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Example research essay topic: Hellenistic Period Classical Period - 2,095 words

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Greek art has gone through many stages through out the coarse of its history. Over the years the Greeks strived to perfect the faces, bodies as well as the human form in their sculptures. They experimented with many types of techniques, many of which I will touch on in this paper. This paper will mainly discuss Greek sculptures that range from the Geometric Period all the way up to the Hellenistic Period. We will discover that the Greeks were quite talented and always strived for a better depiction of the human body. As time went on and the Greeks experimented more with the use of their media, the sculptures went from basic non-descriptive figures to amazing replicas of individuals.

We start in the Geometric period; which did the Egyptians influence. We then we move on to the Archaic Period, still a bit basic yet which with time developed into the Early Classical Period. The Early Classical Period gave way to the High Classical Period. Once we reach this period Realism is quite evident. From the High Classical Period emerged the Hellenistic Period, which by far gave the most realistic depiction of humans that Greece had ever seen. Each period that the Greeks stepped through impacted the next period to follow in a positive way.

The reader will be able to see this by noting the formal changes that take place. In this paper I will discuss the development of formal style in Greek sculpture over time. Starting with the beginning is Geometric art. Geometric art is very similar to Egyptian art we have discussed in the past. Geometric art was done mainly in wood, clay, ivory and bronze. An Example of Geometric art is the Bronze Running Girl.

The sculptor has chosen to reduce her body parts into simple geometric shapes. This was typical of sculptures of the Geometric era. The faces of the individuals being depicted were very vague. Faces were not yet realistic; stances were not in real life proportion. The main focus of this piece was to get the basic point that this was a female running.

It was no one in particular. This general depiction of men and women was common for sculptors of this time. They used negative space to enhance the interest in each of these pieces, but all in all they were very basic. Most of these works have been found in sanctuaries. This may lead us to believe that they were made as votive sculptures or perhaps, in the case of the Bronze Running Girl, as a trophy for the winner of a competition. We next move on to the Archaic Period.

This period was the beginning of the advancement into a more realistic depiction of the human form for the Greeks. We can look at the Calf Bearer as a good example of the Archaic Male figure. Sprung from the ways of the Egyptians, the Greeks still presented their people with large almond shaped eyes and soft, yet stern smiles. As we observe the face we can tell that if the nose was still intact it would have been quite pointy and the chin is rather large and box shaped.

Just as in Egyptian art, the facial hair as well as the hair on his head is non-realistic. As we scan down the body we notice the attention to musculature. This was not really that evident in Egyptian art but is now becoming more and more important to the Greeks. His arms are bent and we see the triceps and biceps of the individual.

As we keep looking down we see a well-defined portrayal of his abdominal muscles. This mans leg muscles are evident. Back to the Egyptian style, this figure is standing with his left leg forward. Although way more detailed than Egyptian art, archaic art is definably founded from the art of the Egyptians. The Early Classical Period is a time where sculptors are trying to depict the human body in the most realistic fashion as possible. I chose to discuss the Charioteer as a good example of the male form in the Early Classical Period.

In this piece we discover that it may be a depiction of an actual person. As for the periods before, they still depended on basics while in the Early Classical period they focused more on making this piece believable, as if it was based on a real person. His facial features were more natural. No more almond shaped eyes.

They eyes were usually in laid with either glass or gold to look more natural. The facial structure was no longer as rigid as before. The chin was naturally oval shaped; the nose was no longer as pointed. His facial expression invites the viewer to guess what he is feeling as appose to sculptures of the past, which consisted of nothing but a tiny smile. The hands and feet were presented with great detail, especially in the fingernails and toenails. You could even see his veins!

He was also no longer in the typical stance of the Egyptians. He was standing with feet together and his head was turned as if he was looking at something. The pieces of this time strayed away from the typical stances of the Egyptians and moved to everyday poses. Another thing that the Greeks were striving to depict in a better way was the clothing.

Instead of straight shits and skirts the clothes now developed curves and waves. In this piece his robe is draped on him and looks as if it could blow around in the wind. This was a major important step in the portrayal of realistic clothing. The rendering of clothing progressed greatly over the years. We see this to be true as we move on to the depiction of women in the Early Classical Period. In the relief sculpture Athena and Hephaestus we can focus mainly on Athena (on the left) to explore the female of this time.

