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Unit 2 Summary

The culture of what is called the ‘near east’ had a kind of reverence for the mythical. In that they were much the equivalents of ants from the perspective of personified nature. Much of their art reflected their focus on appeasing the forces of nature. The Babylonian Map of the World was used to represent mythological figures through an approximate mapping of the ‘near east’.

Unlike the ‘near east’, Egypt as a whole is easier to refer to as a singular entity. Egyptian art served the purpose of the mythological: much the same as the cultures of the ‘near east’ (this is my first example). However, their relationship with their divinity–while still stressed–was more personal. Much of their crafts served some ceremonial purpose that most citizens took part in. Most abundant of these crafts being the assortment of funeral ornamentation. Being that divinity and all things spiritual were so interwoven with the Egyptian sense of self: artists were focused more on the abstract–the idea of things (Hard stone group statue of Ramses II with Osiris, Isis, and Horus ).

Greece’s mythology took a humanistic approach. The mythological figures are often some exaggerated expression of human nature. Greece, while having a varying amount of styles in their art, is most prominently known for their focus on realism. The Greeks had greater inspiration in the spirit and potential of humanity: with a fondness for portraying reality as is. While Mycenaean art still took after much of what came before with Egypt ((Kouros) this is my second example): Greece would eventually become synonymous with realism (Doryphoros).

Rome took much of its inspiration from Greece but Roman craftsmen would still appreciate the use of un-detailed figures for the sake of a theme/concept ((Ludovisi Battle Sarcophagus) this is my third example).

All these cultures are super cool. They all have similarities. They also have lots of differences. It all makes me wonder if the united states will be around for something as long as five thousand years. Perhaps I am looking at it wrong: an America of a different name will exist.

It truly makes me wonder in awe at the kind of time and effort it took to build such constructs as the pyramids. The Colosseum is also such a huge undertaking. Christianity apparently took of real huge by the time Rome was a shambling corpse. Christianity is a huge religion; religion is huge. Makes me wonder how things got so huge in so small a time.

Unit 2 Summary

 

In this unit, we focused on the artwork of ancient civilizations such as the Ancient Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Mesopotamia. Although there are many similarities between these ancient civilization artworks, there are also many differences. During the Ancient Egyptian period, most of the artwork is revolved around on religions, god/goddess, and place importance in animals, as time progresses to Ancient Greek and Roman period, there is more emphasis on humanism art.  

 

Ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian art was mainly focused on the Gods and Goddesses, and certain animals which heavily depicted around their religion. They believed in how in the afterlife the god/goddess can help guide those who passed, and the more important a person is such as a pharaoh or the more decorative their coffin is. During this period Ancient Egyptian art mostly consist of statues, tablets, amulets, little trinkets with animals such as the hippopotami, baboons, calves, cats, dogs and more. Most of the Egyptian artworks were made to appease towards the afterlife, and there is a heavy emphasis on using gold, and colors that reflect with their belief. Although these some of the Egyptian pieces may have resembled humanism features, they were more oriented towards religious belief.  

 

In Roman art, they place heavy emphasis on bronze, metal, marble, glass…etc, and they also believe their art is not the depiction of an idealized man, but it was the depiction of a man in the truest sense, which is called Roman Portraiture. The Roman Portraiture also features an accurate portrayal of a person’s face, and appreciate older face because it reflects on wisdom gained through long hard years. An example of that is the Roman marble sculpture of a man head. A bust is an old man with wrinkles, and this portrays the realism and humanism in their art. The Romans also took inspirations from the Greeks, and many of their artwork are forms for sculptures, architectures, paintings, and mosaics.

