Ancient Greek Art Research Paper

Since the dawn of civilization art has been a crucial part of almost every society, allowing people to express themselves and create beautiful works. Some of the most influential and impactful pieces of art come from ancient civilizations, and have stood the test of time to this very day. While there are countless examples of ancient civilizations that had many similarities as well as differences, I found the most integral and key to be from Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. In the early days of Greece, the Greeks developed a very distinctive art style that put great emphasis on natural beauty and the human anatomy. This style of art would later come to be known as Archaic, and was thought to have borrowed techniques from the more advanced

Classical era Greek sculpting put an emphasis on art as a job rather than a private pleasure, combining idealism and naturalism to build great monuments and temples. Perhaps one of the greatest examples of this is the Parthenon, a dedication to Athena, the city’s patron deity. The Parthenon was one of the largest temples constructed during the classical art period, supervised by some of the most talented citizen-artists and brought to life by craftsmen from all over Greece. While standalone sculptures in Greece would continue, most sculpting efforts would be put towards construction jobs such as the rebuilding of acropolis temples after they were destroyed by Persian infiltrators, or the building of the Propylaea, a massive gateway that led through a

After Julius Caesar’s reign, almost all Roman leaders wanted to leave a lasting image of themselves in marble, resulting in the production of large statues and buildings that served not only as beautiful works of art, but also as political advertisements. Roman artists adapted advanced sculpting techniques from classical Greek artists to use for the emperor’s propaganda purposes. This differed from the Greek approach toward sculpting in the name of art or in the name of someone, for example the Parthenon dedicated to Athena. Instead, the Romans largely sculpted to advance one’s political campaign or sway the public’s opinion of an individual. For example, the Roman ruler Augustus placed sculptures of himself in public places, such as the Augustus of Primaporta, where Augustus is shown with an armored breastplate that depicts his highest diplomatic achievement. In addition to his armor, Augustus is also standing next to a dolphin, which refers to the mythical goddess Venus, from who he claimed to be a descendant of, making the art an obvious use of sculptural propaganda. Another example of how the Romans used sculptural propaganda is the imperial forum built under Emperor Trajan. The forum consisted of a large marketplace, multiple libraries with both Greek and Latin texts, and a hall of justice. The centerpiece of said