Roman

Busts of Roman Republicans were uniformly literal reproductions of individual faces.  Although their style derives from Hellenistic and Etruscan portraits, Republican portraits are one way the patrician class celebrated its elevated statues.  The subjects were exclusively men and were accurate records of their distinctive features.  The result was a statement about the man's personality: serious, experienced, determined- virtues that were much admired during the Republic.

The Early Empire rule of Augustus brought peace and prosperity to the war weary Mediterranean world.  During this time the emperors commissioned a huge number of public works throughout the Empire.  One of these such works was the Procession of the imperial family on the south frieze of the Ara Pacis Augustae.  Augustus sought to present his new order as a golden age and emulated Classical models to make a political statement.  The figures are recognizably contemporary figures, among which are portrayed children who look like children (not miniaturized adults) and who are acting like children.  The decline in birthrate among Roman nobility so this and several other works were commissioned as a moral exemplar to further the emperor's own political and social agenda.

In the Hight Empire the supreme confidence is not conveyed in the statue portrait of Marcus Aurelius.  This was the first portrait where a Roman emperor appeared weary, saddened, and even worried.  The ruler's character, thoughts, and soul were exposed for all to see.  This was a major turning point in the history of ancient art and marked the beginning of the end of classical art's domination in the Greco-Roman world.

During the Late Empire, on the Sarcophagi depicting the chaotic scene of battle between Romans and a northern foe, the increasing dissatisfaction of the classical style as portrayed by late Roman artists is exemplified.  The writhing and highly emotive figures were spread across the entire relief with no illusion of space behind them.   This piling of figures was an even more extreme rejection of classical perspective than using floating ground lines.  The human figures aren't as realistic in form, but their animation and motion is more natural.  

As an attempt to restore order to Roam in the Late Empire four individuals were chosen to rule together. This sculpture of the tetrarchs  portrays four figures individual in appearance.  This shows the loss of identity of the rulers as they are all equal.  Each grasps a sheathed sword in the left hand and their right arms embrace one another in a gesture of concord.  They have large cubical heads on squat bodies, schematic drapery, shapeless bodies, and emotionless masks of faces.  The human figure one again is conceived in iconic terms.  Idealism, naturalism, individuality, and personality now belong to the past.

Etruscan

Etruscan artists looked eastward for inspiration and were greatly impressed by the art of Greece, but the distinctive Etruscan temperament always manifested itself.  Apulu is a brilliant example of the energy and excitement that characterizes Etruscan art.  The figure's extraordinary force, huge swelling contours, plunging motion, gesticulating arms, fan like calf muscles, and animated face are distinctly Etruscan.    

Greek

The destruction of the Mycenaean palaces was accompanied by the disintegration of the Bronze Age social order and the disappearance of powerful kings led to what was called the Dark Age of Greece, characterized by depopulation, poverty, and an almost total loss of contact with the outside world.  During the eighth century the human figure returned to Greek Art, painted on the surfaces of ceramic pots.  The Dipylon Krater was a grave marker from the Geometric Period.  The artist covered much of the surface with precisely pained abstract angular motifs in horizontal bands.  The widest part has two bands of human figures shown as two-dimensional geometric shapes.   Their silhouettes are constructed of triangular frontal torsos with attached profile arms, legs, and heads with a single large frontal eye, following the age-old convention.  Despite the highly stylized and conventional manner of representation, this vessel marks a significant turning point in the history of Greek art with the reintroduction of the human figure in art.

The Archaic Kouros is patterned after Egytian format.  It emulates the stance of Egyptian statues with it's rigidly frontal body with the left foot advanced slightly.  The arms are held beside the body in clenched fists.  But unlike their Egyptian ancestors, Greek kouros statues were liberated from their original stone block and were nude.  In this statue he has a triangular shape of head with stylized hair, flat face, and slim waist.  The pointed arch of the rib cage and v shape ridge of the hips suggests the rounded flesh and muscle of the human body.  At this time the women were still clothed.

The Early Classical style was characterized by a final break from the rigid and unnatural Egyptian inspired pose of the Archaic kouroi.  Kritos boy shows a concern for not just representing the human body, but also shows how it stands with a weight shift in the hips known as contrapposto.  

