The original Laocoön statue was constructed by Athanadoros, Hagesander, Polydoros from Rhodes in the Hellenistic era. The large marble group that we now know as Laocoön Group was unearthed in 1506 CE, currently resides in the Vatican and may be a Roman copy of the famous Greek sculpture that Pliny the Elder described. , If the statue is a Roman copy, it was most likely commissioned by Augustus as a public works project to celebrate the fall of Troy that eventually led to the founding of Rome. However, if the marble statue is the original that was constructed by the sculptors from Rhodes, then the reasons for its construction could be as shrouded in mystery as its travels from Titus’s palace to Rome. Nonetheless, the origins of the statue …show more content…
All of the figures within the sculpture appear either excessively well built, small, or large. To begin with, the serpents are excessively long. The snake biting the child on the left, for example, starts at the child’s torso, his body then curls around the child’s right shoulder, continues behind the child and moves down to ensnare Laocoön’s’ right leg with the smallest child’s legs and then winds around Laocoön’s left leg and finally has one last coil looped around the largest child’s left ankle. If Laocoön were an average height man (around 6 foot tall) then the sea serpents would have to be at least 12 feet long (probably closer to 15 feet or more). The girth of the serpent bodies is disproportionate with their large size. Although, the bodies of the snakes are large, to achieve a size of twelve feet or more, the body of the snake at the apex would probably be closer to the size of Laocoön’s thigh than the size of his wrist and …show more content…
Although, it is possible and more probable than not, that Laocoön was a well built man. It is highly doubtful that he was so well built. The large imposing physique that the artist rendered Laocoön with made it difficult to adequately reflect a proper size relationship between the parent and children. The children, when compared to Laocoön, are dwarfed by his barrel chest and chiseled arms and legs. To offset this, the artists chose to construct the children with muscular frames as well. The theme of unity is again present, as the children have the same body type as Laocoön (overly athletic and muscular), only scaled down to a size more commensurate with a child’s
“The Seated Boxer” is made of bronze and, although originally made in bronze, “ Laocoon and His Two Sons” are preserved in the marble medium. We do not know for sure if the marble statue possessed some kind of paint, but “The Seated Boxer” has copper and other materials to make the effect of the face having blood from coming out of a boxing match. While both are in the same style, “The Seated Boxer” is by himself while Laocoon is with both of his sons and snakes. “Laocoon and His Two Sons” is based off of a myth from the Trojan war, that Laocoon found out about the Trojan Horse and went to warn Troy that they should not accept it. A God or Goddess didn’t like that he knew so she sent snakes to kill him. However, “The Seated Boxer” was based more off of an event than any particular story. While there is drama, the drama in “The Seated Boxer” is much more subtle and emotional. “Laocoon and His Two Sons” is a much more physically dramatic piece, with snakes and limbs crawling all over the sculpture.
The Ancient Egyptian sculpture, “Statue of Nykara and His Family”, was sculpted during the late fifth dynasty. The sculpture is a depiction of Nykara, his wife, Nubkau, and son, Ankhma-Re. The statue is in poor condition with pieces of limestone missing and chips on the three subject’s faces and bodies. The painted limestone shows the conventional colors for the male and female subjects. There is a clear discoloration among Nykara and his son’s bodies. The brownish red color they once were has eroded to a light yellowish color, which resembles the purposeful color of Nykara’s wife. The hieroglyphs on Nykara’s seat insinuate that the sculpture is meant to be viewed from the front view. This is also evident by the way the three subjects are facing forward in frontal view. There are hieroglyphs on both the chair and base of the statue near Nykara’s wife and son’s feet.
Many art works such as statues are placed throughout the world in different settings. The most common setting for statues is found in funerary settings. The importance of statues in funerary settings is that they are use to project the power the person had before his death. The seated statue of Khafre enthroned from Gizeh, Egypt, illustrates the idealized pharaoh. Another sculpture is Kouros, from Anavysos, Greece that depicts the heroism of Kroisos dying in battle. The Kouros and Khafre are similar in the way that they both radiate power and serve the purpose of honoring the dead men, yet Khafre has a greater significance because it illustrates the pharaoh in a flawless form and the audience can tell that he was a great ruler by the perfect cut sculpture.