Ancient Greece is the most similar to Egyptian arts because of the emphasis a lot of god/goddess, although that is mostly where their similarities end. While the Egyptians display harsh and fierce looks on their statues/sculptures, the Grecians have a more softer and feminine feature. The Greek artwork also had a more philosophical and idealistic approach towards their art and sculptures. The Ancient Greek sculpture also shows a dominant male with feminine characteristics with no harsh features, and although the Ancient Greek art likes to show a more feminine feature for their sculpture, they also put a humanism twist by making the body portions and features manly and accurate.

unit 2 summary

Unit 2 was about the emergence from art being more symbolic and representative of the ruling class to being more literal and representative of the common individual.  Despite this change, art still retained its emphasis on symbolism, only its treatment of it was different.  In the beginning of the unit, Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia was the focus.  The ruling class was depicted in its art and the way art was handled remained the same in these societies for hundreds of years, with a ruler revolutionizing the art form every now and then before art would return back to how it always was.  In these early societies, rulers and gods were always depicted as larger than the civilians and neither the civilians or their superiors were ever rendered in a realistic fashion.

The unit moved on to a visit at the Brooklyn Museum.  During the exploration of the Soul of A Nation exhibit, we were tasked with the examination of a work of art as well as an examination of an ancient work of art.  Although it wasn’t part of the assignment, it was very easy to explain how different art has become within our world.  The Soul of A Nation was completely comprised of art that focused on the individual and the power and depth of the common man.  This is in sharp contrast with the ancient art we described.  Although there were many other exhibits such as Syria Then and Now: Stories from Refugees a Century Apart, One: Do Ho Suh, Half the Picture: A Feminist Look at the Collection, Something to Say: Brooklyn Hi-Art! Machine and many more, Soul of A Nation stood out the most to me.  I like the fact that it acknowledged that there are different types of nations (this one being a cultural one) that may not be visible to everyone else but still exists nonetheless.  It felt like something that someone within this nation could instantly understand and feel at home with.

The unit continued on with the change to Greek and Roman art.  Although there was a focus on rulers (the depictions of Augustus Caesar and Julius Caesar were important pieces of art from the Roman world), much of the focus was placed on the commoner.  People with normal day jobs and day jobs that didn’t pay much money were depicted and with great honor and detail.  This was due to the rise in the humanist philosophy.  The focus was placed more on man as being powerful as opposed to gods or the ruling class.  Symbols used to show power were no longer symbols of the gods but were instead the symbols of man.  Realism was created to show this power; the more realistic the art, the more praise is given to mankind.  This philosophy is related to how art is used today, as seen in the modern exhibits from the Brooklyn museum.  Our philosophy always bleeds into the art we create whether we are aware of it or not.

Unit 2 Summary

The Ancient World is a mass and expansive subfield within Art History. It is here in unit 2 of our class where we delve further into the art of this Ancient World. We are taking a closer look at the art that has shaped Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. In analyzing the art of each of these civilizations, we are able to conceptualize them better and overall gain a better understanding of their ways of life, values and ideals. We have learned what is unique to the art of each of these civilizations as well as what common ground they share amongst one another.

Ancient Egypt contrasts a little more sharply when comparing it to the latter art of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. This contrast is accounted for in recognizing that the purpose of Ancient Egypt’s art was mainly divine worship, which isn’t predominantly seen in Greece and Egypt. For the Ancient Egyptians however, art was a way for them to worship the divine in order to ensure that their Gods and Goddesses would reward them not only in this life but in the afterlife as well. They often carried around small statues made out of limestone so that if they didn’t have time to extensively pray, these statues stood in place for them and acted as that prayer. They were usually designed with large eyes and ears to portray that the Egyptians were paying close attention to their divinities. Statues of gods, royalty, as well as the elite weren’t uncommon in Ancient Egypt and worked to “convey an idealized version of that individual” (Ancient Egyptian Art, by Dr. Amy Calvert). Ancient Egyptian statues, at least those of stone, were always respectfully clothed, and mainly were non expressive and rigid. Wood and metal statues, however, allowed the Egyptians to be more expressive in their art. Moving away from statues, two dimensional Ancient Egyptian art are vital to mention. In Ancient Egyptian paintings we see registers, which help depict hierarchy, hunting scenes, or instructions for the afterlife.

What makes art from Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome so different from that of Ancient Egypt is the fact that the concept of humanism was introduced and implemented in both of these civilizations. Instead of divine worship being the prime agent of change to make things happen, humanism is the belief that Man instead is the prime agent for change to make things happen. It is now Man who is the center of cosmological order and the ultimate recipient of blame due to their greater ability to make social and materialistic change. Inspired by this new way of thinking art in Ancient Greece and Ancient, we see a change in the way that art is being made. The human body is not vulnerable in a bad way that we go to the otherworldly representations.

