Civilization and Artistic Representations

¶ … art and show how they revealed the accomplishments of their respective civilizations. The three works are Perseus with the Head of Medusa by Antonio Canova (1804-6), the marble column from the Temple of Artemis at Sardis (300 BC), and the Fascinus phallus-deity of ancient Rome. Each is a work that reflects the style and culture of its time.

Canova's Perseus is much more "lyrical" than other representations of the Gorgon-slaying demigod ("Perseus with the Head of Medusa"). A marble statue standing at 220 cm. high, Perseus' pose is rather sweeping as though he were caught in mid side-step in a dance. His left arm is held aloft and in its hand is the head of Medusa, but one could easily imagine the hand holding the hand of a dancing partner. The right arm is down and its hand holds the sword that killed the Gorgon. All the weight appears to rest on Perseus' left leg as he begins to shift his balance from one foot to the other in a sashaying gesture of joy: he looks upon the head as one might on a love. Obviously Perseus is celebrating the victory and given the time period in which the statue was sculpted, one can understand the lyricism found therein. The music of Mozart and Beethoven was in vogue and the pose of the body reflects the strains of the secular sounds of the hyper-civilized. This Perseus is not the same Perseus as Cellini's (1545). Cellini's Perseus is a warrior and stands like Michelangelo's David, his face stern and his arm raised not as though he were dancing but as though he were clearly showing off the head of Medusa for all to see. But then 16th century Italy was a much more dangerous place to live than 18th-19th century Italy and this sense is reflected in the artists' representations of the same subject. Not to mention that Canova's Perseus is smiling at his prize as though gloating on the inside, knowing that he can look upon the famed deadly head without being turned to stone (which, ironically, on a literal level he is). Canova's Perseus is almost too full of self-satisfaction to really be admired, though one can understand why he should be so: Italy at this time was once again home of the arts and had much to be proud of in this sense.

The Marble column from the Temple of Artemis at Sardis represents the glories of the Hellensitic period in Greece and dates back to 300 BC. It is one portion of an Ionic column from the Greek Temple that originally "stood over fifty-eight feet high" ("Marble column from the Temple of Artemis at Sardis"). The column is especially ornate considered the decorative facade of other columns at the time: it appears that this one is more elaborately designed perhaps because of its proximity to an altar within the Temple, or perhaps because of theme developed at a certain portion of the Temple, such as is found in the Temple's porches. Nonetheless, the magnificent design of the column indicates the Greeks' mastery over line, perception and harmony (Johnson 47) and shows how important visual elegance was to the Hellenes. It also represents the importance of erecting tribute to the gods and goddesses in whom the Greeks believed. This was but a column in a large Temple built to honor a deity. The Greeks took their religion so seriously that they believed it necessary to construct large, elaborate, and dignified houses of worship in their gods' honor. This was indeed one of the main accomplishments of the ancient Greeks -- their devotion, reverence and artistic dedication to beautifying their Temples. Homer reflected the Greeks' faith in his Illiad and Odyssey. Here, the unknown artists of the Temple reflect the Greeks' faith in the construction of the columns used to support the structure of the Temple. By this point in their history the Greeks have already risen to the height of their artistic and philosophical glory: Sophocles had died a century earlier and Aristotle twenty years prior. While Sardis was, strictly speaking, part of the Persian area south of Troy, the city that went to war with the Greeks, there is still an abundance of Greek culture to be seen -- especially as Alexander the Great had already conquered the area (and he had been educated by the greatest Greek philosopher of all time, Aristotle). Thus, the accomplishments of the Hellenistic culture can be seen here in this towering column, a celebration of the power, strength, and purity of the ancient Greek culture.