One of the most frequently copied Greed statues from the High Classical Period was Polykleitos's Spear bearer.  This is the ideal statue of a nude male athlete or warrior.  The contrapposto is more pronounced than ever before and he achieved a system of chiastic or cross balance.  This piece also establishes the cannon of proportion shown throughout Greek art.

The Late Classical art took place during the rule of Alexander the Great.  Alexander's place has not been excavated, but the sumptuous life of the Macedonian court is clearly evident in the abundance of mosaics uncovered at Pella homes.  These mosaics are made of pebbles of various colors collected from beaches and riverbanks and set into a thick coat of cement.  Gnosis made one such mosaic called Stag hunt.  In ith the light figures against the dark ground ecco red figure painting style.  The musculature of the hunters are modeled by shading.  Use of light and dark to suggest volume was rarely seen on Greek vases, but were quite common to monumental painters.

 

The Hellenistic period of art was full of drama and emotion.  In Laocoon and his sons, Vergil vividly portrays the strangling of Laocoon and his two sons by sea serpents while sacrificing at an alter.  The Hellenistic sculptural portrayal of figures was unlike any Greek figure representation seen before.  The figures are dynamic and full of energy in all sorts of poses with accurate musculature and representation of the human form.

Pre Historic Agean

Most of the Cycladic sculptures, like many of their stone age predecessors in the Aegean, the Near East, and western Europe represent nude women with their arms folded across their stomachs.  THey vary in height from a few inches to almost life-like.  This statuette is a grave marker that typifies many of these figures.   It is almost flat with large simple triangles dominating the form.  The body has wide shoulders and tapers to tiny feet with an incised triangular pubis.  These figures were primarily funerary offerings placed on their backs in the the graves.  Whether they represent those buried with the statuettes or fertility figures, or goddesses is still debated.

Minoan Paintings depicted many aspects of Minoan life.  Although the representation is still convention bound with the oversized frontal eyes, the liveliness and spontaneity are a breath of fresh air.  In the Bull-leaping fresco the young women are depicted with fair skin and the males have dark skin.  The human figures have stylized shapes with typically Minoan pinched waists and are highly animated.  Although the profile pose with the full0view eye was a familiar convention in Egypt and Mesopotamia, the legance of the Cretan figures, with their long, curly hair and proud and self-confident bearing distinguishes them from all other early figure styles.  The curving Minoan line suggests the elasticity of living and moving human beings.

Mycenaean cultural origins are still debated.  It is believed that these people were influenced by Crete and some believe the mainland was a Minoan economic dependency for a long time.  The treatment of the human face is primitive in the Mycenaean mask.  This was one of the first known attempts in Greece to render the human face at life size.  It is not known whether Mycenaean masks were intended as portraits, but different physical types were recorded with care.  This mask portrays a man with a beard, perhaps a king.  

Egyptian

In Predynastic times, Egypt was divided geographically and politically into Upper Egpyt and Lower Egypt.  The Palette Of King Narmer is an elaborate document marking the transition from the prehistorical to the historical period in ancient Egypt, but was also an early blueprint of the formula for figure representation that characterized Egyptian art for three thousand years.  As seen before, The king is portrayed as the largest figure showing his status and superior rank.  The king's superhuman strength is symbolized in the lowest band by a great bull knocking down a rebellious city.  Historical narrative is not the artist's goal in this work, but more important is the characterization of the king as a deified figure.  The artist's portrayal of the king combined profile views of his head, legs, and arms with front views of his eye and torso.  This composite view of the human figure also characterized Mesopotamian art and even some Stone Age paintings.  Although  the human figure's proportions changed, the method of its representation became a standard for all later Egyptian art.

Egyptians created statues to serve for eternity.  The idea was that sculptors created images of the deceased to serve as a place for the ka, should the mummies be destroyed.  For this reason, and interest in portrait sculpture developed using stone so that the images would last forever.  The limbs are not carved out of the stone, but remain in one big chunk so that the statue can be preserved.  The portrait statues of Menkaure and Khamerernebty show conventional postures to suggest the timeless nature of these eternal substitute homes for the ka.  Menkaure's pose is rigidly frontal with the arms hanging straight down and close to his well-built body.  His hands are clenched into fists and his left leg is slightly advanced but there is no shift that occurs in the angle of the hips (controposto).  Khamerernebty stands in a similar position with her right are circling her husbands waist and her left hang gently resting on his left arm.  This pose represents their marital status, but they show no sign of affection and look straight forward out into space.  This work is a good example of the Egyptian cannon of proportion.

