The art of the ancient Greeks and Romans is called classical art. Classical art is a name used to describe certain periods in which various artists searched for their inspiration to this archaic style. The Romans learned painting and sculpture mainly from the Greeks which assisted in transmitting Greek art to ages. Greek and Roman sculpture has had a profound effect throughout the ages. Greek sculpture took early inspiration from Egyptian and Near Eastern monumental art from 800 to 300 BC (Singh 563). However, this evolved over the centuries all this evolved into a sole Greek version of the art form. Arguably, Greek sculptures were very concerned with poise, proportion, their figures in stone, the idealised perfection of the human body and their figures in bronze and stone which are among the most recognizable pieces of art in the history of man.
Early Roman sculpture on the other hand was much influenced by the art of Greece as well as that of the neighbouring Etruscans. Roman and Greek sculpture dates back in Stone Age, and Greek sculptures, the Romans too worked stone, glass, precious metals and terracotta but favoured marble and bronze beyond everything else for their finest work. The taste Romans had for Greek and Hellenistic sculpture meant that sculptors had to make copies once the supply of original pieces had been exhausted which could be of changing quality depending on the skills of that particular sculptor. There was a school that was built specifically for copying Greek originals that were celebrated in Rome and Athens. One example of this school’s work is the 1st century marble statue of Electra and Orestes, which today are in the archaeological museum of Naples. In addition, roman sculptors produced miniaturised copies of originals of Greeks which were regularly in bronze collected by lovers of art and displayed in cabinets in home. With the Romans progressing pretty well, they began moving away from their Greek and Etruscan roots by searching for new avenues of artistic expression. A big stride was evident with their move towards impressionism where they used abstract forms and tricks of light.
Towards the end of the Empire, sculptures of all figures appeared to lack proportion, figures were mostly presented flatter and from the front, heads were enlarged displaying the influence of Eastern art. Precisely, from the 5th century B.C. on, Greek artists purposely made a representation of various works of art a particular style of previous generations so as to make a distinction from other works in fashionable style. In Roman and Greek sculpture, two retrospective styles prevail; classicizing and archaistic. The most common conservative style ‘archaistic’ in Roman and Greek sculpture basically refers to certain works of art which date after 480 B.C. though sharing stylistic resemblance with the works of the Greek Archaic period (CA. 700-480 B.C.). Occasionally, archaistic figures stand with one leg forward and two legs unbent. The head faces directly forward and the hips and shoulders are level.
Evolution of Sculpture in Greek
The earliest large stone figurers (Kore – clothed female figures and Kouroi – nude male youths) were very firm as in monumental statues in Egypt where the feet are almost together, arms held straight at the sides and eyes wide open staring at the sides. With time, arms gradually became slightly bent providing muscular tension giving a sense of dynamic movement to the statue. Examples of these are kouroi of Argos which was dedicated at Delphi. Towards 480 BCE, the final kouroi appeared life-like with the right hip lower, weight carried on the left leg, shoulders more relaxed and no hint of a smile. Just like the male kouroi, the female kore followed a comparable evolution especially the sculpting of their clothes which was quite complex and ever-more realistic. By 500 BCE, Greek sculptors began breaking away beginning to re-produce what was observed in real life.
Greek sculptors in the Classical period could achieve what no-one had tempted before by breaking off shackles of convention. They created life-like and life-sized sculpture that to a great extent glorified mankind mainly with the nude males form. Largely, early Greek sculpture was often porous limestone and bronze although whilst bronze appeared never to get out of fashion. Arguably, the best was from Naxos, sparkling and close-grained, Parian with more translucent and rougher Pentelic. In order to acquire marble, wooden wedges would be soaked in water to detach workable blocks and bow drills would be used to quarry marble. Finishing touches of the statutes would be done using paint. Hair, skin, eyebrows, pattern on clothing and lips were added in bright colours. The eyes were regularly inlaid using crystal, bone or glass. Lastly, bronze additions would be added as swords, spears, jewellery, helmets and diadems while other statues had (meniskoi) small bronze disc which was often suspended over the head to keep away birds from destroying the figure.
Numerous statues are signed to notify us of the most successful artist. Phidias who was the most famous sculptor created Zeus in 456 BCE and also the the enormous chryselephantine statue of Athena in 438 BCE in temple of Zeus at Olympia and the Parthenon of Athens. Other important sculptors were Praxiteles who created Aphrodite in 340 BCE which was the very first female nude statue, Kresilas who basically made the Pericles portrait in 425 BCE and Kallimachos whose distinctive dancing figures were copied in Roman times and who is actually credited with developing the Corinthian capital. To the visual arts, words will hardly ever do justice. Three pieces in bronze stand out; the Zeus or better known as the Poseidon of Artemesium and the other two Warrior of Riace that were created in 460-450 BCE. Regarding marble, the Diskobolos or discus thrower are the standout pieces which are attributed to Myron (450 BCE) as well as the Nike of Paionios at Olympa (c. 450 BCE). As years passed, Greek sculpture gradually broke free from the artistic conventions that had to a great extent held influence for many centuries across numerous civilizations. Seemingly, perfection in proportions of the human body that was attained by Greek sculptors are an inspiration to many artists today. Today, 3D artists are requesting for the great works of the Greeks to create virtual images (Harle 34).
Evolution of Sculpture in Roman Example
Romans learned sculpture from largely from the Greeks. From the early times, Romans greatly felt the artistic influence of Greece. Largely, Romans art was a development of Italy their predecessors, the Etruscans has learned a lot from the Greeks. In the 2nd century BC, a systematic plunder was initiated by the Roman generals bringing back numerous Greek statues in order to grace and honour their triumphal processions. Wealthy Romans built villas and filled them with art and called upon the Romans who had been inspired by Greek traditions and Greek artists as well to decorate their courts with sculpture and paint their walls.
Initially, Romans worked with stone, glass, precious metals and terracotta but they appeared to favour marble and bronze pretty much. The Roman taste for Hellenistic and Roman sculpture would mean that once there was exhaustion of the supply of original pieces, sculptures had a duty of making copies which could vary in quality. With this progress, Roman sculpture began to search for new and fresh avenues as a way to move out from their Greek and Etruscan roots. By the mid 1st century, Roman artists began to seek and capture optical effects of shade and light for more realism. Sculpture became pretty much monumental with larger than life statues and massive emperors. Under Hadrian there appeared to be a return to idealise certain images including classical Greek sculpture in 300 CE though in terms of more natural rendering of the eyes, there was a coherent innovation in marble works.
The bust of Commodus as Hercules 190-2 CE and the Bust of Caracalla 215 Ce was the abandonment of idealism with the progression of sculpture. The portrait of Commodus is a hood example of how elite portraiture in Roman art would be idealistic and realistic.
Works Cited
Harle, James C. The art and architecture of the Indian subcontinent. Yale University Press, 1994.
LeGates, Richard T., and Frederic Stout, eds. The city reader. New York: Routledge, 2003.
Singh, Devendra, and Dorian Singh. "Role of body fat and body shape on judgment of female health and attractiveness: An evolutionary perspective." Psihologijske teme 15.2 (2006): 331-350.
