Thus far the Ancient Worlds that we have learned about in class tended to create works of art that were more naturalistic instead of humanistic. Examples of Ancient Worlds that focused on naturalistic art were Mesopotamia and Egypt, where there was more of a focus on the Gods and that everything else was surrounded by the Gods. In contrast, Greek and Roman art focused on humanism. Humanism focused and emphasized humans as the “main object” of the world and that instead of Gods, humans were, in a way, at the center of the universe. Humanism focuses on human values, beliefs, and individuality; and that humans have the capability to be good. In terms of Greco-Roman art, humanism meant putting an emphasis on the human potential, as well as the human body.
For example, in the Ancient Egyptian sculpture, Seated statue of Pharaoh Seti (*picture would not upload), humanism is not portrayed. In this sculpture, the human body is not emphasized and instead his rank his emphasized. For this piece of artwork, the eyes are instantly drawn to the Pharaoh’s headpiece, the object in hand, and his feet that are on top of an object in order for them to not touch the ground. All of these observances can instantly make the viewer come to the conclusion that this person was in fact a Pharaoh and therefore of very high rank. In addition to that, the Pharaoh’s body is not emphasized, and instead the viewer can see the outlining of the garments that the Pharaoh wears, once again demonstrating social class and power.
In contrast, in this Greek sculpture, Discobolus, humanism is very evident. Most noticeable is that the naked human body is on display, clearly showing human emphasis. The Greeks saw the display of the human body as something natural and something “show off” and take pride in. Their bodies showed their strength and exuded their power. The Greeks did many things in the nude, as it was considered the norm, even the Olympics were done in the nude. This sculpture does not put an emphasis on rank or social class, it is ambiguous and is left for the viewer to assume.
