This is a touching scene. The heroics of war
have played out. The victor rises over the fallen.
The naked warrior, wearing only a quiver, has
been slain. Pierced through his chest by the
swordsman, whose sword has broken off, his
eyes begin to roll back as he inhales his dying
breath. We can see his torso slouch forward as
he collapses into himself, the curving
musculature of his abdomen can no longer
support him. The victorious warrior stands
triumphantly over him and literally surrounds
him. He left arm is strapped into his shield
which arcs over the defeated enemy. Although
now shattered, his right arm once held the sword
thrust into the enemy’s chest. The tip of the
sword can still be seen penetrating the flesh.
Another warrior stands to the left. The fish-scale
of his armor has been expertly transferred into
stone. Perhaps the greatest quality of this
masterpiece, aside from the extreme emotional
energy, is the incredible variety of textures
conveyed out of the same stone. From the fish-
scale armor to the folds of flesh and muscle,
from the wavy hair and beard of the defeated to
the smoothness of the shield, the sculptor has
truly turned this stone into a dozen or more
unique materials. Human civilization reaches
certain peaks artistically that one can never
surpass, only aspire to equal. This fragment is
such a colossal achievement: when the utter
mastery of subject, composition, and an
intangible emotion aspect all combine,
transferring stone into life.
- (PF.5680)
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