Ap Art History Essay

Discuss the effects that the religious beliefs and practices of Islam have had on Islamic art. Use examples from at least three different mediums to support your essay.

Over the centuries, sculpture has been used to express ideals and conceptions of the human perspective. It has greatly evolved and changed over time to become more modern and realistic to today’s forms. The changes of the ancient greek technique and look has greatly influenced and impacted the world of art in today’s society. These sculptures were changed greatly as the period changed and as the techniques began to become more complex. Each sculpture, from each different time period, show the change and evolution of the pieces over time, and how much the society advanced.

One aspect of Islamic art that has been modified and advanced over the centuries are the male nude sculptures. These sculptures have been changed quite a bit over time to fit the aspects and techniques of their time periods. The first period to begin the complex structure changes was the Archaic Period. The Islamic style was very similar to that of the Egyptians in such a way that their figures were created in a more simple style. Their style was very unique; it contained a very basic styled torso, with an upright facing head, and the feet positioned one in front of the other, while the hands lay straight down to the side. One sculpture during this period which demonstrated this style is the Standing Youth (Kouros). In this sculpture you can see Islamics beginning to make the sculptures more human-like and realistic. The Standing Youth shows little to no motion whatsoever because of the placement of the feet. It has a small amount of space between each body part, keeping the features and ligaments of the sculpture tight and close together. This was when man started to create more traditional figures in their male nudes.

As the Early Classical Period came around, the sculpture technique began improving and became much...