Humanism can be best defined as a shift of focus and placement of importance on Man in regard to who is the center of the universe. Previous to this belief, people placed a heavy emphasis on the gods and divine/supernatural matters when concerning anything and everything. However, with humanism, Man is now the center of the cosmological order. He is the prime agent for change, and it is Man’s duty to help himself and make things happen. Man is the agent of cause and effect, not any of the gods or divine nature from the past or present.
When considering Greek and Roman art in relations to Mesopotamian or Egyptian Art, humanism is difficult to push to the side because it practically is the difference. Taking a closer look at Mesopotamia and Egypt there is a repeated pattern of divine worship within their artwork. Greek and Roman art embody humanism within their work, and the Greek especially emphasized naturalism, anatomy, movement. They really honed in on what man can do. Even when there are depictions of divine Greek gods and goddesses, they oftentimes possess human qualities such as a greed and vanity, all of which work to further affirm that human beings are now viewed with value.
In taking a look at The King Menkaure (Mycerinus) and Queen sculpture in comparison to the statue of Polykleitos, Doryphoros, these differences are highlighted. Egypt’s statue of the King Menkaure and Queen are stiff, straight bodied, with very rigid figures. There is a lot of verticality seen as well and if you were to cut their figures right down the middle they would be symmetrical. They’re also clothed, or there’s at least the illusion of clothing. This is highly important to the Egyptians, as nudity was seen as an embarrassment. When looking at Polykleitos, Dorpyphoros the details of the work are crisper, and there’s an emphasis of physicality and freshness of the human body. Unlike The King Menkaure and Queen, we actually see a facial expression in Polykleitos, Doryphoros. There’s even a little personality seen within not just his facial expression but his stance as well, both working together to make him seem very passé. He’s not only anatomically correct but also shows a naturalism in his movement. He can move in almost any direction, there is potential energy. This frames him in a gentle S curve, that differs from the rigid and symmetrical ways of the Egyptian statue, a figure who seems fully alive.