In Ancient Greece we see an emphasis on naturalism, anatomy and movement-an emphasis on what it is that Man can do. Even when we see depictions of something otherworldly (such as Gods and Goddesses) within Ancient Greek art, these Gods and Goddesses even  look more and more like humans (no animal heads for them like in Ancient Egypt). These Gods and Goddesses interact with people as well as take on human traits (such as vanity and jealousy). Ancient Greeks (and Ancient Romans) felt that human beings were of great value. This is reflected substantially so in Ancient Greek statues, which were all originally made in bronze (eventually melted down to only be later replicated in marble by the Romans). In Ancient Greek statues we see an emphasis of physicality and facial expressions that even depict personality. These statues are mainly nude, as the Ancient Greeks took pride in nudity and the human body, much different from the Ancient Egyptians who would’ve felt embarrassed of such a thing. Ancient Greece is more anatomically accurate as well, the statues are much more like us, existing in our space and moving into it. Unlike the rigidness of Ancient Egypt, in Ancient Greece there is a sense of movement. Once the Ancient Greeks decided they were bored with creating statues that idealized the human body, they moved onto capturing motion and emotion better.

Ancient Roman art follows Ancient Greek art quite closely in the way that it focuses on the same concept of humanism. Much like Ancient Greece, Ancient Roman statues breathed life and had movement to them that emphasized the importance of humanity. Unlike the Ancient Greek’s though, Ancient Roman’s didn’t focus on portraying an ideal and perfect beauty through their work. Instead Ancient Romans found that it was important

 

Blog Post #8: Unit Summary 2 (Ancient World)

The Ancient World showed the progression of art beginning with Egypt, onto to Greece and then into Rome. In Egypt, animals and human were much more “abstract” in comparison to the progression of human sculpture in Ancient Greece. Egypt revolved around pleasing the Gods, so naturalism, although present, was not as accurate or important in their artwork. In fact, if you compare Kouros of Attica (Egypt Sculpture of a young boy) in comparison to Greek Anavysos Kouros, the Egyptian sculpture is much more rigid and less anatomically detailed. Anavysos is much more refined and progressively naturalistic. This reflects the philosophy presented by the Greek and later adopted by the Romans, known as humanism. Humanism was the shift of a God-centered society in a Man-centered society.

The fixated interest on naturalism, especially of the male body, reflected these beliefs and caused a trend of improving this naturalism of the human body in their artwork. Although there are few Greek bronze sculpture left to show this progression, Romans exclusively transduces Greek bronze artwork into marble. This marble showed a much more human-like posture known as contrapposto and the increased use of the S-curved body that help push this idealized body. In fact, this desire to push the limits of idealistic bodies progressed into the famous Hellenistic period which shifted from perpendicular art into diagonal and emphasized emotion, action and the humanistic ideas. In fact, it was beyond an ideal body and control, but the naturalism of a human in both body and psychology. This can be shown in the major difference between The Dying Gaul and the Doryphoros. Although the Doryphoros tries to capture human psychology and has contrapposto, The Dying Gaul captures the emotion of a dying man, leaning on one hand while almost lying down and in a diagonal position. This is a much more theatrical storytelling piece than the Doryphoros which is just a showing of an athletic idealized man.

Romans then move on from copying Greek sculpture and progress into portraiture, in order to show that art is much more than deception, but can show the truth. This is called Verism and was developed after the criticism of Plato in Plato’s Republic in which he calls art deceitful and fake. Therefore, artwork progressed into a tool for many customs, but always in a naturalistic form. In fact, much like the Egyptians, Romans used art for funerary rituals. The difference was that Roman artwork was the epitome of naturalism. The Roman Patrician with the bust of his Ancestors, in comparison to Tutankhamun’s Death Mask, is much more naturalistic and representative of the man holding his ancestor’s death mask. Tutankhamun’s Death Mask is much more symbolistic. It is not to say that Romans did not use are in to idealize or refine an idea. Much like Greece for humanism, Augustus Caesar used art to portray power; almost as propaganda with a political purpose. I could continue on (Roman Art Paintings, Ara Pacis Augustae), but in conclusion, although art did progress there was a period of regression when many cult religious were introduced as the Roman empire increased in size.

