Art
Beauty Embedded In History
Ancient Greece
1600 B.C. - 0 A. D.
Produced By: Cailey Daluga
Ideal Beauty
Ideal beauty in the times of the Ancient Greece is seen through perfection in the art of pottery and sculptures. This perfection varies as time progresses through this ancient era, but overall suggests that the structures must have balance and symmetry to be beautiful. Ideal beauty of males was mainly reflected in the images of the gods and heroes who greatly resemble what is seen in society today as the ideal beauty. The statues had extraordinary muscle tone in every body part, “the powerful, rounded athletic body… massive torso and limbs have been careful rendered, bulging muscularity, suggesting heroic strength” (Stokstad) was clearly visible to the viewers seeing as the sculptures were of the bodies of completely nude men. Women, contrariwise, until the Hellenistic period were completely clothed showing their beauty with curves but also with modesty. This ideal beauty was a daily reminder of what each citizen should strive to resemble in the hopes that they too could become great and beautiful like the gods.
Rhetoric
The influence of technologies and historical events occurring in Ancient Greece have shaped the view and opinions of the art that the citizens saw back then and how we still see their art today. The main rhetoric was to persuade the viewer of perfection, this was reflected in each of their pieces of art. The perfection was greatly supported by the Golden Ratio incorporated into every piece of art, stating that to be beautiful the art must be symmetric and flawless. This Golden Ratio connection ties all Ancient Greek art together, convincing the public of the perfection of the gods and heroes that society should imitate.
Technology
In Ancient Greece, nearby countries, especially Egypt influenced technology for the arts. Pottery was one of the first types of art that showed technology’s influence. Depicting citizens in daily activities, the Greeks would decorate their work in a painting style called Black Figure where the figures were drawn in black. The Greeks acquired this style from the Egyptians and then took it to the next level by reversing the art almost like a negative used in photography. They continued to paint with black but as the background so the images remained red, the color of the clay; this furthered the detail in their work and they began calling the new art style Red Figure pottery. When it came to sculptures the Greeks also learned from the Egyptians where they took the mannerisms of forming the detailed bodies and again took the ideas to the next level. This is observable in the works of the kouros similar to Egyptians sculptures but with gaps and a fraction of movement added to the sculpture. With the knowledge of the Golden Ratio in nature, the Greeks began to place mathematics into their art to create symmetry in all their work. Another example of technological development was when bronze statues were introduced. This allowed the sculptors to further detail the appearance of movement in the statues to create a more active and emotional sculpture.
History
The history of Ancient Greece has very distinguished time periods that developed the art through the influence of the movements. The Neolithic Age occurred between the years of 6000 to 2900 BC, in this period nomadic life style became more stagnant and people began to settle. The settlement and increase in knowledge through this developing stage reached a new time of influence entitled the Geometric Period. This period was brought on by the many mathematicians of the time and large development in knowledge such as the Greek alphabet. Art and mathematics linked to bring out the beauty behind perfection. The math was seen through the structure and designs of the vases, where different patterns showed the purpose behind the artwork. With the increasing naturalistic forms in art, the Archaic Period began. The art began to transform into a sculptural three-dimensional form switching from pottery to sculpting of heroes and gods. The Golden Ratio was a big movement, originating in nature and influencing the sculptures of humans.
When the Persians attacked the city-states, Sparta and Athens, they teamed together to defeat the Persians. The result was a victory for Greece but also a great deal of damage to Athens. The rebuild created a new era known as the Classical Period where sculptures became more idealistic. In 336 BC, Alexander the Great took power and within eleven years he was undefeated in battle and spread the Greek empire from Egypt to the borders of India. Alexander’s reign initiated the spread of influences to the Greeks not only from southern Italy and Sicily but additional places adopted Greek styles and began to employ Greek artists too. Alexander’s death ended the Classical Period, and the Hellenistic Period began where life-like sculptures showed more emotion and actions.