I love the painting, The Birth of Venus, by Sandro Botticelli. I like the innocence of the figures. They are painted very simply. The simplicity adds beauty to the painting. I have an interest in Greek mythology, and I like to see how stories are brought to life through pictures.
Elizabeth Gardner Bouguereau's Daphnis and Chloe is an American oil painting based on a Greek love story. While a single painting can not necessarily tell the entire romance, this piece of art portrays much of the legend well through its subject and content. And even beyond what is first noticed about the painting, there are many minute details of form and composition that bring this work of art together beautifully, telling the legend of Daphnis and Chloe in a single painting through excellent craftsmanship in the use of her medium of oil paints. The very first thing that catches the eye of any viewer of Daphnis and Chloe is Chloe herself. She is seated only slightly off-center, but due to the high-key color of her dress and skin, is the dominant part of the painting.
The Seated Jina and Saintliness Jessica McGlynn Art History Survey The Seated Jina in Meditation is a figure slightly larger than reality carved smoothly from granitic stone in 11th century India. The smooth lines of this figure’s body and exaggerated curves of the muscular build construct a relaxed aura to the seated figure while the upright stature represents leadership and power. With his or her hands folded in their lap and crossed legs, the seated jina appears open and peaceful, almost healing in nature. The ease of this figure’s relaxed meditative state is portrayed fully, as well as the symmetrical formation of his body. From the front, his legs are crossed in a triangle, folded tightly, so that there are no separations.
Nefertiti is one of the queens of anicent Egypt, and her appearence is very elegant and universially beautiful face. Some of the similaries of the two scupltures are both use a very realistic representation of their respective subject the human body and head. Also very proportional and both statues used stone as the main material for their masterpieces. There is also numerious differneces between the two culture's statues. One obvious difference is the Egyptian one used very colorful paint so the statue almost look like its alive with very natrual tones.
Plutarch, a respected author of the 1st century, wrote “the noble lover of beauty engages in love wherever he sees excellence and splendid natural endowment without regard for any difference in physiological detail” (Plutarch 146). On this, ancient Greece had a particular artistic interest in ta aphrodisia, or a sphrere of sexuality derived from the Greek goddess Aphrodite (Ogden 311). There is not a defined conception of the realities of the times, moreso throughout time, artistic conventions evolved to establish the dyamics of Greek life. Though many societies influenced modern-day ideas of ancient culture, the artistic expression valued so greatly in Greece distinguished itself from any other culture of the time. Particularly in the late seventh and sixth centuries B.C., romantic love was presented as something directed primarily at members of ones' own sex.
“In decade between 490 and 480 B.C.E, something remarkable happened in Greece, and in Athens in particular, that resulted in one of the most culturally productive eras in history of humankind.” Greeks developed a highly sophisticated culture, but it pales by comparison to developments in the so-called Athenian Golden Age. This Golden Age sparked a Classical period in Greece; focusing on the basis of Western tradition. The Classical style was the high point in Greek art. While trends began towards a more naturalistic depiction of the world, sculpture was the dominant art in this style. Sculptures from the earlier Archaic period were replaced with a form of sculpture in which statues became more characterized with simple, realistic anatomy and drapery.
“The Greek God’s and Goddesses, though immortal, behaved in very human ways” (Davies, 82)2. Some major God’s and Goddesses of Greek culture were “Zeus, the God of sky and weather; Hera, Zeus’ sister and wife; Poseidon, the God of the sea; Hades, the God of the underworld; and Persephone, Hade’s queen” (Davies, 82)3. The Greek God’s and Goddesses were incorporated into Greek art forms to create idealized human being’s to symbolize the strength of the God’s. These God’s represented power, authority, strength and greatness. Through the six period’s of Greek Art, the art work progressively becomes less Archaic, “rigidly frontal and conceived as four distinct sides, reflecting the form of the block from which they were carved” (Davies, 85)4; to a contrapposto stance, “a balanced asymmetry of this reflected stance…to represent movement with a new naturalism”
It is almost animated, in a way. In the tomb wall painting of Queen Nefertari, in the Valley of the Queens, Thebes, Egypt, we see an excellent example of frontalism. While the hands are not clasped but instead shown with quite elongated fingers, her head is turned to the side and the body is facing forward. The colors used are gold, red and white and very bold. In my own personal opinion, Egyptian sculpture is the most impressive of all of the art of the period.
The Golden Mean is the moderate position between two extremes. This is known as the ideal position because it is the “most appealing rectangle to the human eye.” The Golden Mean was said to be first used by the Ancient Egyptians and Greeks when building the Great Pyramids and Parthenon’s. Around 1200 AD, the Fibonacci sequence was discovered by a man named Leonardo Fibonacci, an Italian man born in 1175 AD. Although he discovered this, it is still not certain if he related it to the Golden Mean and Phi. The Golden Mean being “most appealing to the human eye” started being used in art.
Carlos Sambrano Greek Architecture Greek architecture changed and influenced a lot of the architecture of today. The ancient Classical eras of Greece were undoubtedly one of the most beautiful, having left behind ideas, concepts, and art that created the foundation of what we call “western civilization”. However, the two previous millennia that lead to these ancient eras, as well as the other two millennia that succeeded them are all part of the history of Greece and have left just as rich a cultural footprint. Doric The Doric style is sturdy and its top is plain. This style was mostly used in mainland Greece and in southern Italy and Sicily.