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{{Short description|Type of sculpture attributed to the legendary Greek artist, Daedalus}}
{{for multi|the ancient city|Daidala (city)|the festival of Hera|Daedala}}
[[Image:Athens athena model.jpg|thumb|right|200px|An archaic ceramic ''daidala'' of [[Athena]] Glaukopis ("owl-faced" Athena), used as the [[Athena and Phevos|mascot]] for the [[2004 Olympic Games]] (National Archaeological Museum, Athens)]]

The '''''daidala''''' ({{Langx|el|δαίδαλα}}) is a type of sculpture attributed to the legendary Greek artist [[Daedalus]], who is connected in legend both to [[Minoan civilization|Bronze Age Crete]] and to the earliest period of Archaic sculpture in [[Mycenaean Greece|Bronze Age Greece]]. The legends about [[Daedalus]] recognize him both as a man and as a mythical embodiment. 

== History ==
Daedalus was credited as the reputed inventor of ''[[agalmata]]'', statues of the gods which had open eyes and moveable limbs.<ref name="Donohue1988"/> These statues were so lifelike that Plato remarked upon their amazing and disconcerting mobility, which was accomplished with techniques that are clearly those of the "daidala". The writer [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] thought that wooden images were referred to as "daidala" even before Daedalus’s time.<ref name="Pausanias"/> The name "Daedalus", more specifically, has been suggested by [[Alberto Pérez-Gómez]] to be a play on the Greek word "daidala" which appears in archaic literature as a complement of the verb "to make", "to manufacture", "to forge", "to weave", "to place on", or "to see". Daidala were the implements of early society: defensive works, arms, furniture, and so forth.<ref name="Smith2010"/>

== Description ==
Daedalic sculpture is representative of the [[Orientalizing period]] in Greek art. Eastern influences are particularly noticeable in the head seen from the front; it resembles an Eastern head,{{huh|date=January 2022}} with wiglike hair, but is more angular, having a triangular face, large eyes, and a prominent nose. Furthermore, the hair usually forms two upward-facing triangles on either side of the face.<ref name="Neer2012"/> The female body is rather flatly geometric, with high waist and formless drapery. Early sculpture exhibiting these attributes is known as "Daedalic"; it was used for figurines, on clay plaques, and in relief decorations on vases. It seems to have had a marked influence in the [[Peloponnese]], [[Dorians|Dorian Crete]], and [[Rhodes]]. Its style is based on a simple formula which remained dominant, though with evolutionary modifications, for about two generations, before evolving into the [[Ancient Greek sculpture#Archaic|Archaic style]].

==References==
<references>
<ref name="Donohue1988">{{cite book |author=Alice A. Donohue |year=1988 |title=Xoana and the origins of Greek sculpture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vwd9AAAAIAAJ |publisher=Scholars Press |pages=182|isbn=9780891309550 }}</ref>

<ref name="Neer2012">{{cite book |author=Richard T. Neer |title=Greek Art and Archaeology c. 2500 - c. 150 BCE |publisher=Thames & Hudson |year=2012 |isbn=9780500288771 |location=New York, New York |pages=109}}</ref>

<ref name="Pausanias">{{cite book |author=[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] |year=1794 |title=The Description of Greece, Volume 3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6l4ZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA6 |publisher=R. Faulder |location=London |pages=6}}</ref>

<ref name="Smith2010">{{cite book |author=Albert C. Smith |title=The Monster and Daedalus |url=http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/aksmithpaperd.pdf |publisher=Ryerson University |pages=2 |access-date=2012-01-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517152744/http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/aksmithpaperd.pdf |archive-date=2014-05-17 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
</references>

== Further reading ==
* Sarah P. Morris, ''Daidalos and the Origins of Greek Art'', Princeton, 1992

{{National Archaeological Museum of Athens}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Aegean art of the Bronze Age]]
[[Category:Statues in Greece]]
[[Category:National Archaeological Museum, Athens]]