What term describes the slight S-curve in the stance of a standing Greek statue?

The term contrapposto describes the slight S-curve created by the stance of a standing Greek statue.

In contrapposto, the figure’s weight rests mainly on one leg, the engaged leg, while the other leg relaxes. That shift tilts the pelvis and causes a balancing adjustment in the shoulders, producing a natural-looking but carefully controlled pose.

The device became especially important in Classical Greek sculpture during the fifth century BC. It replaced the rigid, front-facing stance common in earlier kouroi and helped sculptors suggest movement, breathing, and a living body. Polykleitos’s Doryphoros is a famous example of the system.

Contrapposto is not the name of a statue type or material. Chryselephantine describes sculpture made from gold and ivory, while kore and kouros refer to types of ancient Greek standing figures. Later Greek, Roman, Renaissance, and modern artists all adapted the pose.