Unit 2 focused on the artwork of ancient civilizations such as Egypt and Mesopotamia, and how art made such developments to reach the status of Ancient Greek and Roman art. One way we analyzed these changes was through humanism. This was a period where society began to rely less on religion and divine explanation for natural occurrences, and placed an emphasis on the human body and its capabilities. Comparing both Egyptian and Mesopotamian artwork with Greek and Roman artwork showed that they have similar and contrasting features.
When analyzing Egyptian and Mesopotamian art, it is easy to notice that they included vast amounts of detail in anything they created. Their paintings and coffin designs consisted of many different shapes and patterns with color, and contained many hieroglyphs. Their three-dimensional artwork was just as detailed as their two-dimensional work. Their coffins where they would place the dead in, such as the Cartonnage of Nespanetjerenpare, was decorated with similar patterns as their paintings, with shapes, color, and design. These coffins also had faces painted onto them, however, compared to the Greek or Roman statues, lacked detail. It is evident that the face was that of a human and not an animal, but you wouldn’t be able to identify if it was depicting a man or woman, nor would you be able to identify the individual that the face was modeled after because there are few distinct facial features. It is also evident, more so through their two dimensional artwork, that they placed a lot of emphasis on the afterlife and religion. Anubis, the half-jackal half-man, god of embalming, is seen in a work of art preparing someone for the afterlife. It was said that he watched over the dead and provided them with good fortune in the afterlife.
Humanism, is a change in mindset that puts more emphasis on human features and capabilities, rather than divine or supernatural factors. Rather than resorting to divine explanations for what were once thought to be unexplainable matters, were now solved with logic and human reasoning. Rather than placing gods on pedestals like the Egyptians did, Greeks were able to understand that their gods were flawed. This gave them a mortal, human status, that allowed Greeks to connect and relate to them more.
Ancient Greek and Roman artwork incorporated these humanistic features, and included more detail and less emphasis on religion. One example would be the statue of Kroisos from Anavysos. In this statue, he is seen standing in a pose that indicated he was perhaps a type of warrior since he is standing upright and appears confident. More importantly however, this statue incorporates much more detail than previous Egyptian and even Greek statues. On minor details that one would not notice immediately, such as hands, feet and hair, there are distinct features carved in such as fingers, toes, and individual hairs. Additionally, the statue of the man is detailed with muscles, and actual facial expressions, that would make the man who was modeled, identificable. Features such as these indicate that through humanism, artwork developed and focused more on the individual rather than religion.
