from [[Thrace]], 2nd century
File:'David' by Michelangelo Fir JBU005 denoised.jpg|''[[David (Michelangelo)|David]]'', by [[Michelangelo]], 1501–1504. The shoulders of the figure are seen to angle in one direction, the pelvis in another.
File:Leda and the Swan 1505-1510.jpg|''Leda and the Swan'', copy by [[Cesare da Sesto]] after a lost original by [[Leonardo da Vinci]], 1515–1520, oil on canvas, [[Wilton House]], England.
File:DP-32692-001.jpg|[[Statuette of Mercury]], 2nd century AD, modelled on [[Polykleitos]], [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]
File:Liberty-from-behind-2024.jpg|[[Statue of Liberty]], 1886, copper on iron framework. Viewed from behind, showing the statue's contrapposto pose
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Greek statue]]
*[[Tribhanga]], an Indian stance

==References and sources==
; References
{{Reflist}}

; Sources
* Andrew Stewart, "Polykleitos of Argos", ''One Hundred Greek Sculptors: Their Careers and Extant Works'', 16.72
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050208071825/http://www.getty.edu/art/collections/bio/a3320-1.html Polykleitos, The J. Paul Getty Museum] (archived)
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Polyclitus |volume= 22 | pages = 22&ndash;23 |last= Gardner |first= Percy |author-link= Percy Gardner | short= 1}}
* [https://www.robertoosti.com/understanding-contrapposto/ Understanding Contrapposto] at Roberto Osti's Web Site

== External links ==
* {{Commons category inline|Contrapposto}}

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[[Category:History of art]]
[[Category:Composition in visual art]]
[[Category:History of sculpture]]
[[Category:Human positions]]
[[Category:Italian words and phrases]]
[[Category:Sculpture terms]]