Seated Boxer And David: Sculpture Analysis

In a time of depressed antiquity, both the Renaissance and the Reformation were considered some of the most eye opening and crucial events regarding modern thought and religious confrontation. Ancient Greek and Roman art were reborn in many different ways that included the revival of different artistic techniques, the use and portrayal of nude structures such as Donatello’s “David”, and also the adoption of realism utilized in the North. Several art techniques such as sfumato, chiaroscuro, fresco, and linear perspective, not only had a resurgence in the artwork of many Italians and Europeans, but also shaped the way people thought about dimension and personal character. The forms of art that were expressed during that time period using those

In ancient Greece during the 5th century BCE, Polykleitos, an ancient Greek sculptor, created Doryphoros to represent an ideal human body. Also referenced as the Spear Bearer, this naturalistic, bronze sculpture represented contrapposto, showing harmony of the opposites. Polykleitos derived ideas to sculpt the human form with visual features, along with his treatise, Canon, to inspire art in ancient Greece.

Donatello was one of the greatest Florentine sculptor of the Renaissance era, before Michelangelo [1386-1466] and was the most significant unique artist of the 15th century in Italy. Donatello was known for creating lots of sculptures in which some he emphasized the nude in his sculptures. One of Donatello`s famous work was the bronze sculpture “David”. The “David” sculpture, emphasized the ideal figure of nudity capturing natural representation of balance and proportion. Donatello studied the anatomy of the human body in order to understand how to best represent his sculptures; as a noted scientific approach. That approach to his work was consider as “Classical” which influences are easy to see. So, with

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.

The people believed in the worship of multiple gods, a polytheistic society. Most Greeks and Romans were deeply loyal to the gods they worshipped and tended to find inspiration from their worship of gods and muses. Hence their love for their sculptures of curvy naked ladies, tales of mythology because of the taboos attached to them and the freedom to choose their religion of Gods or deities. (MindEdge, 2014).

The Seated Boxer, 300-200 B.C.E. is a work that may look as if the statue emanates power, but in actuality, emanates pity and sadness when examined more closely. This work of art was created during the Hellenistic era where Greek art displayed dramatic, detailed expression art. The Seated Boxer expresses this same sort of art from the Hellenistic era as the sculptor etched intricate details to the Seated Boxer from the details on its face, to its entire posture that it has been sculpted in. Greek classical art, such as The Warrior, has been known to display perfection of the works of art and emanates the theme of power from its posture to its expression that it displays. The theme of pathos is more associated with a somber theme, such as Epigonos, where the works of art evokes a sense of empathy from the viewers as they examine its details, emotions, and the general feeling it expresses. This theme is expressed further in works of arts when viewers themselves can feel sadness and pity from it. The Seated Boxer clearly shows and represents the theme of pathos as viewers who look at it can feel how it expresses sadness rather

One of the most memorable and important pieces of architect from the Hellenistic Greek era would be the Altar of Zeus at Pergamon in western Turkey. The altar was commissioned in the first half of the second century (166- 156 BC) during the rule of King Eumenes II or Attalos II to commemorate territorial victories over Pontos and Bithynia. The Altar was also dedicated to Zeus and Athena in gratitude for their help in the war against the Galatians (aka: barbarians) that were threatening the Pergamane Empire from the east. The Altar of Zeus is very well known for its very grand design and also for it’s frieze, which wraps 370 feet around the base of the altar, depicting gigantomachy (the struggle between gods and the giants).

The ultimate purpose of the art object until the Hellenistic period is to be a figure of human perfection and the Ideal, most commonly in the form of a ruler or a deity via body politics. Anatomy and physiology of the statue or relief is often used to further the pancultural concepts of the Ideal as opposed to the physical representation of a specific, imperfect person. The conept itself speaks volumes about the culture from which it originates, and what that culture valued most of its people and of their lives. However, as the centuries thundered by and civilizations rose and fell, there is a clear shift in the artist’s attitude towards his or her art, and the artist begins to wean away from an aesthetic realm of perfection to the portrayal of a specific

Sculpture was one of the most popular forms of art in the ancient world. In cultures all around the globe, from Mayan culture to Roman, relief sculpture could portray the most significant aspects from said cultures. In this specific example, Stele D Portraying Ruler 13 (Copan, Honduras, 736 CE, Mayan) and the Column of Trajan (Forum of Trajan, Rome, Italy, High Empire), both portray significant rulers from their times, as well as fundamental narratives detailing occurrences in the times.