Unit 2 Summary

Throughout  this unit we have learned about different cultures and expressions of art.  In ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia art was formed to show the gods and kings how much the common civilians worships them. Through the art you can see the different socioeconomic status’s of the common civilian. Such as the common civilian would seem to be smaller compared to the king/god. The statues that the common civilian would put out to take place for their worship would have extremely huge eyes which would make it seem like it is not a humane thing to have. In contrast artwork in Ancient Greece put an emphasis on humanism. Greek art is portrayed to capture the movements and realism of humans.

Unit 2 started off with a trip to the Brooklyn Museum has many collections that one can view. These collections consist of Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power, Syria, Then and Now: Stories from Refugees a Century Apart, One: Do Ho Suh, Half the Picture: A Feminist Look at the Collection, Something to Say: Brooklyn Hi-Art! Machine, Deborah Kass, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, and Hank Willis Thomas, Cecilia Vicuña: Disappeared Quipu,Rob Wynne: FLOAT, Infinite Blue, The Brooklyn Della Robbia, Arts of Korea, American Art, A Woman’s Afterlife: Gender Transformation in Ancient Egypt, European Art,Ancient Egyptian Art, Assyrian Art, The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago, Decorative Arts and Period Rooms, Visible Storage ▪ Study Center, Life, Death, and Transformation in the Americas, Williamsburg Murals: A Rediscovery and Steinberg Family Sculpture Garden. The collection that piqued my interest the most is Arts of Korea.

The Pair of Boy Attendants, Korea Joseon Dynasty is an art piece that stood out to me. This art piece The Pair of Boy Attendants, Korea Joseon Dynasty has soft lines, bright colors, and is a three dimensional statue.  The Pair of Boy Attendants, Korea Joseon Dynasty are usually called dongjas. These dongjas would be placed at buddist sculpture dieties to show that the donjgas are bringing gifts. While one of the boys is carrying a turtle the other boy is assumed to be carrying a tray of food. The colors primarily used in the sculptures are very light although if you look at the head and the feet they are a dark color. This contrasts with the white skin. The clothing on the statue is very detailed. When you look on the sleeve you can see the creases of the top, which makes it seem like that the shirt was a little too long or baggy. On the statue it’s very hard to see the turtle. It seems to blend in with the boys top. While the other boys tray does not blend in with his top that significantly it is the same color as the boys top. Both of the boys have very straight lines on their hands where you can see their fingers. The two boys have very faint curved eyebrow lines and ruby red lips which contrasts against their pale skin.

We then continued the unit with humanism in Greek and Roman art. Humanism is an ideology that believes values and needs are more important then religious beliefs. Humans are suppose to ignore their needs and desires and work on creating their own set of ethics. Humanism emphasized on what the human was capable of. Humanism in Greek and Roman art were portrayed through creating a central focus on human art. Throughout Greek and Roman art work the ideologies of the Renaissance were portrayed in every aspect. The Renaissance was a period where there was emphasize on classical learning, human potential , and achievements. When looking at Greek and Roman art they seem to be stuck in a moment. This means that there is so much detail in the art of the Greek and Roman that it seems like they or on pause and you can figure out exactly what their purpose is and motive is. Greek and Roman art was usually portrayed in nudity which showed the confidence they had with their bodies. In contrast, humanism in Mesopotamian art and Egyptian art were used for the worship of kings and gods. Although they would have human like features their would be emphasis on the bulging eyes to let the kings and gods know that how devoted they were to them. Their art work was usually covered in clothing and loins to glorify their modesty, since nudity was frowned upon. While art in Ancient Greek and Rome was used to glorify the athleticism and sports whereas in Mesopotamian art and Egyptian art were used to devote their attention to religion.

