Knowra Contrapposto Contrapposto Contrapposto is a standing pose in which a figure’s weight rests mainly on one leg, creating an asymmetrical arrangement of limbs and torso. The pose gives the body an appearance of relaxed, potential movement.
Weight-bearing leg : The leg that supports most of a standing body’s weight. Its support shifts the pelvis and frees the other leg to bend.
Doryphoros : A lost bronze statue by Polykleitos, known through Roman marble copies, depicting a spear-bearing male athlete. Its balanced stance became a canonical example of contrapposto in Greek sculpture.
Archaic Greek sculpture : Greek sculpture produced from about 700 to 480 BCE, including rigid, frontal standing figures. Its upright kouroi provide a contrast to the later weight-shifting stance.
Frontal pose : A pose in which a figure faces directly forward, with the body presented symmetrically. Its balanced frontality differs from contrapposto’s uneven distribution of weight and gesture.
Pelvic tilt : The inclination of the pelvis relative to a horizontal plane. The pelvis rises on the side of the weight-bearing leg, shaping the pose’s asymmetry.
Kritios Boy : An ancient Greek marble statue of a youth, made around 480 BCE. Its weight shift marks an early surviving use of naturalistic contrapposto.
Kritios : An ancient Greek sculptor associated with the early classical period. The Kritios Boy, attributed to him, is a landmark early example of the pose.
Kouros : A type of ancient Greek statue depicting a nude male youth standing upright, usually with one foot forward. The kouros’s rigid symmetry highlights the later pose’s shift toward bodily asymmetry.
Spinal curvature : The curves of the vertebral column viewed from the side or front. The spine adjusts to the tilted pelvis and helps keep the torso balanced.
David (Michelangelo) : A marble statue by Michelangelo depicting the biblical figure David before his encounter with Goliath. Its poised stance adapts contrapposto to a tense, alert figure.
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