The Ancient World in the unit two consisted of Greece and Rome. It has many vast pieces of art between the two cultures. They were some things that were similar between the Greek and Roman art. They both use contrapposto. In Greek art, we learned that it has several periods including Geometric, Archea, Classical, late Classical, and Hellenistic. We also learned about the term contrapposto which is shifting of the weight. The classical period emphasizes on balance. It also has a detached notion of beauty. The classical period also focuses on control, discipline, and mimesis (imitation of nature). The sculptures made in this period were perpendicular. In the Hellenistic period, it focused more on drama, action, and strong emotions. The sculptures during that period were diagonal.

The Aphrodite of Knidos model was the first female nude sculpture in Greek art. It was part of the classical period. In Greek art, it was highly inappropriate to draw and display female nudity. Unlike the other models, this sculpture didn’t have a female model to create the full figure of the model. The Seated Boxer sculpture is part of the Hellenistic period. In all of the sculptures that we’ve seen in Greek and Roman art, this was the first sculpture in where the subject isn’t standing. Standing figures represented nobility while figures that were sitting represented as humility. The figure is bronze which is different from the other sculptures we’ve seen which were marble. His face looks realistic and you can see the nicks and gashes on his face along with the swollen ear. His posture seems as if he is drained and exhausted.

In the Roman Republic, they emphasize on portraiture. A good successful portrait shows who you really are as a person. We learned about the term verism which is truth. The Romans also valued age. The older the person the more wise the person is. In Roman art they prefer clothed sculptures. In the Aule Melete sculpture, the clothes are on. Compared to the Greek art, this sculpture is represented as a scholar and a person of wise character instead of a young athletic person. The man has his hand out as if he is talking to a group of people. His beard is non-existent. If you have a beard, it automatically determines you as a soldier because you wouldn’t have the time to shave.

Overall, the Greek and Roman art had interesting pieces. The difference in context changes as time goes on. I learned a lot about these cultures and hope to see more sculptures in the future.

Throughout the course, we have discussed various forms of culture that part takes in art history. It ranges from artworks in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia to artwork in Ancient Greece and Rome. Each era provided their society with a certain influence in day to day activities. For example, Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia had a society filled with a god worshiping civilization, meanwhile, Ancient Greece and Rome had more of an interest towards the incorporation of humanism in their artwork. Despite their great sense of polarity, each generation has a substantial amount of similarity between them. However, due to differences in ideology, the artwork in each era consists of contradicting principles.

Bouncing between each art period, it can clearly be seen at how different each society was. Starting from Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, much of their artwork consisted of worship towards god-like figures or deities. In their culture, looking up to a higher power was their answer in regards to everything in life. There had to be a God in which to eulogize. The afterlife was also a huge concept in which the people of Ancient Egypt highly praised. That is why it was constantly assimilated in the artwork of the Egyptians. Society during this time was also extremely based on class and money. For example, the concept of hierarchy can be seen in the piece known as The Standard of Ur. When looked upon closely, there are three levels that represent life differently. Within each level, you can see a portrayal of how certain people lived the life that they did. The most lower level portrays the subjects as slaves working for their master, delivering something like a gift for their god. The upper level shows a being larger than the rest of the subjects who breaks the barrier of the upper border. In Egyptian society, a God is commonly represented in art as the largest being visible, which explains the unusually large figure in this art piece.  This God is presented as the almighty being, while all his subjects are kneeling and sitting before him. As previously stated, the Egyptians took great lengths into depicting a huge part of their culture into their artwork, of which is the appraisal of deities and god-like representations.

While the ancient Egyptians took their time in depicting Gods and worshipers, the Romans and Greeks had a much different idea of what should be incorporated into their artwork. The Romans and Greeks believed in the concept of humanism. This is when art is primarily based on human-like structures rather than God-like in order to convey the reality of being human. An example of humanism in the culture of the Romans and Greeks would be the statue of Kouros. As stated in my previous blog post, This is an ancient sculpture representing the nude male youth in an upright stature. In Greek, the name Kouros even means ” youth, boy, especially of noble rank.”  The Kouros statue shows a nude male standing straight on both feet, one foot forward, and one foot backward. Anatomically when standing this way, it is quite uncomfortable, however, this was how the ideal male youth was depicted. It is also portrayed as nude because, in the Greek culture, nudity was deemed as prideful and as showing a sense of unimaginable strength.

From the creation of the Kouros figurine, comes the creation of the Kritios Boy and Polykleitos. As time went by, the standard of what a male should look like increased in stature. Broader shoulders were being depicted, as well, as a stronger core. The stance of the figure also changed since the Kouros. The Kourous had a very rigid stance, more of uncomfortable. The Polykleitos, on the other hand, had a very loose stance with one leg bent.

Another huge concept in which the Romans and Greeks have integrated into their artwork is human portraiture. This was a concept in which they believed that the human face should be shown as it is. The flaws of the face were specifically targeted in creating a bust.

With all these differences come subtle similarities between the two eras of artwork. Some of these similarities include the portrayal of individuals that symbolize a sort of power for the rest of civilization, diverging only in the way it is presented. One civilization presents it in the way of the Gods, and the other civilization presents it in the way of warriors, nudity or kings. Despite the differences or similarities, each piece of artwork has a great influence on modern day society. It has shaped the way we think, create, and utilize are artistic talent. Much of modern art has evolved from the basics of the Ancient world and it is amazing to understand the artistic evolution presented before me. Human creation will continue to learn from past artwork, and society will continue to be blessed with masterpieces.

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.