Calamis (5th century BC) facts for kids

Calamis was a famous sculptor from ancient Greece. He lived around the 5th century BC. We don't know much for sure about his life, but he probably lived in Athens, and his art was similar to other sculptures made there.

Sadly, none of Calamis's actual sculptures still exist today. But we know he was very talented, especially at sculpting animals, like horses. A famous writer named Pliny said Calamis's horse statues were the best! He worked with different materials, including marble, bronze, gold, and ivory.

What Calamis Created

Even though his works are lost, ancient writers told us about some of Calamis's amazing sculptures.

Statues of Gods

• A writer named Pausanias wrote that Calamis made a statue of Zeus Ammon, a god, for a poet named Pindar.
• Calamis also created a statue of Hermes Criophorus (Hermes carrying a ram) for the city of Tanagra. This statue was so famous that it even appeared on Roman coins later on!
• He made a statue of Apollo Alexikakos (Apollo who wards off evil) that stood in a part of Athens called the Ceramicus.

His Biggest Work

Calamis's most impressive work was a huge statue of Apollo for a city called Apollonia Pontica (which is now in Bulgaria). This statue was about 13.5 meters (44 feet) tall! That's like a four-story building!

Praised by Writers

Another one of his famous statues was called Sosandra. A writer named Lucian praised this statue a lot. It might have been copied to create a statue of a woman named Aspasia, and then the Romans made copies of that one too.

See also

In Spanish: Cálamis para niños