Developments in Greek sculpture from the archaic to Hellenistic periods

Greek Project 1272

ART204 Formal Research Project Summer Term 2012

Ancient Greek sculpture is one of the most famous historical forms of art. Three main forms of life are represented by this sculpture; war, mythology, and rulers of the land of ancient Greece. The main aim of the paper is to revisit the history of the art of sculpturing in ancient Greece and different steps of its development within different time periods. Some of the main developments in Greek sculpture included depiction of changes in forms, depiction of female and male figures, degrees of present realism, and how sculpturing was used to achieve these effects.

Developments in Greek Sculpturing techniques

There are four main periods in which main developments and changes in the Greek sculpturing took place. The first period is referred to as the geometric period; second period is the archaic period, the third one being the classic and the last and fourth period being the Hellenistic period. The developments of the Greek sculpture will be discussed from the archaic period till the Hellenistic period in this section.

a. The Archaic Period

The inspiration of archaic period came from the stone sculptures that were used to make monuments in Egypt as well as Mesopotamia. Stone carving was very famous in this era in the Greeks. Some of the main characteristics of the Eastern models sculpted in the archaic period consisted of free standing figures sharing frontal stances as well as solidarity. The main difference between these models and the Egyptian models is based on the dynamism shown by these figures. An important example in these cases is that of the sculpture of "Lady of Auxerre." It stands having a height of almost 75 cm (Giannakopoulou 67). It is a limestone Cretan-based sculpture. The sculpture is a representative of the archaic goddess of the period between 650 and 625 BC. It is also referred to as the Kore of Auxerre. The word Kore means maiden. The sculpture shows that the goddess places her right hand on her shoulder plexus while the left hand remains stiff at the other side.

The Lady of Auxerre

After 575 BC, all the sculptures including that of males and females wore archaic smiles. This expression did not depict the situation of an individual and these were only designed to depict and show certain specific characteristics of the human beings (Dillon 39).

In the archaic times, there were three main kinds of figures; Nude standing youth, seated woman and the draped girl who was also referred to as the kore. All three types of figures that were sculpted in past were highly accurate in terms of showing essential human anatomy and essential body parts. In the case of youth statues, it was observed that they were either sepulture or supplicatory. One of the most important examples in these cases is that of Strangford Apollo that was sculpted by Anafi.

Strangford Apollo

This is the example of a sculpture made from marble between 500 and 490 BC. It is reported that the sculpture belongs to the island of Anafi. Naming of the sculpture is after the 6th Viscount Strangford, Percy Smythe. The second important example is Anavyssos Kouros that was sculpted in 530 BC. It was sculpted in Parian marble.

b. Classical period

There was a great revolution in the statues made in the Greek designs. One of the main reasons was the culture that showed an increase in democracy. This was also based on the fact that there was an end to aristocracy. The styling and functioning of sculpture was changed in the classical period. There was a great increase in the technical skills that were showed by the Greek sculptors as more detailed and realistic human forms were being depicted by the sculptors.

During the classical period, it was seen that the poses were more natural and this was especially important in the beginning of the classical period. Since the period of 500 BC, there was an increase in the depiction of real people within the statues. These statues did not show the typical myths that were being followed in the Greek society at that time and there was no making of fictional votive statues. One of the most important examples in these cases is that of Harmodius and Aristogeiton that was designed in Athens was the one that marked an overthrow of tyrannical aristrocratics. The statues were important representation of the actual individuals.

Harmodius and Aristogeiton

Another important change seen in the classical period was in relation to the use of sculptures as decoration pieces. There are a number of examples of classic temples that include Parthenon located in Athens and Temple of Zeus located in Olympia (Giannakopoulou 90).

Parthenon

Temple of Zeus

There were great challenges that were to be faced in the building and designing of these sculptures and two of the main challenges include technical and aesthetic challenges. Most of the works of the classical period hardly survived. One of the most important examples in these cases is that of the Parthenon Marbles of which only a few fragments have survived and now are present in the British Museum.

