Ancient Greek art of the Classical period depicts beauty through the balance of naturalism and idealism - Essay Example

Visual arts of the ancient Greeks The history of the visual art in Greek brings with it an infinite amount of speculation, and different theories and assumptions especially in the areas of architecture and sculpture. In the classical era, a revolution in Greek statutory works is incorporated in the introduction of democracy as well as the closing ages of the aristocratic culture connected with the kouroi. The period occurred during the onset of the Persian Wars, between 480 BC and 448 BC. From about 500 BC, statues and sculptures started to show in Greece.

They were used in many areas including the temple of Zeus at Olympia and Parthenon in Athens, which used relief sculpture for decorative wall painting and sculpture in the round to fill up the triangular fields of the pediments. The classical period characterized modifications in both the function and the style of the sculpture. Poses seemed more naturalistic as shown by the Polykleitos of Diadumenos sculpture. The scientific skill of Greek sculptors in showing the human form in distinct poses was improved.

The statues of the Diadumenos (set up in Athens to commemorate the defeat of the tyranny) were reputed to be the initial public shrines to real people. After 480 BC, the Greeks celebrated a period of peace after the defeat of the Persian fleet at Salamis. During these periods, the arts thrived and the uniqueness of thought, ideas, and artistic phrases was widely backed up. A number of sculptures were made from bronze, using the inlays of glass and copper1. The three dimensions forms of portrayed both an ability and balance of physical beauty.

Detailed features depicted individual character, only to achieve a more expressive point a bit later in the age of Pericles. They initiated the perception of contrapposto to include the same freedom of movement into freestanding sculptures. This signified the weight of the sculpted form was altered to one leg, which also known as triangle of stability2. To the Greeks, the human body showed love. Aphrodite or the goddesses of love, was viewed without garment to reveal her natural form. The naked figure was proportioned mathematically and statues had a systematic, perfect quality, unlike the real human form with abnormalities.

In Greece, prosperity and harmony flourished during the classic period. The freedom and the variability of this period reflected in the sculptural form of dynamic movement. However, this style only gave a visual representation of an action and ceased in time. Among the three goddesses on the east pediment, the material of the figures appeared to stick to the lines of the natural form3. The creases of the folds turned the viewer’s eye to the central point of the composition, which is the origin of Athena.

The artists of the classical Greece were excellently expert in anatomy and the use of movement and rhythm. Religion dominated the life of the Greek and therefore it is not amazing that the temples of the ancient Greece were the most beautiful and big. They also had a political aim as they were often created to rejoice in the civic pride and power, or offer thanksgiving to the patron deity of a city for the success in war. As seen in the sculpture of diedanimous, polykliotis applied different materials including marble, limestone and stone as these were abundant in Greece.

The sculpture reveals the story about God, events, heroes, mythical creatures and Greek culture in general. Conclusion The classical period is Greece is associated with a lot of artwork in the fform of architecture, sculptures and paintings. These works of art mainly featured natural objects presented beautifully with the practical application of elements such as ratios that defied natural beauty of objects and unique mental activity. References Kleiner, F.S. 2009. Gardner’s Art through the Ages: the Western Perspective.

Cengage Learning: Belmont. Press Moon, W.G. 1995. Polykleitos, the Doryphoros, and tradition. University of Wisconsin Press: Madison Rykwert, J. 1998. The Dancing Column: On Order in Architecture MIT Press: Massachusetts