Art And Humanity

Art and Humanity Assessing the portrayal of the human form throughout the history of art is interesting to see the evolution. Eras and locations take a major part in the style of the human from the Ancient Greece to Gothic Europe. The Spear Bearer from 450 BCE, Head of Old Man from mid 1st c. BCE, and the Cathedral of Santa Maria Nuova in Sicily, Italy from12th c.e. Are all great examples to see the different styles of humans being portrayed in a specific era. Each piece of work is a product of the culture and contain attributes specific to the time periods. Doryphoros in Greek meaning spear-bearer was a statue of what was looked at as the perfect body. It was not the body of a specific person but the precision and the proportions
of the body. The spear bearer is supposed to be mathematically accurate on all the measurements of each part of the body and in relation to what the whole ideal body is to look like. The sculpture is important to the time because the Greeks found beauty through ratio and loved to celebrate the body and all its capabilities. The Greeks loved the body so much they would perform sports nude to admire what the body can do. That is the reason why the statue of the spear bearer is nude to show off the precise mathematical measurements of the entire body. I like that with all the perfect measurements they gave the statue a natural stance putting the weight on the right leg while the left is relaxed and arms are doing the same on opposite sides. Greek sculptures were the first of its kind to bring real life to the statues. Capturing the man in motion as if he were walking in my opinion portrays that every man at that time looked somewhat close to that image. Especially if you do not know the history behind what inspired the art. Doryphoros was some of the beginning art heading in the humanistic direction. The Head of the Old Man portrait was apart of the Roman Empire and they had a different humanistic approach to the art.
The Romans had a real respect for age because they thought is showed wisdom. The humanism aspect of the sculpture is similar to the Greeks but the Romans take it a step further because they are not showing perfect people. The Romans are showing a respect for age and changed up the style of how humans were viewed. It gives people a better perspective on how not every man was perfect and idealized. Instead they give a portrait of an older man with very little facial expressions and sunken skin to show how wise he is. Not idealizing oneself and being seen more realistically in a sculpture would be considered a Roman characteristic. Idealizing oneself is a Greek characteristic when it came to statues. It was important to show the age in my opinion because that is what ruled Rome at the time. Older men who came from the top families in Rome had the most money, privilege, and power over all other people. With all that automatically came age and experience in which people admired. In comparison with the Spear Bearer both were created out of what was appreciated in their own areas. Greeks appreciated all aspects of the body and Romans did age because it came with wisdom. They are different because the Greeks had a full body from head to toe and the Romans just focus on the head. I feel like it is just the head because it puts all attention on the
power of the mind. Cathedral of Santa Maria Nuova, Sicily, Italy, 12th c.e., apse mosaic is a variety of different art all idealizing Christ.
The apse displays a lot of different biblical scenes with a combination of both Greek and Roman style as for as representing humanistic approach. In the picture of Christ introducing Eve to Adam in paradise they gave the two very natural bodies like the Romans would do and idealized Christ how the Greeks would do. Christ is covered in nice linens with the ring around his head to show that he is the icon. While Adam and Eve are in the nude like Greeks but the bodies are not very flattering in my opinion how the Romans would have it. I like how the Byzantine era did have their own style with the mosaic artwork being able to create a picture with that kind of detail with a bunch of small pieces of tile, glass, or metal. The apse mosaic is important to the time because the spread of Christianity was increasing very quickly. Inside the cathedral they would use the apse to depict various parts of the bible and other religious events. All the art was not just there for decorations but also used as an educational
opportunity.