Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Jess,
I agree with you I don’t think they were trying to create idols or graven images. I don’t know if it was to strengthen their faith or just to have a visual to help visualize the scripture better, however I know they weren’t purposely breaking the Second commandment. I really enjoyed all your examples and thought you had a great post all around.Iconoclasm took over during the Byzantine era causing a lack in art over this era. The Byzantine art was found at a hold due to the Emperor Leo III’s ban on religious images. The church was split into eastern and western sections; those who believed religious images were important to explain scripture and those who believed these images were breaking the Second Commandment. Although there are many pieces of saints, Mary, and Christ throughout this wing, many of the images of this era were destroyed due to iconoclasm. I believe that Byzantine art during the iconoclasm is similar to the graven images of last week’s discussion on Christian and Jewish art eras. I think this is a tricky argument because many people view religion differently and many people view art differently.
Miranda, I really enjoyed your comment about how archaeologist use art to “track change” over time and help us now days understand. I thought you had a lot of great examples that validated your response.
Since the beginning of the class we’ve seen syncretism constantly. We see it also now with Jewish and Christian art blending Roman sculptures and their arts into one. We started to see many images of Jesus standing in positions similar to the positions of the Roman sculptures we studied a couple weeks ago. In many images we see similar clothing from Roman and Greek times come back and show how clothing was even blended into these religion.
The art in early Jewish and Christian art was usually images mostly of Christ. We don’t see many false idols just images of individuals such as saints or animals these however in my opinion were not intended to be worshipped just art. I believe that both Jewish and Christian art obeyed the second commandment simply because only images of Christ were worshipped although they had other images of individual and beings these images were just showing their religion not worshipping them. These religions wanted to show visually what their devotion was to their religion they included other individuals to help people better understand their religion and to spread their beliefs onto those around them.
As I started to look into the Etruscan wing I could see various differences arise on the role of women in Etruscan society. In the earlier eras and wings we have covered women were often seen below or smaller than men to make the men seem inferior. However, in the Etruscan society we see women are more equal and are the same size or sitting at equal heights of men. In past wings we can see the importance of the afterlife, however they were always buried alone. In the Etruscan society we saw men and women (who were said to often be husband and wife) buried together in the after life. I believe this shows a shift in importance of carrying on in the afterlife with loved ones/spouse. I thought this was a great shift for women and shows the culture that the Etruscan society
I understand both arguments, however I believe the Hellenistic art was a progression of Greek values rather than a regression. The Greek had beautiful precise sculptures of the human form, which was an important aspect of their art during these period. However, I believe the Hellenistic art started to progress into more of a realistic view of the human form. In Hellenistic art, emotions and expression started to make their way into their art which I believe is a clear example of progression in art over time. We see a shift from the sculptures of muscles and powerful images of men to a shift of facial expressions and images of children, women, middle aged men and women, and even older individuals. The Hellenistic is the first of the arts which starts to insert emotion and facial expressions so I think it’s strong to say Hellenistic art was a progression of Greek values.
Bob, I thought you had a lot of really great examples. Maybe go into more detail on the differences of the two eras I feel like you mainly talked about the Hellenistic art and didn’t really compare the two. Overall though I believe you had a great post and get examples.
Aubri, I really like your take on the similarities of then and now. I agree that the ideal form of the human body often changes, however I think that it always make it way back to this ideal image the Greeks put in place. I really enjoyed your post!
In the Hellenistic era, the “perfect” body image shifted and became more individualized. In this era we started to see more of a variety of sculptures such as sculptures of all ages of individuals both male and female. The art really went from idolizing mens muscular form and women’s curves then shifted into more of an overall importance to portray the human body in everyday life and portrayed the people of the Hellenistic era. The art seen in Greek culture didn’t show nearly as much emotion which is portrayed in the Hellenistic art of the era. The Hellenistic art showed to expand their sculptures and portray emotions into their sculptures, which brings me to believe the purpose of these sculptures was to start to portray the human form in the most realistic way possible.
In the Classical period artists tried to represent ideal proportion in both the human body and in temple building. How does the art of the period demonstrate changing views on ideal proportion and how do you see this same preoccupation in our own contemporary society?
In the classical period the human body became the main focus in their art. So much of their art had great detail of both men and women bodies in their sculptures. I think the purpose of these sculptures was to idolize the human form and portray how powerful the human body looks. The sculptures I believe were important for their culture, however I believe that just as in todays world the “perfect” body is always idolized this could possibly be what the Greeks were trying to do because most of the sculptures were slim and fit, which sort of makes me believe the Greeks created a perfect image for both the female and male form. Just as in society today I could image the pressure to live up to the “perfect” body image that these sculptures portrayed. Today people are pressured by social media and reality tv to meet all these images people are constantly idolizing, so many technological advances such as hair coloring, microblading eyebrows, to fake eyelash extensions and hair extensions, and the ability to alter parts of your body by making your waist small or belly.
Allie, I really enjoyed your post. I thought you had really good examples and a great take on where the artifacts should belong too. However, I believe that giving these artifacts to descendants wouldn’t allow the world to see these cultures. I believe that the reasons these artifacts are given to the wrong individuals is so that we can get a bigger understanding of these artifacts and their cultures. Without this being done many of the artifacts that helped us learn these cultures wouldn’t even be known.
I think this is a tricky question about who should claim certain artifacts. I know many problems arise when talking who should claim an artifact, however sometimes I believe who ever the artifact is owned by shouldn’t matter but the purpose for the artifact which is to teach the world about our ancestors is most important. It is hard for everyone to learn about their culture if the culture who owns the artifact is claimed by a culture who can’t easily explain the meaning of the artifact. I believe the culture should work with other cultures to help the world fully understand these cultures however, it is hard to work with other cultures because of the cultural barriers. I believe that if a culture no longer exist it is very important that a decision is made quickly on who will ultimately claim the artifact so the world can get a broader image of this culture so the culture isn’t forgotten.
Valene, I thought your post was short, simple, and spot on. I like how you talked about the detail put into these sculptures because the amount of detail in the earlier eras was very minimal. This just proves how much the Greeks centered their art on the human body rather than Gods.
The definition of humanism from google is “an outlook or system of thought attaching prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters. Humanist beliefs stress the potential value and goodness of human beings, emphasize common human needs, and seek solely rational ways of solving human problems.” I thought this was a good definition of humanism and exactly what Greek art is centered around. Greek art is all about the form of the human body, while most of the earlier art seen the past couple weeks was centered around the gods and their love for them. We still see the gods in the Greek art however, we see them in a human form because the Greek believed that the human form was beautiful just as the Gods were so they portrayed Gods in human form. This was the first time we see in art our human features are being shown as the center of attention.
