Praxiteles

praks-it'e-leez, a famous sculptor of Greece. The details of his life are not known. He was born probably about 400 B. C. He was one of the greatest sculptors of ancient times. His life fell in the period succeeding that of Phidias, the great master of the sculptor's art. Phidias worked for the public; Praxiteles worked for private employers. His figures, groups, and statues were made chiefly for the adornment of palaces and private grounds. A number of his masterpieces are known through copies which have escaped destruction. Only one original is known certainly to have been preserved. It is a statue of Hermes bearing the infant Dionysius on his arm. It was discovered by German excavators in the ruins of Olympia. It is still preserved in a museum there. The face of the god is considered the most beautiful Greek face known to art. The Capitolian Museum at Rome possesses a satyr leaning gracefully on a support. It is almost certainly a faithful reproduction of one of the artist's greatest works. It furnished the subject for the title of Hawthorne's Marble Faun. Other reproductions are preserved in the Louvre, at Florence, Berlin, and elsewhere.