Altar Of Zeus At Pergamon Analysis

The Hellenistic period traditionally began after the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. Hellenistic art focused on being increasingly diverse, stylistic and with a strong subject matter. The Great Altar of Zeus and Athena at Pergamon, created between 166-156 B.C.E-- within the Hellenistic eras prime, reflects the shifted focus from the Classical period to Hellenistic on how artists sought different ways to appeal to the senses through the adaptation of earlier styles as well as the use of new conventions.

Gaius Octavius was adopted at the age of eight-teen by his great-uncle, Julius Caesar, and renamed Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus. On being named the heir of Julius Caesar, Octavian perceived the need to establish a political persona. He used a variety of art forms as propaganda to celebrate the events that distinguished his rule and eminence. Augustus’ presence in all forms of art established his pervasive presence and authority in Rome. He became one of the most influential rulers in ancient history. Through the use of literature, visual art, coins, and architecture, Augustus fabricated a divine and powerful image of himself as Princeps and maintained this image throughout his reign. In the course of a generation, Augustus used propaganda

Artifact 1: Hermes Kriophoros, or the Ram Bearer, is a Greek bronze statuette belongs to the period of about 510-490 B.C.E. The statue represents bearded Hermes holding a ram in his left arm, both are carved in great detail. He is wearing a typical short, belted Greek tunic and a small-brimmed hat. The wing on his right foot was lost but the left one is still intact with detailed curves. It seems that the sculpture used to hold a herald’s staff of the Olympian messenger in his right hand. (http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/hermes-kriophoros-ram-bearer-152668)

As a recurring ritual in the civic life of Athens, the Panathenaic Procession was an important way an Athenian citizen would understand their identity. The relief can be seen as an image of Athenian citizenship. The frieze focuses on the Athenian males. The only women, except for the goddesses on the east end, are the group of maidens. The males included cover a range of age from young men to the elders. This a testament to the patriarchal nature of the Athenian society. The Parthenon’s sculpture of Athena, created of gold and ivory, shows Athenian’s wealth and power. The inner Ionic frieze representing the Panathenaic Festival shows aristocratic politics, as only important Athenians and gods are shown, and not commoners. It elevates the body

The Roman replica of the Dancing Maenad marble relief showed a dancing woman holding a stick as she looks down in a carefree ecstasy in the famous Greek tragedy The Bacchae. The dancing woman, a maenad, accompanied the Greek god Dionysus up toward the mountains. Although the relief is dated from approximately 27 BCE to 14 CE, the stone sculpture is a replica of a past work from the late 5th century BCE sculpted by Greek sculptor Kallimachos (Metmuseum.org). He also sculpted many other similar works (Richter, 10). Much of Roman culture bore resemblance to past Greek legend, as is exemplified by Dionysus’ transformation into Bacchus. The thorough replication of Greek sculpture and architecture, as is the case with the Dancing Maenad, suggested not only the beginning of new cultural and religious expansion in the Roman Republic, but also the great impact it had throughout the remainder of Rome’s history.

The body of the Statue forms most of the sculpture and therefore is significant in its execution of symmetry, motion, and style as a means to display the subject as a man of action. Adapted from the Doryphoros of Polykleitos, this piece uses the contrapposto scheme in the symmetrical planes of the joints to convey realistic motion. Like Doryphoros, the system of contrasting joint pairs which traverse the vertical line of symmetry all stem from the right leg that bears his weight. As a result, his left knee drops down due to its lack of tension, and leads him to lift his left ankle above the right as he takes a step forward. The position of his right hand on his hip forces a downward slope in his right shoulder, which in turn drives his left should up. This natural body stance is detailed in embellished musculature and provokes the image of calm, yet heroic motion. His movement and demeanor are echoed by his clamus, which is a hallmark of a man who takes action.

Greek religion was a defining institution that characterized Ancient Greek Culture. Since religious practices were physical manifestations of the religious views of the Ancient Greeks, rituals acted as a function for the particular micro and macro characteristics of the overall culture. The analysis of religious practices allow researchers to understand a plethora of facets within the ancient Greek culture. This paper will delve into practices that characterized the ancient Greek culture, specifically focusing on processional practices illustrating the relationship the act had with Ancient Greek Culture.