Anubis an art piece that I very much enjoyed is from Egyptian art that has a head of of a jackal and the body of a man and is the god of the dead. Anubis weighs your heart to a feather. This is to see if your sins weigh more or less than a feather. The whole aspect of sinning comes from religion. That we please god by NOT sinning. Mesopotamian and Egyptian Art also show the hierarchy and the social status with the pharaoh shown to be the biggest and on the top while accompanied by his followers who are of similar or smaller size and the slaves which are the smallest and the lowest.

Through this summary we learned about the different cultures and how they portray their art. Either through the mixture of animal like features or the captivity of the human body.

Unit 2 Summary

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.

unit 2 summary

 

The art produced by the ancient world is very significant in understanding the way society operated during those times. In class the three, civilizations that we studied were, Egypt,  and Greece

The art produced by Egypt displayed that the qualities of power as well as the after life, were incredibly important to them. Egypt often had statues of and paintings of the beings that they viewed as powerful. the first being being the ruler of Egypt, the king, the pharaoh. often times statutes of the pharaohs were mad to honor and display the power of the ruler. the status would show the rulers decked out in all there royal attire, while sitting or standing upon their throne looking into the distance. Sometimes the statues or paintings didn’t only show the ruler ” ruling” per say, but often displayed actions of power. Other stone carvings produced by ancient Egypt show the Pharaoh conquering other human beings in war, displaying no threat to hinder his strength. the main reason why there was such an emphasis on the power held by the pharaoh was because, they rulers of Egypt were closely connected to the important after life.  the afterlife in ancient Egypt was the notion that if any one person lived a balanced life and pleased the gods, they would be allowed to leave a joyful eternal life alongside the gods that have went on before them. Pharaohs were considered to be gods on earth, so striving to display the god’s powers one of many ways to please them.

    the process of the afterlife depicted in ancient Egypt art
pharaoh and his wife on their throne.

The picture above depicts the journey of a scribe who in undergoing the process of the after life.He interacts with a serious of various gods (all in charge of various task) who judge whether or not he has lived a balanced life. The scribe passes all the test and is introduced to the ” god of all gods” if you will ( who may I point out was once a pharaoh on earth.) Its amazing how  the Egyptians were able to interlock various beliefs and values into beautiful pieces of art.

The art that came from ancient Greece was similar in the fact that they exalted the power stemming from their culture. just like ancient Egypt The people of Greece displayed the power in their culture that they were most proud of through their art work. however unlike ancient Egypt the power that was displayed by ancient greece didn’t exalt gods per say, must exalted the power of the man, the human.

statue of a young warrior in Ancient Greece society

Humanism was the notion of celebrating the strengths snd qualities of that the human has displayed, rather than I’ve all the credit for advancement in society to gods. The base of  the art in ancient Greece was humanism. The statues as the one displayed above showed how fearless and bold the humanism movement was in this society. here we see a young warrior/ athlete who is in shape in a lounging position. Instead of clothing this man, the sculptors decided to leave him with everything display. The reason for that being, other cultures were typically despised baring it all, and sometimes looked on nudity as shameful. the Ancient Greece culture however thought the exact opposite of nudity. The viewed it as a symbol of pride and strength. This explaining why their are multiple statues resembling the one above. In promoting true humanism in their society, ancient Greece discarded that their art would symbolize everything they believed in, unless ALL the qualities and features of them human were celebrated.

Blog Post: Unit 2 Summary

The past few months we have examined different art works and their relevant history in Ancient civilization such as Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greek, and Roman. All of these civilizations had many things in common, but also many differences.

For example, both Ancient Mesopotamia and Ancient Egyptian art shared the value of Gods. The Gods were the main focus of art for these civilizations, but were expressed in different ways and had visible physical differences. In Ancient Mesopotamia, the Gods were worshipped extensively as a way to avoid bad fortune. This civilization believed that if bad things were to happen to the community, for example bad crops, then this was because they were not pleasing the Gods enough. Statuettes were made, such as the Standing Male Worshipper, as a way to show the Gods that even though they were working or doing other everyday activities, they were still worshipping and praying to the Gods. When looking at this statue, some “identifiers” of Mesopotamian art are big eyes, long hair organized in a uniform manner, and hands folded in prayer. In Ancient Egypt, the Gods were worshipped as well and played a huge part in the civilizations narrative, but we begin to see more sculptures and artwork regarding Pharaohs, who were considered to be the mediators between the Gods and the people. When looking at Ancient Egyptian art, specifically Menakure and Queen we begin to see some differences. For example, although the similarity is that both sculptures are clothed, one important thing to note is the fact that the Pharaohs feet do not touch the ground, this was to signify that he was above the people and closer to the Gods in social class. This sculpture is also more polished.

