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ap art history ancient rome
ap art history ancient rome
Essay on modern drama
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The historical object I picked when I visited the Princeton Art Museum was the "Relief of a seated poet (Menander) with masks of New Comedy" that was in the downstairs ancient art room with other Ancient Roman and Greek artifacts. The artwork is a relief which reflects its raised, three-dimensional perspective. It is made of white marble. The artwork shows a poet (presumably Menander), wearing a himation, sitting and studying over a dramatic mask of a young man. Meanwhile two other dramatic masks of a woman and an old man lay on a table. A scroll can be seen on the table where the masks of the woman and old man are. This scroll seems to be some type of poetic or theatrical composition that the poet is working on and was using the masks as inspiration. The poet in the piece is directly analyzing the mask of the young man so either the young man is important in the part the poet is writing or is important throughout the entire written piece. With the regard young men received in Ancient Rome, a young man being the focus of a piece of writing or a play would be quite common at the time.
The piece seemed quite interesting because there is such a contrast in facial structures between the poet (assumed to be Menander) and the face masks he is trying on while writing a composition. The poet looks upon the masks with a stoic and imperturbable visage while the masks portray a vast array of emotions. The young man and women masks look shocked and upset; the elderly man's mask looks more enraged and surprised. Why is there such a contrast between the poet's emotions and the masks he is using as inspiration? What does this artwork say about the significance poetry and comedy had in Ancient Rome? Many conclusions can be made about this histo...
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...e advertising a theater that showed Menander's plays. Menander was a famous Greek poet and playwright, but he probably died before this sculpture was made, so the poet was not as important as the plays that were being shown. This artwork also shows what Ancient Romans and presumably Greeks thought to be funny and artistic. The masks are making fun of a young man, woman, and old man and Menander as the stoic man is specifically not funny. If you think about it, a lot of cheap jokes in modern Western culture and media are based around young men, women, and old people. This conclusion reinforces that there is a connection between Roman humor and art and Western art. This is obvious in the language modern Western people use to describe theater and the dramatic arts such as comedy, drama, and even the word theater have informed the modern Western theatrical experience.
The position of the statue of the Old Man provides a straightforward glimpse of the status of Rome and the legacy of Virgil. Standing straight and "erect" (XIV.104), the Old Man "looks at Rome" with his back "turned toward Damietta" (XIV.104-105). The statue’s back faces Damietta, an ancient city in Egypt. What’s more important, though, is that the Old Man is facing Rome. This precise detail makes it clear that Dante the poet wants his contemporary readers to know that Rome is the direction towards which society is converging. The image of the statue looking at Rome "as if it were his mirror" (XIV.105) drives this point further. Within Rome, the Old Man sees a reflection of all of his characteristics; Rome is a natural extension of all the great aspects of the Greek culture, including...
In conclusion, the portrayal of ancient rulers is dependent not only on the style of art popular during the era, but also on the evolution of the political climate. The portrayal of Menkaure, a pharaoh of the Old Kingdom in ancient Egypt, is of complete authority, control and power. His face does not show concern or grief over his people, because he is not challenged politically, the image of control coincides with his sole power over the kingdom. While the depiction of Alexander the Great, in ancient Greek coins is deified. Alexander’s leadership ended with world domination; therefore, his deified portrayal on monetary funds is particularly appropriate. By contrast, Philip the Arab’s portrait sculpture almost resembles a present day photograph with its capture of fleeting expression. This expression of anxiety and sadness is a representation of the political turmoil during the time period of his rule. Taking the progress of ancient cultures into account, how does the art of sculpting improve in the manipulation of the medium used?
This semester, in comparing works of visual art and opera and particularly between works of the same time period, many parallels emerge. But beyond the scope of individual time periods (e.g., Renaissance, Romanticism, Modern), there are parallels that transcend the scope of time entirely. Individuals of varied cultures and periods in history seem to be invariably fascinated by the idea of an archetypal character whom they can adapt and reinterpret according to the terms of their own zeitgeist and with whom they can identify. A salient example is the Orpheus figure, who hails from the myths of antiquity and has been remade and adapted in operas by composers including Monteverdi, Schütz, Lully, Fux, Telemann, Rameau, Gluck, Haydn, Offenbach, Debussy (in an unfinished project), Milhaud, Birtwistle, and Philip Glass—and that is really only the tip of the iceberg! We see Oprheus depicted as well in paintings by Gennari in the 17th century and by Redon in the 19th century, Corot (1861), dell’Abbate, and Rubens. I could similarly enumerate artists, writers, or composers who have famously depicted any of the figures we have studied this far: the Norse figures held so dear by Wagner, Saint Sebastian...
In my examination of the works, I came across a particular sculpture that portrayed both beauty and craftsmanship. A 15th century sculpture (1490), made in Venice, Italy by Tullio Lombardo, shows a life-size figure of Adam. Titled Adam, the work is the most prominent in the gallery mostly because of its 6-foot standing. It immediately caught my attention and gave me a very realistic impression. One beige color and made of marble, Adam is depicted simply, yet the statue has intense emotions. His meaningful glance is seen in the upward and tilted head position. Adam has almost lifeless looking eyes and seems to be staring into the distance. With these sagging eyes, parted lips, and lacking posture I feel Adam’s guilt is displayed in this figure.
...n imagine yourself in that place and in that position. Since we cannot act this out, Morimura has put himself into the painting to act out this sequence and to show what it would look like. This action has humanized the painting as a whole because it shows that he is an everyday person acting this out just like the woman in Olympia. Also the fact that he is a guy acting this out makes this just as scandalous as Olympia because it’s a nude man who is looking at you like the courtesan woman is in Olympia.