Greek Architecture in whole was based on the desire to honor a god or a goddess. In the Parthenon (447 BCE), the goddess of war, victory and wisdom Athena was honored and depicted as Athena Parthenos; meaning virgin. The marble working and combination of both doric and ionic orders served

The Cycladic Female Figurine, located at the Walter’s Museum of Art in Baltimore, is a small sculpture originating from the Cyclades islands in the Aegean Sea sometime between 2500 - 2400 B.C. The sculpture depicts the nude female figure covering her stomach with her arms, with little to no facial features. The nose and breasts are protruding out of the figure while the rest of the figure remains flat. The neck of the figure is long and slender, which connects to a half circle with a nose that extends beyond the flat surface. The color of the piece is a greenish brown, and the material of the sculpture is made of marble with a very smooth surface. While the figure itself is mostly bare, the harsh and continuous lines carved out in parts of the marble indicate that it was important to portray her

Based on “the stylistic characteristics of each of these periods, the style and subject matter of this sculpture, and the conventions that apply to the representations of bodies during these periods” I came to the conclusion that this sculpture belongs to the Greek Archaic period 1050 to 700 BC. The roots of the Greek culture during this period have roots in the Mycenaean culture. Artists from Greek were the first to discover imitation of nature as a principle for art. Greek's humanity was depicted by the repeated nude human figure. A belief that "man is the measure of all things" as seen in the portrait. The Greeks focused on providing most enduring theme and attitudes of the Western culture.

Greeks has a significant influence on the Western Art nowadays, especially the great study human body sculptures. In fact, Greeks borrowed many ideas from Egypt and Mesopotamia which help them develop distinct artistic and architectural identity, and made many phenomenon art pieces and architecture. Therefore, people found some similarity in art pieces and sculpture. For instance, let compare two phenomenon sculptures from ancient Egyptian and Greek. The first sculpture is Portrait statue of Mentuemhet from Karnak Egypt (26th Dynasty, ca 660-650 BCE). Second sculpture is Kroisos from Anavysos, Greece (530 BCE).

There are many subtle characteristics of human anatomy. When the knowledge is expand, the artist can create realistic and detailed work of the human body. The Old Kingdom was a great influence on the way Greece went about sculpting in the Archaic period. The Old Kingdom went on between 2575-2134 BCE and the Archaic period lasted from 600-480 BCE. The concept of anatomy and technical achievements has dramatically changed the look of sculpture from the Old Kingdom to the Archaic period.

The Marble Statuette of Aphrodite is also known as Venus which symbolize Roman imperial power. Aphrodite is the goddess of love, beauty, sexuality who was worship by many. The marble sculpture is create by an artist know as Praxiteles during the 4th century BC, ca 150-100 B.C. It was later discover in Benghazi, eastern Libya. She is a goddess which means she should be dress in a beautiful gown, but the statue at the museum display her as been naked which can clearly show all of her bodily features. When looking at the Statuette of Aphrodite this sculpture literally transforms before the viewer’s eyes, at different based on any angle. This make for a dynamic experience for the viewers as they go ahead to observe the sculpture.

Ancient Greek shaped the ideas of the what art should look like, and Greek culture plays such an important role of building the foundation of the western civilization. His ideas is absorbing, spreading and developing along with the conquered by Rome. Greece is kind of materialism, they barely believe the world in the mental, they prefer the world is all made by material instead. All the art work is the best example of Greece philosophy of life. The ideas of democracy, wisdom, religion is reflected in the Greek artwork, also represent the ancient people’s intelligence and creativity.

Made from parian marble sculpted separately before being fixed with vertical legs, this piece of art is usually thought to portray Aphrodite, the ancient Greek goddess of physical love and beauty. Venus de Milo is a statue of a naked woman with no arms, restoration experts have said that the statues arms and original base or plinth have been lost almost since the work arrived in Paris in 1820. It has been said that this was partly due to an error of identification because when the statue was originally reassembled, the other pieces that came of the left hand and arm were not believed to belong to it because of their overall rough appearance.This goddess is often shown with mystery, her attitude always tends to be unknown. However to this day, many experts are confident that these additional pieces were part of the original work of art despite the variation in the final product since it was often common to spend less time and effort to the parts believed to be less visible of a sculpture, Many sculpture reconstruction experts guess that the separately carved right arm of the Venus de Milo laid across her torso with her right hand rested on her raised left knee, hence her clasping the clothing covering