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.

Throughout this term we have learned the major differences between Ancient Greek, Ancient Egyptian and Ancient Roman artwork. The different strategies and the time periods of all forms of art have greatly impacted the display of the artwork. Although all three portray statues the way that these statues are articulated have created a line of differentiation amongst the two. All three, Ancient Egyptian, Ancient Roman and Ancient Greek artwork symbolize the different roles played in society during the coinciding time periods. In museums and pictures the statues display character and a certain poise while the three illustrate different aspects of the given time frames and the different societies. Although the three forms of art hold similarities, they differ in many ways.

Ancient Greek artwork is significant in articulating human like statues. They used human forms to display god like statues and display the traits of a dominating human. In Ancient Greek statues the representation of a man is shown to being strong, while displaying a feminine touch.

Ancient Roman artwork is significant for displaying different forms of art using marble, stone, glass, metal, etc. The main art forms that were projected were, sculptures, mosaics, paintings and architecture. Ancient Roman artwork is shown in many public areas such as parks, museums, buildings, etc.

Ancient Egyptian artwork is significant in portraying the image of gods. Ancient Egyptian artwork was surrounded by religion and the afterlife. They would fill tombs of Pharaohs with scriptures and paintings for their afterlife. The sculptures created during this time period mainly displayed the image of Pharaohs who were considered gods during that time period. The sculptures created by Ancient Egyptians were made of ivory, basalt, wood, gold and lime stone. The pyramids made during that time period were essentially supposed to the people who died and allow them to get a peaceful afterlife. Most Egyptian artwork displayed sculptures with no emotions and were largely proportioned.

Although these time periods have presented various forms of art, their artwork displays numerous similarities. They all display human like figures and are all presented in sculptures. The eyes, nose and certain physical features amongst all three: Ancient Greek, Ancient Roman and Ancient Egyptian art show distinctive traits as a human being. All three artworks display a dominant structure that essentially displays power and a higher or stronger being.

The differences amongst all three artworks are clearly shown through the different sculptures. Ancient Egyptian artwork revolves around the representation of god or a high power. Which was displayed through Pharaohs. Ancient Roman artwork revolved around the illustration of sculptures that were presented in different materials such as bronze, marble, glass, metal and stone. Ancient Greek sculptures show a dominant male who has feminine characteristics and is shown having a muscular image. Ancient Greek sculptures relate to how a human being looks, they show a feminine side by allowing the sculptures to show a slight slouch or a soft knee bend, etc.

           In Unit 2 we discussed the art of Ancient Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Greek, and Rome.  We looked at many artworks and compared different cultures and civilizations art. For instance, most Greek figures were influenced by animals and were occasionally created using different animal body parts. The Egyptians were further involved in creating countless monumental sculptures of their pharaohs and queens. Other than limestone the Egyptians also used painted wood and sandstone and later used gold and bronze to strengthen their sculptures, while Greeks would use marble and bronze. The difference in religious beliefs between the two time periods is the major difference because Egyptians had a very solid belief in the after-life and helping their dead find a better life after death whereas the Greeks lacked such belief. Ancient Greece borrowed various of their concepts from the Egyptians and Mesopotamians to improve their individual and independent artistic identity through painting, sculpture, and architecture. Though the Romans got many ideas from the Greeks, their art was more complex and defined. The Romans were a practical people, in their original works, the observation was key. One of significant difference between the two cultures is their approach towards art. The Greek was more philosophical and idealistic, while the Romans were more realistic and somehow extravagant in their approach to sculpture.

 

Examples:

The Narmer Palette is one of the most famous artworks of Ancient Egypt. The palette, which has a shield-shape, is decorated on both sides. Each side of the palette Narmer’s name is inscribed within a serekh flanked by two cows heads with the faces of human females which face forward. The top of the palette is garnished with what looks to be the illustration of the two-horned beast. Place on the very top or the Palette on the left and right top, this is also repeated on the back as well as the front. This creates a balance and symmetrical design. In the center of the two horned creatures is the emblem of Narmer’s name symbolically illustrated in a form of a serekh, adding to the symmetry. The Narmer Palette shows slight alterations of style from other works of art from that era. Within the carving itself, Narmer is illustrated, and positioned in an uncharacteristically, by strategically being placed in the center of the image, while illustrated to be larger, when compared to the rest of the composition, and illustrated figures.

Marble bust of a man is a roman artwork,  this bust is among the style of veristic portraits, because of their seemingly harsh and severe realism, which was emphasized above heroism or beauty. Because the Romans considered facial features to be the best conveyors of personality, age, and wisdom gained through long, hard years of life, these characteristics and features were emphasized in portraiture in order to portray the qualities they valued most highly.

Kuros is a Greek statue displaying a young standing male. It shows a great degree of naturalism, soft human form. The figure is nude, which in Greek art appreciatively represents the body. The scripture displays a standing figure, facing straight forward, and standing with its weight equally distributed on its two legs; avoids any twisting, turning, or bending. The repetition of shapes produces a decorative pattern, which is continued in details, such as in the curves of the eyebrow and eyelid, the shapes at the kneecaps, and at the elbows, to make it resemble the natural human figure.

 

    When the art in Mesopotamian, Ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman art are looked at together, you can identify the change from art depicting worship of Gods to art depicting the high potential of human beings, to verism. There is also evidence of each of these civilizations influencing one another showing the slow change towards humanism.

    Let’s start with Mesopotamia. There are one example of art depicting worship is the Statue of Gudea in 2150 BCE in Neo-Sumeria. It is a small stone figure built in such a way that it is built to be durable and last. It is the depiction of a ruler sitting down, praying to a God. Its eye wide open and arms clamped together show a devoted worshipper.

    The next example is is an art piece from Ancient Egypt. This was still a time of God worship, but large statues of rulers like the Pharaoh are pretty common.  These rulers were considered the link between their people and the Gods. They were in a sense worshiped like Gods themselves. Menkaure and Queen from 2490-2472 BCE is the Pharaoh and the Queen standing next to each other. It is also blocky like the Statue of Gudea but human sized. It is built to last and it’s reflected by the platform and the block it is connected to their backs.

    In Greek art, the first statue showing signs of Greek humanism is Kouros from 600 BCE. Greek humanism is to desire explanation for events in the nature world and to open up new possibilities for speculation. It mainly valued humanity and placed human experience as the center of events.

This is reflected in the statue because it is clearly the depiction of a standing man. But it still is not a naturalized human form. It is the idealized man with sense of perfection. It is not recognizable as a specific person. And it still has similarities to Mesopotamia and Egypt. Like the two pieces I mentioned, it is built to last and be durable. It is in a stiff standing pose that gives the stone strength, when you look at it closely the statue is very blocky that strengthens the stone even more.

A statue that represents humanism is the Roman copy of Polykleitos, Doryphoros from 450-440 BCE. This would have been made of bronze. I had a very natural standing pose, the detail of the statue isn’t blocky, it has a fleshy quality. It is still trying to show the idealized man in a humanistic way.

Lastly, there is Roman art. Their art was not the depiction of an idealized man. It was the depiction of a man in the truest sense, this is called Roman Portraiture. The example of this is a portrait bust of a man in 1st century B.C. This bust is clearly an old man with his wrinkles in full view. This because Roman portraiture features a accurate portrayal of a person’s’ face, a value in old age because it reflects wisdom, and that looking as you are is completely fine and not shameful at all.

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.