The Statue of a kouros represents a Greek male. With one foot forward, the statue at the same time, represents movement and is able to stand on it own. This also gives the over life size figure, visible weight. In this early figure, geometric forms seem to predominate, and anatomical details, such as the chest muscles and pelvic arch, are presented with somewhat of exaggerated lines. Although the exaggerated lines show where these muscles belong, the detail is still missing. Looking up and down this nude body, at this miss proportioned and lacking of detail body, the hair is what grabs my attention. The hair is carved with detail not noticeable in the rest of the body. As well, although the fists are clinched and still bonded to the body, the legs and elbows are separated. The ability to move around and inspect the statue makes a big difference than if it was up against a wall, or just looking at its picture. The legs, which support the weight of the statue, have a visible strength which is seen in the knees. The head is what carried the most detail, the ears although to far back, are intricately designed. It is the ability to walk around the entire statue that allows me to see the different aspects and places where attention to detail was placed. However, he does not expand into three dimensional space; he has a closed-off, column-like appearance
And just like the Greek the statue are both big and almost human size. A great example of this is the “Augustus of Primaporta, 1st century C.E. (Vatican Museums).” It truly shows the evolution of art sculpting. It is a full size very detailed sculpture of Augustus. It very detailed from his hair showing every curl and split to the small details in his armor that also depicts a story as well is shows the god of the sky looking down on him and the goddess of the earth looking up towards him as they watch the Parthians surrender to him and returning the standards shows the great power that Augustus has, and not just that but also the sculpture itself is a symbol for how Augustus wanted everyone to see him as, as god like. And it even has a little small cupid on the side which is also detailed which shows that Augusts is decedent from a
The statue is made of marble, instead of the bronze statue. This statue is one of the earliest marble statues of a human figure carved in Attica. The statue is a kind of symbol; he does not in any way a likeness. This is my first expression when I saw the statue: the statue is showing me a simple, clear action that was used by Greek youth sculptures throughout this period. Looking at this statue, he expanded into 3D space, because he is standing straight and facing forward without any exaggerated movements, thus the post makes him look closed-off and a column his limbs are locked in space. Therefore, the standing posture, the decorations on his body, his hair and knee’s texture and how the Egyptians impact Greek art, is what makes me interested in it. A question that has always been in my mind is
The Egyptians created Ramesses’ statue 1279-1212 B.C. using granodiorite. The statue is currently being exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. Its dimensions withouts a base are 59 3/4 x 23 1/2 x 30 inches (seems bigger than life-size). One must look at the statue from various sides in order to see its entirety. Ramesses II, known also as Ramesses the Great, ruled Egypt for over sixty years. there are thousands of statues made in his honor to proclaim his power and divinity.
This is a copy of the sculpture of Athena Parthenos, dressed in battle attire, that was originally created by Phidias during the period of 447-39 B.C. The statue of Athena Parthenos was to be constructed, not of bronze, but of gold and ivory. The face, arms, and feet of the statue were to be made of ivory and the clothing, of thickly plated gold. The statue was an enormous size that towered thirty-three feet tall. The costly nature of the materials out of which it was designed was intended to overwhelm the viewer, creating a sense of religious awe.
The trip to the metropolitan museum was a great trip to learn and to study art. What is art you may ask, well art is an expression you use to show a visual picture. It can be through painting or through sculptures. Some other example of art is music, literature and dancing. For today 's paper we will be talking about art as a sculpture. The two sculptures in this photo are King Sahure and a Nome God and Marble Statue of Dionysos leaning on archaistic female figure (Hope Dionysos). You can find these statues in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. King Sahure and a Nome God is an Egyptian art that was made in 2458-2446 BCE. The artist is unknown. It was during the 5th dynasty and it also belong to the old kingdom. The Marble statue of Dionysos Leaning in the archaistic female figure is a Greco-Roman art. Belonging to the Roman imperial period of the late first century A.D. Augustan or Julio-Claudian period 27 B.C., to 68 AD. It is classified as a stone sculpture and it is made out of marble. The height of the statues is 82 ¾ inches. There is no evidence who was the original artist.