The artist here was trying to show the female body yet still has her clothing remain on her. To accentuate the form of the female, artists of this time would make the cloth they wore appear to be sheer or wet. They did this so that the clothing would stick to the body thus showing the natural curves of the woman through the cloth. Between this period and the Hellenistic period this will be our only chance to see drapery like this for it is lost until the time of Michelangelo.

While looking at Athena s face in this scene we see that is idealized. All female faces were idealized to the look of the perfect Greek woman in this time. Her hair was not yet realistic. It was still in a hairstyle type form but it was defiantly getting closer to looking like real hair. The positioning of the female body has also changed through out time. This period experiments a lot with the S-curve.

Athena s body is leaning back on one arm in a natural position. Her legs and feet are together at the knees and then spread at the bottom to show a real lady-like pose / stance . The art of this time is starting to show emotion in ways it never had before. As we move on to the High Classical period it becomes more and more acceptable to show the nude female body.

Other works of art before hand had come close with the technique of damp fold drapery which showed pretty much everything but not until this period was it widely accepted to show a woman sculpted in the flesh. We see a good example in the relief the Birth of Aphrodite. In this piece we see the beauty of the nude female body. Starting at her face we can see details as intricate as her eyelids and eyebrows. In this High Classical period attention to tiny details is very important. We can see emotion shown in her face as she grasps onto the men helping her.

As we move down the body we see that she has great definition in her arms and shoulders. You can tell that she is tugging on the men maybe even clenching with pain. Her bare breasts are exposed and lay sagging a bit just as a real woman s body would look. Her body is portrayed more realistically and not as idealized as before. We see her abdomen tightening as she clenches and struggles. This is showing movement in the piece.

These sculptures aren t just simple poses anymore; they are records of events sculpted, as they would have happened in full motion. We see that the men cover her pubic region. This is simply out of respect for the situation at hand. Although in this period, nude females were usually shown with some object covering her pubic region to entice the viewer. Emotion runs wild in the Hellenistic period.

This is when the Greeks had finally reached the appearance that they were looking for in their sculptures. Each piece gives its viewer a real sense of feeling along with it. Bodies were portrayed so beautifully that they could be mistaken for real people. A wonderful example of the male body in the Hellenistic Period would be the Dying Gallic Trumpeter. The subject of this piece is the death of a man. We see that he has fallen to the ground.

He holds his weak body up with one arm. We can see that he is becoming weaker and weaker by the look on his face. Soon his arm will fall and he will collapse completely but for now he is struggling to remain up. From the front view we can see his face, which is full of agony and sorrow. His features are as natural as a real human. His hair lies messy on his head.

His body is twisted and we can see the ripples and creases in his stomach. We can observe the muscles in every part of his body. From the back view we have a beautiful rendering of the male back; full of muscles with a narrow line of the spine running through the middle of it. This piece not only shows the beauty of the male body in a captivating realistic way, it shows how much the Greeks have improved with their depiction of the human form since the Geometric Period. Although beauty in a piece was greatly admired the Hellenistic period the sculptors did not just depict beautiful things. In my final piece used, reality is the main goal of the sculptor and was the main goal of many sculptors of that time.

I chose the Old Market Woman because it depicted a female body that was not idealized. The subject matter here is an old woman, obviously poor, going through town either buying or selling goods. Her face is very descriptive but not only with details it also shows emotion. As you can see this woman is elderly.

We can observe this in the wrinkles in her face and the sagging of her skin. Her facial expression shows us that these trips to the market are becoming taxing to her body. It is not an easy trip for her as she ages. Her hair is wispy and pulled back and out of the way.

Her clothes are tattered and torn and falling off of her sickly body. The body is in a natural pose. She seems to be trudging through the market trying to get her goods and go home. Her body is in movement. Movement, emotion, and reality were the main goals to reach in the Hellenistic period. And they did!

Greek art is to be compared by no other. None can match the amazing creativity and skill of the Greeks. They went from the Geometric period where sculpture merely consisted simple shapes onto the Archaic period where mirrored Egyptian art. From then the Greeks progressed to Early Classical art where creating more realistic art was the goal of sculptors then. In the Highly Classical art period we see the Greeks perfect this goal. And finally we reach the Hellenistic Period where this perfected art can be used in different ways to show feelings, actions and emotion.

I have seen some Greek art in person when I visited the Mus ee du Louver and I must say it was absolutely the most intriguing art I have ever seen in my entire life. This culture s masterpieces have shaped and provided a backbone for sculptures in the future.


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Research essay sample on Hellenistic Period Classical Period

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