The Greek and Roman Collections at the Metropolitan consist of the art of many civilizations, over several millennia. The earliest monumental Greek marble statue in the Museum and one of the earliest stone sculptures in Greek art is this Kouros, a work of great nobility.

It probably stood on a tomb, although its stance and expression are shared by cult statues of gods which suggests that it may have been created for a sanctuary.

The over life-sized dimensions of the work were common in this period, the end of the seventh century before Christ and the influence of Egyptian art is obvious in the statue's block-like form, the strictly frontal pose, and the advanced left foot and clenched hands.

But, the Greek sculptor goes beyond Egyptian frontality. The man with powerful musculature is beginning to break out of the marble skin. Look, for example, at the space cut away between the elbows and the waist, a Greek innovation that is a step closer to naturalism.