The long life of Egyptian artistic formulas also can be seen in New Kingdom painting.  New Kingdom painters did not always adhere to the old standards for figure representation  In the fresco fragment from Nebamun's tomb the overlapping of the dancers' figures, their facing in opposite directions were carefully and accurately observed.  The profile view of the dancers is consistent with their lesser importance.  The composite view is still reserved for Nebamun and his family.  Of the four seated women, the two at the left are conventional, but the other tow face the observer in an attempted frontal pose.  Movement is suggested by the loose arrangement of the women's hair and this informality constituted a realization of the Old Kingdom;s stiff representational rules.

Even more revolutionary still was the art from the rule of Akhenaton.  This ruler abandoned the worship of most of the Egyptian gods in favor of Aton, the universal and only god, identified with the sun disk.  To him alone could the god make revelation, and Akhenaton's god was represented neither in animal nor in human form, but simply as the sun disk emitting life giving rays.  This statue of Akhenaton retains the standard frontal pose of pharaohs, but the effeminate body, curving contours, long full lipped face, heavy lidded eyes, and dreamy expression were like nothing seen before.  His sexless, curiously misshapen body with it's weak arms, narrow waist, protruding belly, wide hips, and fatty thighs either portrayed a physical deformity or a deliberate artistic reaction against the established style, paralleling the suppression of traditional religion.    

The late period, as illustrated by the Last Judgment of Hu-Nefer shows a triumph of tradition.  The figures have all the formality of stance, shape, and attitude of Old Kingdom art.  Once again figures are portrayed stiffly in profile or twisted profile.  The figures do not have depth and are one color with no shading.  This depiction tells a story and once again, Hu-Nefer is shown to be in favor with the Gods.  The Late Period pharaohs deliberately referred back to the art of Egypt's classical phase to give their royal image authority.

Ancient Near East

Sumerian Statuettes

Ancient Sumer was made up of several different city-states.  Each one was thought to be under the protection of a different Mesopotamian God.  Sumerian rulers were the gods' representatives on earth.  These statues come from the Temple of Ishtar at Mari.  These statues are thought to be votive statues used for worship.  With their hands clasped in prayer, and their eyes wide open, they are obedient and religious.  They range in size from well under a foot to about thirty inches tall.  The different heights of the men and women represented may correspond to their relative importance in the community.  All of the figures represent mortals, rather than deities and some hold small beakers used in religious rites.  Their bodies are simple in form, primarily cones and cylinders for the figures and don't really bear distinguishing physical features.  Most have over sized eyes and tiny hands.  Their main purpose was to show that they were offering constant prayers to the gods on their donors' behalf- the open-eyed stares most likely symbolizing the eternal wakefulness necessary to fulfill their duty. 

The Akkadians introduced a new concept of royal power based on unswerving loyalty to the king rather than to the city state.  The victory stele of Naram-Sin commemorates his defeat of the Lullbi people.  The sculptor adhered to older conventions by portraying the King and his soldiers in composite views like the Egyptians.  This work is shows daring innovation in that the figures are shown on successive tiers within the landscape instead of the standard horizontal registers.  The human body is sized according to the importance of the individual.  The king is by far the largest as he tramples the smaller Lullbi people wearing the frontally viewed bull-horn crown showing his divinity.  

Under Babylon's most powerful king, Hammurabi, a centralized government was established.  In the Law Code of Hammurabi Stele, the sculptor depicted Shamash in the familiar convention of combined front and side views, but with two important exceptions.  His headdress with its four pairt of horns is in true profile so that unlike the victory stele of Naram Sin, only four instead of eight of the horns are showing.  The artist seemed to be exploring with foreshortening and the god's beard is a series of diagonal rather than horizontal lines suggesting depth.  Once again the king is shown as sort of a divinity as the God bestows power upon him to rule.

Art Through Rome

So my topic I will be doing is the human figure