Sculpture In The Archaic Period

Throughout the history of art, the human body and figure has captivated both artisans and their audiences. This can be said especially of the Greeks and their sculptures. Even from the earliest periods, Greeks motivation for the search of the ideal human body can be seen through the sculpture Metropolitan Kouros (c 120-50 BCE), created in the Archaic period and said to be found in Attica, Ancient Greece (Richter 1931, p. 220). However, it is not until High Classical period that they truly achieve their goal with Polykleitos’ The Spear Bearer (c. 120-50 BCE) or the Doryphoros (its Greek name). The sculpture, found in a Palestra in Pompeii, Italy is said to be the epitome of perfection during its period. Although there is exquisite rendering and beauty in both sculptures, there are also a vast number of differences that make each work unique.

Ancient Greek art is something to be admired; the accuracy of the figures, compared to Egyptian art is commendable. The art works show great depths of emotion and detail. The “Grave stele of a little girl” is a beautiful relief of what appears to be a small child holding two birds. The forearm resembles a young child’s arm because it seems that the “baby fat” is still present, but it is strange that the face has less-childish features. The figure is in strict profile, which possibly suggests a Greek sculptor, in addition to the intricate detail and the contrapposto. Egyptian sculptors did not have

Sculpture of this period again was to create a sense of movement. The sculptures took into consideration the spaces created by the sculpture not just the piece itself.

The “human form” has changed through art over long periods of time and how each civilization uses their own style to create these pieces is how art gets its depth. I'm going to be talking about one of each sculpture from every major period and explain how each one has its own flavor and own unique style. I will be talking about the Prehistoric period, Egyptian style, Greek style and Roman styles. I also have a list of vocabulary words i will be pointing out in bold to explain how these are used in sculptures.

The two statues of Diadoumenos and Hermes & Dionysos differ in that all Polykleitos' sculptures were 8 heads tall, where as all Praxiltiles' sculptures were 9-10 heads tall. Also Polykleitos' Diadoumenos is more sculpted more muscular than Praxitiles' sculpture of Hermes & Dionysos.

There were a few people that could make sculpture. They were an inspiring piece that showed everyone how they represented each others during their time. Greek architecture were during the Archaic Period, roughly 600 to 480 BC. This is one of the periods where practice of fine art in ancient Greece. This was the first time that Greek architects learned to make massive temples out of stone, generally using soft white stones like marble or limestone. During the Archaic Period, two orders of Greek architects emerged. First was the Doric Order, with smooth capitals on the tops of each column and decorations in the superstructure that resembled the ends of wooden beams, a nod to earlier temples. After that came the Ionic Order, with capitals that looked like scrolls and thinner columns. During the sculture time there was architect's that learned how to make massive temples out of stone, generally using soft white stones like marble or limestone. These sculptures were impressive and carried an elegant look during their

Had it not been for the revolutionary changes made to statuary by Ancient Greek sculptors of the Classical period, art today would only be a faint representation of the complexity of human life. The Archaic period (600-480 BCE) of Ancient Greek art preceded the Classical period, which is categorized into three sections: Early Classical (480-450 BCE), High Classical (450-400 BCE), and Late Classical (400-323 BCE). Two exceptionally prominent sculptors of this time were Polykleitos, belonging to the High Classical period, and Lysippos, belonging to the Late Classical period (Gardner and Kleiner 163). While the sculptures of Polykleitos and Lysippos differed in their interpretations on how the Canon of Proportions and human expression

One last piece of art that shows a significant transformation in the geometric period is the sculpture of Hero and Centaur pictured on the right. It is considered geometric because it is small in scale and the figures have simple stylized shapes. You see again the small torso on the animal-like figure and on the human figure that is shown nude and anatomically correct. The animal figure is actually human in the front and horse in the back with legs on both ends belonging to a different species. This was an animal-human monster the Greek invented called the centaur and the sculpture reveals the scene of a hero battling a centaur depicting an early example of the mythical narrative (Herakles and Nessos). The significance of the earlier mentioned style of painting and this sculpture design is that it marked a turning point from the geometric period into the oriental period because now mythical creatures/monsters are introduced, the natural beauty of the human figure is reintroduced, and the art of storytelling is revived.

Throughout the times in Greek art, Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods have changed overtime from the sculptures in the form, style, and symmetry.

statues display their own set of artistic conventions in their strict symmetry, basic forms, and

Significantly, Hellenic Greece saw the changes in art from archaic descriptive to the idealization of the human form. The art signified a more statement in the individuals’ freedom of expression alongside the joy in the celebration of mankind. Such art forms such as the Kiritos Boy greatly show the unique artistry and the representation of the human kind during the era. More so, art was used to signify religion and their day to day activities such as celebrations and warfare. The artistry showcased the beliefs of the people and how they had been affected by other individuals through their days happening.

One of the pieces defining characteristics, what makes it such a marvel, is how the physique is anatomically perfect. This speaks of a highly developed culture, with an intricate understanding of anatomy and physiology. But, also of a culture that privileges physical strength and beauty. The Greeks of the time were either artists or warriors, or often both, so strength and beauty were central in their world. Laocoon and His Sons is a much more naturalistic piece than earlier Greek works; in which the figures were often idolized; lacking luster, life, emotion, humanity. Cleobis and Biton, a set of sculptures from the Archaic Period, exemplify this quite well; posing, rigid, golem like figures; lacking the humanity they are supposed to represent. The Hellenistic baroque style of Laocoon and His Sons gives us a much more true-to-life representation in comparison to earlier works. This work has inspired artists and regular humans alike down through the centuries, one of whom it is particularly well known to have influenced greatly was Michelangelo; as can be seen in some of his pieces; e.g: The rebellious Slave.

When examining the statue, there is an old woman bent and weary. Her posture helps clue us in, with her age and the state of her health. The figure is dressed in cloth that drapes off her body as she carries a basket that is filled with what we may think are offerings. On her head, there are vines that create a band around the top of her head used to signify the festival that was going on during that time. The specific detail that is seen on this statue persuades us to want to know the story of this woman. Doing so, the process involves lots of research about the time and art. During the hellenistic period, artists begin to introduce more inner beauty than physical beauty. There is an opportunity to learn more about the structure itself, then settle for what is given and seen.

This sculpture is of a women breast feeding her child. The face of the two people is elongated, as well as the breasts of the mother. This is common to all African Art because they wanted representation of what is being expressed. In this particular sculpture, a supernatural power is being called upon. The power has been asked to protect the mother and child, and to

Over the years of art history, there are many great empires that we think of and two of those were ancient Greek and Egyptian. When talking about Greek and Egyptian art history, it is the sculptures that come to mind when you are comparing and contrasting artworks. Egyptian art and Greek art both had mesmerizing sculptures but Egyptian art was more oriented towards religion and Greek art was more focused on philosophy. The Egyptian statue of the Menkaure and a Queen was similar to the Greek statue of Metropolitan Kouros in their posture but both of these statues also had many differences. Menkaure and a queen statue was created from an unusual stone and the statue was discovered in Menkaure’s valley temple. The sculpture has a hard texture and because of the time-consuming task of polishing this sculpture was never completely polished. So, the sculpture is greywacke and has traces of red paint on king’s face, ears and neck because male figures were traditionally painted red and there are traces of black in queen’s hair. The sculpture itself is 54 ½ inches in height and is displayed in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Metropolitan Kouros was created from marble which seems like it has a rough and hard texture. The statue is 6 feet in height and is displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.