Statue of a kouros (youth) 590–580 B.C.; ArchaicGreek, Attic Naxian marble;
The Greeks learned to quarry stone and plan the execution of large-scale statues from the Egyptians, who had been working very hard stones for centuries. This noble figure of a youth is one of the earliest freestanding marble statues from Attica, the region around Athens. It is a type of sculpture known as a kouros (male youth), characteristically depicted nude with the left leg striding forward and hands clenched at the side. Most kouroi were made in the archaic period, between the late seventh and early fifth centuries B.C., and are believed to have served as grave markers or as dedications.