Parthenon Marbles

There has been a great evolution in funeral statues in the classic period. The evolution took place from the more rigid kuoros that were made in the archaic period to more personal family-based groups in the classic period. These monuments are usually found in Athen's suburbs. Most of the statues depict important characteristics as a loving son and a caring mother. Thereby, there is a great increase in the level of emotions in the statues as compared to the kind of statues made in the geometric or archaic period. All of the information that is known about the sculptures and statues of the classical period is because of the presence of the status themselves. Some of the main examples include Aphrodite of Knidos that depicts a nude female made by Praxiteles in 4th century BC in Athens.

Aphrodite of Knidos

c. Hellenistic Period

During the 4th century BC, the transition in sculpting art occurred travelling from the classical period to Hellenistic period. This was the period dominated by the fact of conquests by Alexander the great. The art of Greek sculpturing spread to different corners of the world that include India. Thereby increased diversity was seen in the Greek art. The diversity was greatly influenced by the people who were more attracted to the Greek sculpturing art. One of the main facts that have been highlighted by some of the historians is that with an increase in diversity, there was a great reduction in the quality and originality of the Greek sculptures. In this case, not all of the critics and historians do not hold similar views as most of the sculptures that are now considered masterpieces are the ones belonging to the Hellenistic period. Some of the most important examples that show an increase in the technical ability of the green sculptures include Pergamon Altar and Winged Victory of Samothrace (Dillon 87).

Winged Victory of Samothrace

Pergamon Altar

This was the period that showed an increase naturalistic shift in the Greek sculptures. Some of the most common subjects of the Greek cultures in thus era included men, women, children, animals as well as scenes from the common Greek homes. These were the kinds of sculptures that gained special attention of rich families who used these sculptures as garden decoration. Sculptures of men as well as women were more realistic and lesser focus was given on the physical beauty of the subjects being sculpted. The Hellenistic period is also known for the uprising of newer cities in Egypt and Anatolia. These new cities were in a great need of new sculptures that depicted God, victorious heroes of Greece that could be used as signs and decoration for the new cities and the new palaces.

Male and Female Drapery in Greek Art

The concepts of kuoros and kore have been mentioned in the previous sections. Most of these sculptures had an archaic smile that can also be referred to as a stiffer half smile. The main difference in this case was in the nudity, as the male statues used to be nude as compared to the female statues. Most of the Greek art has an element of religion in it thereby there are a number of statues that represent Greek goddesses.

One of the most important examples of the female drapery in Greek art is that of Aphrodite of Milos that was made in 100 BC. Another common name given to the Aphrodite of Milos is Venus de Milo. As compared to the non-nude females that were draped in the archaic and classic periods, the Hellenistic females were a sign of erotic art. Aphrodite of Milos is clothed but the drapery is very loose surrounding the womanly figure. The presence of the cloth reveals less but it can be seen that the main intention of making such sculpture is to reveal too much.

Aphrodite of Milos

Some of the most important examples of female sculptures that were created after the Hellenistic period are Woman chiton Musei Capitolini, and Athena Giustiniani Musei Capitolini

Woman chiton Musei Capitolini

Athena Giustiniani Musei Capitolini

There was a great difference in the drapery levels and sculpting arts of the males and females. These differences are an important signs of the differences that were faced by the two genders in the Greek society. Some of the main circles in which the difference was more dominant included the legal and economic circles. A male could only have better identity in the society if he was a member of the polis. Greek citizenship was only given to more renounced and adult males. Also, if a female was to be included in the polis, it was important that she was excluded from citizenship. Some other identity was given to the female citizen and also, she was considered as an antithesis to a Greek male. This is because of the fact that the Greeks believed that the world is to be seen with an eye of antimonies or binaries. These antimonies were the main reasons why the Greek male gained more dominance. Nudity in Greek male sculptures was an important sign for Greek males of dominance (Dillon 27).

Conclusion

From the discussion above, it can be seen that there was a great difference in the art of sculpturing in the three most notified Greek periods. Among the archaic periods, classical periods and the Hellenistic periods, the most important period has been the Hellenistic period. Some of the most popular sculptures were produced in the Hellenistic period. During and after the Hellenistic period, there was a great increase in nude female sculpturing.