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Humanism in Greek and Roman Art

Humanism in art is the era in which the main focus of art shifted from deities to humans. Unlike Mesopotamian and Egyptian art, which focused more on gods and served to honor/respect them, Greek and Roman art was focused more on humans and more importantly how humans are at the center of moral and social concerns. Humanism isn’t just about the shift from of focus from deities to humans but it is also about humans trying to understand the world around them, trying to find explanations as to why events such as natural disasters occur. An example of Humanism can be seen when comparing Mesopotamian and Egyptian art to Greek and Roman art such as comparing the Standing Male Worshiper from Mesopotamia to Polykleitos, Doryphoros  from Rome. Although they are both statues that represent humans they are completely different.

The Standing Male Worshiper is a Mesopotamian statue made to honor a deity, its is used as a stand in for someone who when they are unable to pray to the deity. Since it was used only for worshiping deities there was no detail that can really be seen in the physical sculpture, the only detail that can be seen is the stylistic waves of the beard, the abnormally large eyes and nose with its small mouth and the basic detailing at the bottom of its robe. Unlike the Mesopotamian statue, the Roman statue was used to honor and represent the ideal male. Since Polykleitos, Doryphoros focuses more on humans it has a lot of more detailing on the human body. The hair is less stylistic and more natrualistic, the facial features are not only proportional to each other but also to the entire body of the sculpture, these features also seem to express some form of emotion, something that could not be seen in Mesopotamian art. Unlike in Mesopotamian art, Roman art is used to honor humans which is why most Roman art works are of nude men, it allows the artist to add detail to the actually body of the person such as giving them abs and defined muscle mass. Another major difference is the stance or each figure. most Mesopotamian works or art are of people standing completely straight without any sense of motion in their body which is completely different in Roman art in which there seems to be motion in all their artworks such as  Polykleitos, Doryphoros in which the man is leaning on his right leg instead of standing straight up.

Blog Post: Humanism in Greek and Roman Art

       

Humanism is the idea that humans can, and should, achieve all that they possibly can in life. It is a view of life which does not count upon any supernatural phenomenon or life after death. Humanism became more interested in themselves than in God influenced by Greeks and Romans studying philosophy and art. For the ancient Greeks, humanism in its many art forms involved the glorification of man as the most important subject in the universe, which is most evident within their sculptures. The Greeks believed that art served as an expression of perfection. Ancient Greeks captured and encapsulated the ideal image of human figures in sculptures. The male sculptures usually carried a muscular and athletic build.  The Greeks mostly portrayed their mythological gods in sculpture, to articulate the ideal form of beauty, strength, and power. As an example, the statue of Zeus or Poseidon, god of the sky, shows great stride and extends his left arm forward, while throwing the thunderbolt or the trident, which he held in his right hand. The Romans preferred a naturalistic approach. Their sculptors described historical events and individualized people. Roman sculptures departed from the idealism of the Greek era and captured the most realistic humanism of the figures. The Romans only idealized statues for their divine emperors.
In contrast, Egyptians focused on enshrining the dead and decorating the tombs while Mesopotamians created brightly colored figurines and boldly patterned bowls. They also depicted hierarchy in size, for instance, women are smaller than men. Egyptians display pictures of men and women equally. Both depicted animals on decorative columns. 
Egyptian sculptures and paintings followed a rigid formula for representing the human figure which is always depicted with a front view of the eye and shoulders and profile view of head, arms, and legs. In wall paintings, the surface is divided into horizontal bands separated by lines. The leg is turned to the same side as the head, with one foot placed in front of the other. The head is at right angles to the body. Statues are made of hard substances like granite and slate. The pose is always frontal and symmetrical, with arms close to the torso. Every figure whether in paintings or sculptures stands or sits with a formal, rigid posture.

Humanism In Greece

Humanism is the importance of emotional and physical aspects of human nature over the spiritual and metaphysical aspects. In Greek and Roman art, humanism had a significant influence on ancient Greece and Rome. Upon observing their art, the Greek and Romans placed more emphasis on the physical human condition. For instance, the sculpture Seated Boxer (100-50 BCE), shows the boxer in a moment of vulnerability. While his posture displays a look of content resting, his actual emotions are shown in his facial expression. Despite having no eyes, the position of his head and eyebrows gives an indication of tiredness and/or tiredness. Like most Greek and Roman art, the artists’ use of somewhat exaggerated facial expressions and body postures makes viewers concentrate more on how the subject is feeling and what they might be thinking. In doing so, the focal point is the human condition. In contrast, ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian used religion as the focal point of most of their art. The majority of their art included important deities and other supernatural subjects such as the afterlife and the divine.  Artwork such as the Statue of Gudea (2150 BCE) and the Last Judgement of Hunefer showcases the topic of the metaphysical. The Statue of Gudea shows Gudea in a non-threatening and open position. Along with crown on his head, we can conclude that he has the backing on the divine and leads through listening and understanding. The Last Judegement of Hunefer displays Hunefer’s judgement. The illustrations of deities associated with death and the afterlife and his interactions with them shows that the subject of afterlife is illustrated in this scroll. From these two ancient artworks, ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia believed religious and spiritual situations were more important in their everyday lives compared to ancient Greece and Rome who held humanism as important to their everyday lives.

Humanism in Greek and Roman Art

Humanism is a philosophical system that highlights the importance and value of human beings rather than divine/supernatural matters. It has various characteristics. First it sought rational thinking, to look for explanations in the natural world. Thus encouraging the use of critical thinking leaving space for new speculations. It also placed human beings in the center of moral and social concerns. In terms of art it focused on the beauty of humans mainly man. It did this through the use of nudity in art.

