Greek Art: The Predynastic Period Of Egypt

The predynastic period of Egypt began in 3500 bce. Egypt was split between the south and the north and then became unified towards the end of the predynastic period (book). The palette of King Narmer supposedly depicts the events of the unification. The Palette is dated between 3000 bce and 2920 bce. “The Egyptian artist’s portrayal of Narmer combines profile views of his head, legs, and arms with front views of his eye and torso” (book). This representation became the norm in Egyptian art as well as figures being spread out and the pictures being subdivided into registers (book).

Egyptian art had an aesthetic that was funerary. From their paintings, tombs, pyramids, monuments, and temples. At least one from each category, if not all, was funerary

Speak directly to the similarities and differences between the representation of men and women, and include information about the materials and techniques used by the Greeks, as well as the different contexts in which the figure appears in their art historical record. Feel free to include an account of the various different ways in which other cultures you have studied in this course influenced Greek art in the context of the figure.

The Archaic period, lasted from 600 to 480 bce. Some of the earliest known statues mirror the Egyptian style. The Kouros statue, dated for 600 bce is a good example. It is almost an exact replica. It is a frontal statue with the advancement of the left foot (book). The arms hang straight down (book). It has no movement nor no emotion (book). The hands are clinched like a fist with the thumbs forward (book). Although this statue has many similarities as the Egyptian style statuary, it has some key differences. It is nude, and free standing, the head and facial features favor the Daedalic style of the oriental period, and has

Still, Hellenistic sculptors went further” (book). The Nike of Samothrace (190 bce) is a winged sculpture that had a theatrical effect due to the use of water to portray real-life scenery. “The Hellenistic statues interact with their environment and appear as living and breathing” (book). Venus de Milo like Aphrodite is nude but not as modestly as her. She is more sensual. Archaic and Classical statues are awake and alert. Hellenistic statues sometimes are portrayed as sleeping. One example is the sleeping eros (150-100 bce). Throughout history, babies are portrayed as miniature grown-ups. The Hellenistic sculptors depicted them as they were. Another pivotal moment in the Hellenistic period, was when sculptors represented different foreign social groups and people of older age. One example is the old market women (150-100 bce). Because older people and foreign groups were considered the low of the low in earlier periods, they were not worthy enough to have representations of them in