The Collaborative International Dictionary
Doryphoros \Do*ryph"o*ros\, n. [L., fr. Gr. ?, lit., spear bearing; ? a spear + fe`rein to bear.] (Fine Arts) A spear bearer; a statue of a man holding a spear or in the attitude of a spear bearer. Several important sculptures of this subject existed in antiquity, copies of which remain to us. [1913 Webster] ||
Wiktionary
n. (context arts English) A spear-bearer; a statue of a man holding a spear or in the attitude of a spear-bearer.
Wikipedia
The Doryphoros ( Greek Δορυφόρος, "Spear-Bearer"; Latinised as Doryphorus) of Polykleitos is one of the best known Greek sculptures of the Classical Era in Western Art, depicting a solidly-built, well-muscled standing athlete, originally bearing a spear balanced on his left shoulder. Rendered somewhat above life-size proportions, the lost bronze original of the work would have been cast circa 440 BCE, but it is today known only from later (mainly Roman period) marble copies. The work nonetheless forms an important early example of both Classical Greek contrapposto and Classical realism; as such, the iconic Doryphoros proved highly influential elsewhere in ancient art.
Usage examples of "doryphoros".
Perfection of form was his aim, and so nearly did he seem to the ancients to have attained this object that his Doryphoros was taken by them as a model of the human figure.