Comparing Roman and Greek Art Essay example

The ancient Greeks believed in a strong mind and a strong body. Their celebration of the physical beauty and ability of the human body can be seen in their sculpture, writings, and sporting events. The physical beauty of the human body is shown in the marble sculpture “Kraisos” (Benton and DiYanni 64). The sculpture shows a male with a defined muscular mid-section, broad shoulders, and thick legs. There is more detail and a more natural appearance in this sculpture compared to a similar statue from approximately 60 years earlier. The face of the sculpture is realistic and the left foot is forward, as seen in Egyptian sculpture. The art of thought was established by the philosophers of ancient

Greek and Roman culture, although similar, are very different and interesting. Since the Romans adopted culture from the Greeks, many traditions are the same. When the Romans conquered the Hellenistic cities, they became fascinated with the idea of a Greek style of doing things. All things Greek were now considered popular. This is how much of the Greek way of life made its way into the Roman society.

Hellenistic art was engaged more on perfection of the human frame, accuracy and detail. Models from Greek times looked more God-like than human. Hellenic art depended on the new thought of authenticity. Hellenic figures were molded into sensible, blamed human structures. Art in the Hellenic world art epitomized richness, cheerful nature, and coarse with. Marble statues and reliefs described human greatness and sensuality. Art in Hellenistic world emphasize extraordinary naturalism and unashamed luxury. Art in Hellenistic and Hellenic showed feelings and other components filled with different

The capacity of a society to produce art is, in effect, an exercise of its power. It is through the presence of affluence that a nation is capable of focusing not solely upon survival, but the development and proliferation of culture, of which art is a central element. The Greek and Roman Empires will be explored from this perspective. Herein, the way in which the power of these two empires was exemplified through the art they were capable of producing will be explored in-depth herein.

As art movements have progressed through time an emphasis on intellectualism, politics and spiritualism has taken center stage along the Mediterranean. The Romans promoted Athenian identity through their use of views on vitality through sculpture and relief mainly because of their spiritual belief that their gods could physically manifest themselves. The Romans also took special interest in intellectualism because of influential philosophers and mathematicians of the time and is also reflected in their constructions. The Greeks later expanded on these Roman ideals and took the emphasis on political hegemony to the next step and used their works to promote their rulers and unify the people as supreme saviors.

The Roman Republic period is famous for many events, people, and histories. In fact, there have been numerous excavations in which a variety of pottery, paintings, mosaics, statues, and coinage have been discovered from the Republic era of Rome. These numerous items have been analyzed and written about for the propose of identifying their beauty and creation during the time in which they were made. However, one thing it is not as well known for is propaganda that is seen through various forms of artwork created during this period. However, while there might be slight hints in artwork created during the republic area, it is not an area on which many historians have addressed in great depth with specific artworks.

The Emergence of Greek artwork dates back to the third millennium where the Statuette of a Woman is found and develops through the 300 b.c. The arrival of Greek art work began a dichotomy of Greek artist which developed through the ideas of the Greek view of the gods and their myths. This split caused Greek citizens to see artists as either demi gods beyond reproach or imposters that needed to be carefully controlled and could not be trusted. It also caused Greeks to view art as either superior or inferior to them but never equal to them. This dichotomy was never reconciled during the era of Greek artwork, and can only be reconciled through a Biblical view of an artist and his or her work.

In the Roman Empire time period their views on art and religion where completely different from other artist .In this time period the romans believed that if you have a copy of an artwork it doesn’t give it a lesser value that to have the original.. It was also viewed the same for their religion most of the Roman gods and goddesses were a mixture of several religious influences such as Greek Etruscans or Latin tribes. In their mind they are just building off of different influences and add their style and changes whether it be religion or art forms. Be that as it may, the Roman craftsman was not just replicating, but transforming the Greek art into Roman art .There capacity to adjust, proselyte, and combine makes Roman art

The path from Hellenistic to Roman art is continuous. Etruscan and Judaic influences can be seen in this evolution which follows the established pattern of continuity and transformation. The following discussion will provide a few examples of art that illustrate this evolution from Hellenistic to a unique Roman art form.

On the other hand, the Kritios Boy Statue from century 480 B.C. is much more organic with a more fluid body stance. Never before had a sculptor been concerned with depicting how a human being, as opposed to a stone image, actually stands. Real people do not stand in the stiff form of the kouroi and korai. Humans shift their weight and the region of the main body parts around the vertical but flexible axis of the spine. The muscular and skeletal structures are depicted with freely lifelike accuracy, with the rib cage naturally expanded as if in the act of breathing, with a collected and calm demeanor and hips, which are distinctly narrower. The artist of this image was the first to grasp this fact and represent it in statuary. The head also turns slightly to the right and tilts,

Italian art consisted primarily of architectural decorations (frescoes and mosaics). Byzantine art in Italy was a highly formal and refined decoration with a standardized calligraphy and an admirable use of color and gold. However, with the fall of its western capital, the Roman Empire continued for another 1000 years. Byzantine artisans were used in important projects throughout Italy and Byzantine styles of painting. Therefore, the Gothic periods marks a transition from the medieval to the Renaissance and are characterized by the styles and attitudes nurtured by the influence of the Dominican and Franciscan. Arts of the late 15th century and early 16th century were dominated by three men. They were Michelangelo, Raphael, and Leonardo da

Another difference that these artworks have is how they were interpreted or seen by the people of their time, for the Nike figure she was just seen as a piece that you put on the prow of your ship and used as a physical object to communicate to the Roman god. For hearing your prayers and answering them, she was only used for times of war which to me seems like she had little or no potential of being something more than that, because in roman religion, the gods were sort of like dictators in how they wanted things and when they wanted them. But to me Nike the goddess doesn’t seem to radiate that type of power. The sculpture is more of like a free-flowing type of thing, I mean the way her dress is draped to body as if soaked in water but its

When looking back at the history of any subject or topic, there are certain evolutionary growths that stand out. In terms of Art History I would have to say that the most fascinating progression to me is the representation of the human body. Whether it be a carving on the wall, painting, drawing, relief, or sculpture, the human figure is a concept in art that's depiction has grown immensely throughout history. Greek and Roman art is definitely viewed at the higher end of this artistic evolution. The human figure was the main subject of most Greek art and their primary focus was on naturalism and less on abstraction. When looking around the hall of Greek and Roman art you quickly recognize the complex infatuation with depicting the human figure

Ancient Egyptian decorative art is symbolism and representation of ancient Egypt way of life. For instance, some of the art shows the physical form of kings, queens, deities and ordinary people. In other cases, the art form carry religious and spiritual connotation whereby dead kings and queen were deemed to manifest themselves through sculptures during rituals (Oppenheim et al, 2015). The ancient Egyptians sourced different materials to create the art such as wood, metal, stones, paint color most of which were influenced by their environment and their interpretation of it. For instance, the image of god Osiris was typically painted using black and green colors, which represent the silt and green vegetation of the Nile river (Markman

When you look at art, you see the message an artist was trying to convey. Sometimes the artist tries to evoke emotions that they themselves felt. Sometimes they try to show the beauty that they see in the world. Sometimes the artist tries to tell a story or history so that it can be documented for the present and the future. In both Egyptian and Greek art, the artists used their art to make life more beautiful, since both cultures enjoyed beautiful things, but they also used their art to tell their story. Today, we can look at Ancient Egyptian and Ancient Greek art and see what they saw, see what they wanted to see, and see what they wanted to show us. To the Ancient Egyptians and Ancient Greeks art was about telling history, showing