Art of the Ancient World is a diverse collection of art and artifacts as it spans over a long period of time and follows many civilizations and societies. The art ranges from Egyptian to Greek to Roman, each place having its own unique set of principles and approaches to making art.
Egypt’s art focused heavily on the practice of worship and praise, either to the gods, who they thought controlled their lives, or to kings, who were the closest step to a god in the human form. The pyramids, massive structures still existing today, were designed to protect the deceased and ensure a peaceful afterlife. The afterlife played a major role in Egyptian decision making, including influencing their art. Egyptians often used registers or hieratic scale in their art to show the viewer who was most important or cherished, reserved almost entirely for some god or king. Anubis, the god of the afterlife, is one of the most prominent figures in ancient Egyptian art, depicted on coffins, inside pyramids, wherever they could pay tribute, the Egyptians found a way. Their statues were often stiff looking, as the figures arms and legs would be straight down their body. The depiction of the body would look human, having arms, legs, fingers and toes, but it would not look entirely like human would. The heads of the statues played a great importance and were often the focal point of the statue, as the heads often were of gods such as Anubis. The hair and beards of the statues were also important, although not entirely mimetic, beards and hair were a staple of Egyptian culture. Egyptians were also interested in permanence and stability in their statues, wanting them to last for centuries to follow.
The Greeks and Romans approached rather differently than the Egyptians. Both Greece and Rome were interested in this idea of humanism. Humanism in art puts more of the emphasis on the person and the human body, than it does on worshiping gods or offering praise. This art movement believed that man and the human form were worth praising and focusing on. So the art so a shift. Instead of stiff looking statues with the heads of gods, Humanist art wanted to portray people more accurately to what they actually look like so there was a profound shift in how statues and figures were depicted from roughly 600 BCE to 400 BCE. To Humanists, man was the measure of all things, so artists paid careful attention to how the human body moves in space and how it occupies space. Artists viewed the human body mathematically, trying to find the perfect proportions for man, in an idealized form, so through careful observation artists studied how the human body worked. A common theme or technique used in humanism is contrapposto, which translates to “counter pose.” So statues and figures were designed to depict more natural standing or sitting poses, moving away from the stiffness that was featured in Egyptian art. Statues were often designed leaning, putting their weight on mostly one foot. The bodies resembled human bodies as well, focusing on the musculature and indents and curves of the body. The faces were also much more human looking, there were lines on the face to depict age progression, faces had more emotion to them, less stoic and stiff.
While Romans and Greeks both focused their art on Humanism these two did have some differences in how they approached this subject. The Greeks worked almost exclusively in bronze and avoided marble, as bronze was also less likely to chip away over time and needs less structural support. Romans worked heavily in marble and loved Greek art, often replicating many of the bronzed statues that existed already, but in marble.
Due to the backdrop of political change the art also changed over time, leaving some change in the art between the Classical period and the Hellenistic period. In the Classical period art was more vertical and perpendicular, and focused more on youthful men and idealized body depiction, the statues often looked aloof and detached. While the Hellenistic period used more of the diagonal planes and had crossing interactions, with very little up/ down/left/ right movement. There were sweeping diagonals, strong emotions and new subjects, often depicting different races or ethnic groups.
