Quick History Of Art Essay
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Quick History of Art
Essay submitted by Dylan Valade
Before the portrayal of the human body can be critiqued, you must understand the
artist's culture. As man evolved over centuries, his views of the body also transformed.
Our tour definitely showed the drastic changes in different cultures' art. Each culture
and era presents very distinct characteristics. Through time and experimentation, we
have expressed our views of the human body clearly with our art.
Egyptians were the first people to make a large impact on the world of art. Egyptians
needed art for their religious beliefs more than decoration or self-gratification. The most
important aspect of Egyptian life is the ka, the part of the human spirit that lives on
after death. The ka needed a physical place to occupy or it would disappear. Most of
the important men of Egypt paid to have their body carved out of stone. That was
were the spirit would live after the man dies. They used stone because it was the
strongest material they could find. Longevity was very important. The bodies are
always idealized and clothed. Figures are very rigid, close-fisted, and are built on a
vertical axis to show that the person is grand or intimidating. Most of the figures were
seen in the same: profile of the legs, frontal view of the torso, and profile of the head.
Like most civilizations, Egyptians put a lot of faith in gods. The sky god Horus, a bird, is
found in a great amount of Egyptian art. Little recognition was ever given to the
artists. The emphasis was on the patron.
Early Greek art was greatly influenced by the Egyptians. Geography permitted both
cultures to exchange their talents. The beginning of Greek art is marked by the
Geometric phase. The most common art during the Geometric phase was vase painting.
After the vase was formed but before it was painted, the artist applied a slip (dark
pigment) to outside. Then the vase was fired and the artist would incise his
decorations into the hard shell. It was important to incise humans into the fired slip and
not paint with slip. The people in the pictures needed light colored skin, which was the
color beneath the slip, because Greeks wanted to make their art as realistic as
possible. Much like Egyptian art, the Greeks idealized the bodies of the people in their
works. As the Archaic Period evolved, Greek sculptures were almost identical to the
Egyptians'. Unlike Egyptians, the Greeks refined their techniques. Greeks used marble to
construct their sculptures. It was considered more valuable and beautiful than any
material available. They softened the lines of the body. Greek sculptors slowly
perfected every contour in the human figure. Greek people viewed the human body as
something beautiful and so they depicted nude men. Women were eventually nude but
only when there was a reason, they needed to be bathing or something where they
would be naked. They people that are sculpted are always young and their bodies are
still idealized. The Greeks invented contrapposto, the relaxed natural stance of a
sculpture. A figure that is standing in contrapposto becomes a sculpture in the round,
meaning that the emphasis is not only on a frontal view but also from all angles. The
Hellenistic Period emerged as the Romans began to produce some...
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