Moving on to Greek and Roman art, there are many similarities that arise then there is a shift to new differences as new eras arise. During Greek and Roman Art, there began to be a new emphasis on Humanism, which is focusing and emphasizing on the human as the main object of the world instead of the Gods. In addition to that, Humanism focuses on the human beliefs, values, and individuality. Humanism can be seen in Discobolus, in which the physical human body is clearly emphasized. In strong contrast to the previous artworks that were mentioned, this sculpture portrays the naked human body. The Greeks saw the human body as something to take pride in and to value, and instead of using headpieces and other things to signify power, they allowed the human body to signify power and strength. Lastly, we delved in to the history of the Roman Republic which once again showed a change in the expression of artwork. The Roman Republic still fixated on humanism, but now emphasized verism which means truth-telling. Verism was used to show the Roman Republic’s value of age, wisdom, and real human emotion/personality traits. For example, looking at this sculpture, we see that this man does not have a polished face to show youth, which can be seen in previous Greek and Roman art, instead we see effort to make the man’s face have very noticeable wrinkles. The Roman’s wanted to display age because it was now deeply valued and age meant that someone had a lot of wisdom to give. In this sculpture, we also see emotion, but not dramatic emotion. In this era emotions displayed in the artworks were more realistic and in-tune with a person’s own personality traits. In this sculpture, we could simply say that man just seems ill-tempered or grumpy.

Summary of Unit 2

In unit 2 of this semester, we learned about art in ancient civilizations such as Mesopotamia, Greece, Egypt, & Rome. Each of these places depicted either gods as the central figure or humans (human body). Specifically, Greek & Roman art had an emphasis on humans, whereas, the focal point of Ancient Egyptian & Mesopotamian art were gods & goddesses. One main commonality between all these is that each of the art pieces gives us an idea of what the civilizations were like during that era. It lets us know what was important and honored in that time. There was gradual change toward humanism. There was more detail of human characteristics were placed on the sculptures. Typically, these sculptures were sculptures of nude men to shed light on the beauty of the human body. An emphasis is put on the human body by the different poses and facial expressions seen on the sculptures.

Ancient Greek art had a major influence on Roman art. For example, the art piece known as Doryphoros (spear bearer) is a copy by the Romans of the original made by a Greek sculptor, Polykleitos. This art piece, as seen in the image below, portrays a nude man standing in a cocky pose with his arm raised and one foot in the back. His body is built, muscular with broad shoulders and a six pack. The Romans made small changes and added touches of humor to the original Greek art pieces, where they had a more of a somber element in their artwork.

In the Republican period of Rome, art was depicted by showing the facial expressions that convey emotion and personality of the patrons and their service. This is unlike in the first art piece where the man didn’t have much of a facial expression because the human body was the central focus of the sculpture. This art piece, which is from the mid 1st century that shows a marble bust of a man with a wrinkly forehead, bald head, large nose, an angry looking face with his eyebrows facing down, depicted in the image below. This art piece demonstrated the hard work put into the republic as service or as a leader of the community.

As mentioned earlier, the main focus in Ancient Egyptian & Mesopotamian art were the gods. In Ancient Egyptian art, the gods weren’t even depicted as humans, but animals. Well, not only animals, such as in Anubis. In Anubis (image on the right), as seen in the image below, the art piece shows a human body with an animal head, specifically a jackal. In the artwork showing the Ammit, which means “devourer of the dead” (image on the left), the body was consists of 3 animals, which include a lion, hippopotamus, and crocodile. These three animals were known in Ancient Egypt as “man-eating” animals. These artworks were meant to honor and respect the gods. These two artworks show that the gods were important and superior to humans during that time. They were depicted in a special way with animalistic features to represent dominance. In the art pieces that represented humanism, humans were important over supernatural and divine.