'Drunken Old Woman' is a Roman copy of a Greek original that dates back to the late 2nd-3rd century B.C. The statue is 36 inches tall, made of marble, and realistically depicts an old woman in a drunken and distraught state. This piece is a perfect example of the effect the Hellenistic period had on artistic conventions. Whereas most statues in the Classical period were idealistic renderings of the human body, often depicting gods and goddesses, the Hellenistic period brought a shift to focusing on the mortal realm through a practice referred to as 'social realism'. It was a crucial development in art because it allowed artists to find inspiration in the world around them, in the lives of themselves and other people they knew.
The primary function of monumental portraits in Ancient Rome was to honor political figures of power through repeating social and political themes. The Romans expressed these themes through a form of “realism”. Relics of this era were found depicting the elderly conservative nobility that lived through civil disruptions and war, elaborately individualized through detail of the face expression. Through the features of grimacing heaviness, wrinkles, and effects of old age, the Romans were able to express the reality of their political situation felt by the people whose faces were sculptured into stone. Furthermore, Nodelman discusses the use of sculpture portraits to depict the ideology behind Roman conservative aristocracy. Artists would portray the virtues of gravitas, dignities, and fides, through the use to physical expression and symbolic meaning, rather than through words. A statue of Augustus, for instance, displays the militaristic, powerful, godly perception of the conservative ideology through the use of symbolic detail. The decorative, rich, military outfit on Augustus, represents the power of the military and Augustus’s role as imperator in it. The freely held masculine arm and pointing gesture towards the horizon are Rome’s expanding dreams, clashing with the overall powerful and sturdy stance of the body. The bare feet bring about the impression
This sculpture seems to epitomize the ideal male human form. All of the body parts seem perfectly proportioned and the muscles are beautifully defined as if the image were of an athlete. The image is youthful with a calm demeanor. The right missing forearm looks as if it used to be resting at his side, while the left elbow was probably at a 90 degree angle, with the hand holding something. The slight bend in the left leg gives the impression of movement, as if the image was frozen while walking. The counterpoised stance adds an air of nobility to the "man".
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 Ancient Rome and Modern Rome, the consistency of the similarities are what connects them entirely. These paintings depict a gallery filled with paintings, sculptures, and statues. The setting of the frames are almost identical in the two paintings. The lighting in each gallery comes from the northwest corner, which highlights the men in the room. Even the men are quite similar, some even being the same person. In the paintings, a drape covers some parts of the gallery and hangs on top of the painting. Every aspect in the paintings are somehow a parallel to the other painting, therefore linking the
While walking the Greek Art Section in the Metropolitan Museum, people could easily be captivated by the grandiosity of one Archaic Period sculpture named Kouros(Youth), as you could see in figure 2, a beautiful male nude stone statue. Although it is true that, at the first glance, most people would mistreat this statue as an Egyptian one, for its straight and simple style, which derives from the Sinai Peninsula, this statue is actually from Athen, the center of Greek. Nevertheless, this similarity still arouses people’s curiosities: why and how the Archaic Period Greek statues resembled with the Egyptian one? Is there any other culture also influenced the Greek Art? Thus, this essay is going to discuss how two main foreign cultures: the Egyptian culture and the Ionic culture influenced the Archaic Period Greek Art.
Having a place to take a glance at the beauty of history or observe similar things of your own interest is very nice, a museum does the job just right. Many things must be considered before a person can responsibly and safely secure a new work of art or an artifact for a museum. Cost, variety and safety are the first three factor that comes to mind when are dealing with artifacts that displayed in a museum. Is important to be cautious when we are dealing with art works, not to damage or misplace them so our posterity have a chance to look at what we looked at.
Here, we will be looking at a rendition of the high marble statue of Augustus Caesar known as “Augustus of Prima Porta.” Originating from 1st Century A.D., it is said that there is a possibility that the original sculpture could have been of greek descent. Upon a general overview of the sculpture, one can see that Augustus fulfils a millitarial role of some kind. From his very stance to the garments portrayed on him, Augustus is draped in a decorative cuirass and a tunic, accompanied by a figure of Cupid clutching on to his right calf. After taking the general themes of the work into account, one can then began to start unraveling the many symbolic elements embedded into the sculpture that allude to godly themes. Starting from the crown of his head, the very chiselment and structure of his face gives the work a youthful element to it, even though some say that Augustus was around 40 years old. A recurring theme within Greek and Roman culture is the matter of godliness and immortality amongst idolized figures themselves. This idea is usually depicted by displaying powerful human being in a younger light. This
Masks by Emil Nolde is an oil painting which is currently displayed at The Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City Missouri. My first response to the still life painting was that of a very weird and bizarre, yet playful mood. The mischievous looking figures rendered with intense color, gave off a sense of horror without the dim dull color scheme typically portrayed in horror settings. At first glance, one could notice the eerie grin or grimace upon the countenance of each of the five individual figures. I believe Nolde rendered the painting in this manner to capture the viewers attention in a way that would provoke a sense of terror and jab at their emotions.
When first arriving at the museum it was an old styled, rustic, building that was not very modern, which I think fits into the theme of the museum. The outside of the building had history, similar to how the inside of museum is filled with a history. There was also an impressive statue of former president Theodore Roosevelt. I thought it was an interesting display, but Theodore Roosevelt was an advocate for the preservation of national parks and the conservation of animals, moreover, I thought it was a great tribute to him. I think the outside of the museum shows how rich the history of the world is and there is so much to learn. The past has been polished for the people of the present to understand and admire. Overall, I felt every exhibit was easy to understand and not intimidating; subsequently, it was easy for children and adults to look at.