The Influence Of Human Form In Ancient Civilizations

Art of ancient civilizations stood as testaments to the beliefs and ideas practiced in everyday life. The practices and techniques built upon the work of civilizations past to continue to push forward the advancement of artistic ideals, and it is through this process that much of the great modern art stands today. Yet, these ideas all stemmed from the basic understanding and recreation of the human form in all forms of art. By analyzing distinct pieces from the Paleolithic/Neolithic art, Roman art, and Gothic art, the human form was used as the driving force that inspired and controlled the popular attitudes towards society as whole
During the Paleolithic/Neolithic period, art was primarily used solely for the sake of religious expression or
During this shift in time, the attitudes toward man changed immensely. Acting alongside these developing cultural attitudes were three distinct periods of art (Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic), each of which saw increasing more realistic views in depicting the human form. The attitude of man being separate from god that once permeated through ancient society no longer held as much weight as the ancient Greeks believed that the form of the gods not only paralleled that of the average man in person but also in action. In doing this, the Greeks were able to utilize the human form in art to capture some of the most expressive pieces of its time. The human form soon began to drive means of cultural tradition as art became focused solely on attempting to recreate the myriad of human traits, form, and emotion. It was during the Hellenistic period that art, sculpture specifically, became much more realistic and dynamic, focusing on the wide range of emotions. The sculpture of the Barberini Faun perfectly capitalizes on all these Hellenistic traits in order to produce an authentic Greek portrayal of man. Depicting Dionysus, a semi-human that follows the god of wine, asleep in a sprawled out position, this statue shows how the Greeks would even utilize human form to display a semi-human in drunken slumber. With his legs sprawled wide upon, his
Much like the Greeks, the Gothic art form would usually draw focus on fusing the divine with the human, but in this case, the divine was treated with a much more respect. This was most likely due to the fact that Christian Church held a much stronger role in the governments of France, England, and the Holy Roman Empire. Unlike its medieval European predecessors, the Gothic style focused on a relaxed and personal approach towards art. These characteristics manifested themselves in Virgin of Paris, a depiction of Mary and baby Jesus that was popularized during the Gothic period and continues to remain relevant today. One of the main reasons that this piece stands out so much is that it utilizes the S-curve. The S-curve depicts the elongated and expressive nature of the body in order to provide a much more open and acceptable impression, which is in direct contrast to the contrapossto style, which is prevalent in Greek art and displays an individual standing straight with their weight placed on their front foot. The S-curve became a prominent trend that carries on today and is still utilized in all depictions of Mary and the baby Jesus. In addition to this, the statue combines lax facial features with the image of a young baby Jesus reaching towards his mother to humanize these holy figures. Unlike the Greeks, the Gothic empires would use these