Greek and Roman art illustrates a major difference in art as opposed to Egyptian art. Humanism if greatly found in Greek and Roman art through the nude sculptures of young man and the occasional nude of Aphrodite all showing the real beauty in human anatomy. While Egyptian art is greatly God centered often showing human bodies with animal features. Placing emphasis on divine power rather human acts.

Riace Warrior A. 460 – 450 BCE

Horus

As seen in the images above there a big differences in the sculpture of a Race warrior there are real human features like muscle, hair, body structure. While in the image of Horus it a God with both human and animal features. A falcons head and human body. However the body is very lean no real muscles can be seen. There is a greater focus on the divine being rather than its human features.

Humanism In Greek Art

 

Humanism refers to Greek art and literature, it was important in the Renaissance period. In the most part, art had brought color, perspective, and realism.  Greeks were not interested in the surrounding reality, in social and political life, they rather represent their world through the vision and imagination of the artist and the aesthetic standards of the time, responding to represent their surrounding environment and the image of the man in a particular way.

One of the ancient Greek art was named kore or korai refers to statues depicting female figures, always of a young age, which was created during the Archaic period (600 – 480 BCE)   Kore statues were almost always standing, in a forward pose with the leg extended slightly forward (rarely with feet together), and with one hand pulling their dress as if not to step on it. The free hand was holding an offering to the god or goddess they served

Humanism Blog

Humanism is the emphasizes the value of human beings instead of divine or supernatural matters.  Humans have started to become the main focus instead of the gods and goddesses.  This system was most common in Ancient Greek Art era and showed the parts of humans that were most valuable.  The art was focused on detailed parts of human beings instead of the different types of appearances the gods and goddesses may have had.

In Greek and Rome art, statues of gods and goddesses had more features of a human being.  They emphasize the body of men and their structure with facial expressions and their poses.  In the, it has very detailed parts of mankind for example, hair, muscle, facial expressions, etc.  It showed that even though the gods were worshiped, they still look like humans.  Nudity was also important to Greek humanism.  They embrace the nudity to show that everyone was equal, no matter where one stood socially, the human being physical structure was the same.

Mesopotamian and Egyptian art, however, focused more on hierarchy with the gods and the humans.  They portrayed through their artwork that god and goddesses were much more powerful than other beings. Therefore, when shown in an artwork they were not shown as human beings.  Gods and goddesses had heads the same as animals and the body of a man.  In the painting of Anubis, he is a god with a jackal head.  This shows how god and man were not be equal because the gods had a special appearance.  The reason being was to show the power they had over humans and that the gods were superior.

(Painting of Anubis)

Egypte – Photo © Richard Soberka – http://www.photoway.com/

(The Kouros figure)

Humanism in Greek

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.

Blog Post #7: Humanism in Greek and Roman Art

Humanism is a philosophical ideal found in the Classical Era in Ancient Greece, later copied by the Roman empire. This philosophy referred to as humanism, was a major shift in society in which society was no longer “God-centered.” The function of society as we have spoken of in the Mesopotamian and Egyptian epochs was religious centered on pleasing and gaining the favor of the Gods; everything revolved around the Gods. Humanism is the shift of this societal function to revolve around men (literally).

In Greek and Roman art, this philosophy was easily distinguished in their marble and bronze sculptures of nude males. These sculptures are highly mimetic and naturalistic in an attempt to be faithful to the human anatomy. In fact, these sculptures, during the classical period gave little importance to emotion or cognitive expressions. Also other than being faithful to the anatomy they idealized beauty in these artworks. This is shown in the comparison we spoke of in class.

The first the Kouros of Attica, a sculpture from Egypt (as a precursor for Greek’s bronze works) is rigid and not as mimetic as the Greek’s adaption of the nude male. The anatomy is not as detailed although it is as rigid as the Anavysos Kouros. This Kouros, derived from the Egyptian Kouros, is much more evolved in terms of anatomy and idealized beauty. This ideal is then adapted into artwork such as the Doryphoros, in which muscle is toned and polished almost in a modern athletic manner and the man is much more idealized. His face is slightly thoughtful and his poise is contrapposto. The evolution of this philosophy through history is shown through these sculptures.

Humanism in Greek and Roman Art

Humanism is an ancient idea that is still very current today. It is the idea that man is the center and everything revolves around it.  Man is basically the sun.  Humans’ needs are the most important.  This idea is very obvious within Roman and Greek art. Their art is very different than the art of the rest of the world, specifically Egyptian art.

Since Humanism is all about man, their [Greeks and Romans] art was made to honor man.  Egyptian art was made for after life and Deities, they served a purpose for a greater being(s).  One of the major differences between the two types are that the Greeks and Romans honor and love the human form, which means that most, if not all, of their art has people naked. They enjoy the look of the nude body so that’s what their art is; many, many naked people.  The Egyptians are making art for a higher power so they don’t need to show off the body, especially since being naked wasn’t as amazing as it was in Greece and Rome, who literally did everything in the nude.

Egyptians also used a lot of animal figures for higher representation of things, but Romans and Greeks believed that there is nothing higher that a human body.

For example, the Egyptian painting of Anubis.  He is clothed and portrayed with the head of a dog to signify something.  Many times he was painted on the inside of a coffin to protect the soul.  Then the Greeks/Romans had Kroisos, a nude sculpture of a boy.  It was also used for a death, but was shown loud and proud to mark the grave.

 

 

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.

Kroisos from Anavysos is an art piece that is very detail orientated. Although it is a statue of a man you can clearly see the details that portray the elements of  humanism.  While looking at this statue you can see the toes, fingers, hair, eyes , nose, expression and posture. This statue seems to be in a completely natural state Where it shows that this statue was not for a religious purpose it was just an actual person who was more than likely modeling for the artist.

Anubis an art piece 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.