When looking at art of the ancient Egyptian or Mesopotamian world, the art we are looking at is usually different paintings or sculptures of gods and leaders. The purpose of these art pieces were to show how much the ancient civilizations revered and feared their leaders and gods. Contrarily, Greek and Roman art incorporates humanism. Humanism’s main focus is on mankind, rather than divine or godlike matters. When looking at Greek and Roman art, we see human sculptures. The two art pieces I will be comparing are Hermes of Praxiteles and The Standard of Ur.
Hermes of Praxiteles which was sculpted out of Parian marble. It measures 2.10 meters tall. The face, stomach, and legs of this sculpture are polished, glowing, and realistic, making it almost human. The sculpture also has tousled curls on its head, characteristic ofGreek/Roman culture. The sculpture is standing on an angle, as if in motion making the figure seem alive. Lastly, the marble child, little Dionysus, on the side portrays feelings and emotions.
One example of Mesopotamian art is The Standard of Ur. This mosaic looking piece is made out of shell, red limestone, lapis lazuli, and bitumen. The first obvious difference between the two art pieces is their size. Mesopotamian art is mostly small pieces that you can carry, whereas Greek/Roman art is mostly lifesize big sculptures. This piece, The Standard of Ur, depicts all the different people in Mesopotamian society, but focuses on the king, as opposed to Greek art where one art piece consisted of one person. In this painting, different people art doing different things, shows how civilization was split up into different levels. We can also see how clothing portrayed social class. The king wore something more elaborate and greater than the citizens on the lowest level of society. He also sits on a big throne while the other people in the painting are standing or working. The king is much taller than everyone else- he’s even breaking the roof. Mainly, this piece shows how highly society thought of their king, because he is portrayed in a way that makes him stick out. This differs from Greek art because their purposes and size were different. Greek art humanized its art while Mesopotamian art elevated its art pieces to a godly status.