In regards to subject matter, both pieces of sculpture are of leaders, Mycerinus and Kha-merer-nebty II were the pharaoh and queen of Egypt around 2500 BCE., and Caesar Augustus was the Emperor of Rome from September 23, 63 BCE to August 19, 14 CE., shown in this work as a general from Primaport, Italy.
Recall the ancient Greeks and the sculptor Phidias, who created the row of sculptures that sit above the columns of the Parthenon. The Parthenon, built in 447 to 438 BC, is in Athens, Greece. The Greeks used the Golden Ratio, which they called the Golden Section, as the basis for the design of the Parthenon as it created a balance in the design.
In both pieces the Kouros and the Isamu Noguchi Kouros they don’t necessarily have lines as such a painting they both have a form. Both Kouros have linear characteristics that flow through the sculptures, they make your eyes follow the ways of the creases. In the Kouros sculpture from 600 BCE is human like, so it has the way the body is elongated and has those natural lines that make it look human like. The Isamu Noguchi Kouros has negative spaces throughout the piece. All of it is open and it provides a focal area to how the pieces fit within the sculpture. The sculptures both have textures even though they are pictures, just by using my eyes and background knowledge I can tell there is surface that differs in each piece. The Kouros from 600
Cardinal Mariano Rampolla del Tindaro was the titular of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere from 1887 until his death in 1913. He was also the Archpriest of St. Peter’s and almost declared pope in 1903, but was vetoed on suspicion of being a freemason and promoting views against the triple alliance. His funerary monument was commissioned in 1913, possibly by Pope Pius X. The piece was sculpted in Neo-Baroque design by Enrico Quattrini, and sits in the Cappella Rampolla, one of the side chapels in Santa Cecilia. Cardinal Rampolla’s body was transferred to the tomb in 1929, from his initial burial location in Campo Verno cemetery.
He discusses that Roman statues appear greatly similar to those of Ancient Greece, both in material and in style. The statues both from Greece and Roman Republic were made from slabs of marble and bronze. In both cultures, portraits were used as expressions of honor to both the living and the dead. They were often used in funerary spaces and sanctuaries. Stewart supports the same principle that the other critics have stated, that portraits and statues were used primarily by the wealthy and elite members of the republic. They decorated the public spaces of the people, as a reminder of leadership within the community and as a way to honor the authority’s power. Imperial portraits were used as a symbol of devotion and established the presence of a powerful empire, bringing the devotion towards the emperor
Even the few sculptor’s names known to us, usually by chance, from the imperial period are Greek names and seem to confirm the assumption that these artists’ work should be regarded simply as a late phase of Greek art” (Hanfmann, 12). The Greeks were the first western culture to figure out how to accurately depict the human form which they did through the use of geometric ratios. It is also widely accepted that it was even Greek artists who first made marble portraits for the Romans as the Romans originally had no skill with the stone. “It was certainly at first Greek artists who were entrusted by eminent Romans with the execution of portraits of themselves and of important personalities in the Roman state, just as it was Greeks who depicted Aemilius Paulus victory at Pydna and later were largely responsible for the portraits of the emperors” (Kahler 16). The Romans mainly used terracotta for their sculptures and it was only when Augustus reigned that the marble quarries at Carrara were opened and marble was used on a large scale. The Romans inherited the use of realistic proportions, the sense of movement (contrapposto), and the overall beauty of Greek sculptures. A great example of Roman sculpture that was clearly carved by a Greek artist who was familiar with the Hellenistic styles of Greece, is the Relief of the Wedding of Amphitrite and Neptune. It “shows a mythological