The Greek sculptures reach the new height of beauty, not only because the mastery of the technique, but also the fascination of human body. Greek art uses the outer appearance to reflect the inner power, it is the representative pattern of western art. The myth inspires the creation of sculpture. The fantasy of nature and society and the admire of god’s shape and personality makes the sculpture more multiple and abundant. It is initiate the innovate art style and help the next generation that how to continued to shaped western art culture, such as Rome period and Renaissance period. Every sculpture is a story about gods, heroes, religions and culture in general, Rome even actually copies some of the art works just for showing his respect and love. Some of the sculptures we can see right now for the ancient greek, it is actually the copies during the Roman period. The timeless idealized art work

David is a topic from the Old Testament, which is widely repeated and done by many artists. David is a story where it shows that not only does strength wins in a battle but also wits. Each artist depicts David in different views and moments, like Michelangelo who is an Italian sculptor painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance, another is Gian Lorenzo Bernini who is an Italian architect and sculptor, and he was credited with creating the Baroque style of sculpture. Although both artists depicted David, but each one had different style where Bernini’s is more expressive then Michelangelo’s.

The ancient Romans and Greeks both began their legacy as a city-state; both of them are Mediterranean cities. Ancient Rome and ancient Greece both played a huge role in historic dynasty yet they are both different. Ancient Greece came to light after researches were made. The empire of Athens only lasted 5 years, where Rome 's empire lasted 500 years. Sculptures, paintings and architecture differ in each civilization.

This sculpture reminds me of a sculpture found in early first century BCE. Aule Metele is an Etruscan sculpture that uses roman styles. The statue of Elijah Peirce and of Aule Metele both show the figures as older men with sad looks on their face. Though the medium of this statue is bronze instead of brass they are comparable visually based on the details. In conclusion, Weitzman’s use of personal information he gathered about Elijah Peirce was what made the sculpture along with his attention to

Artists create their own story when painting the works of the Crusader Bible and Story of Yusuf and Zulaikha. They want certain aspects of the story to be heard louder than others. Both artists use color and lines to define and highlight many aspects of the painting. Symbols and structure are also important in these pieces because they give a greater meaning to the story as a whole. The way the artists portray their scenes can have many different meanings depending on the person viewing it.

In both sculptures the hair is deeply carved and is a vivid feature of the busts. The detail of realism in David’s left hand we can see his veins on his hands when he is holding the slingshot and his ribs near the chest. In the bust of Commodus we can see the similar detail of his hands especially the joints above the knuckle area and how realistic it looks when he’s holding the apples and Hercules club on his. In both busts chest, arms and face are sooth. In both busts these sculptures have the portrait of emperor Commodus and the small town hero David as musculant where as in real life they weren’t this is done because Romans believed that the god made us humans and by showing David and Commodus as being musculant hey are portraying them as gods and God were portrayed to be musculant and strong. This is also to show power and strength of them and compare them to the gods in their skills and intelligence. This shows how people respected David and Commodus and hot they treated them like god like humans. They both have small lips, moth. In both busts the lips/mouth are shut. This can show how silence is more powerful than words as it’s seen in their action. Both David’s and Commodus’ eyes are pretty similar as they both have eye bags underneath their eyes. David’s eyes are in more detail and are more carved, drilled into the marble when compared with Commodus. Both of them are looking away from the audience with their head slightly tiled up to show power and their place in the society. Commodus is looking/glancing to his right whereas David is looking to his left and it seems like he is concentrating as his eyebrows and forehead has slight wrinkles also is eye bows are cringed together in both of the busts we can see muscles and when David is holding / grabbing the slingshot. They are portrayed as being healthy and