Skopas of Paros

Greek sculptor and architect of the fourth century B.C., Skopas was born on Paros, and is considered a member of the Attic School. He traveled widely in southern Greece and Caria in order to execute commissions. His temple of Athena Alea in Tegea, famous for its interior arrangement of Corinthian half-columns, is his only original work extant. The rest of his oeuvre is known from ancient descriptions.

As a sculptor, Skopas collaborated with Timotheos, Bryaxis, and Leochares on the Mausoleum in Halicarnassus, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. His statue of Pothos for the sanctuary of Aphrodite in Megara is perhaps his most famous sculpture and has been recognised in several marble copies. He was responsible for a number of cult statues in Greek temples, such as the Aphrodite Pandemos riding a goat in Elis, Askcepios and Hygiea in Gortys, Apollo Smintheus in the Troad, and Dionysius in Cnidus.

His style is related to that of his contemporary Praxiteles; they both produced modernized versions of the classical masterpieces of the fifth century B.C. Like Praxiteles, Skopas experimented with figures leaning out of balance and showed a predilection for the representation of women and children. Many of his statues were also accompanied by animals.

Skopas of Paros is not to be confused with his later namesake, Skopas the Younger, who was active in Rome in the second century B.C.