Greek Art – Continuity/Change over Time

Over time, a culture’s art will change or improve in some way. Some characteristics may remain the same while other characteristics change drastically. Art in the Archaic era and the Classical era had no emotion and unrealistic features, but the Classical era brought a sense of anatomy and movement to its art. In the Archaic era and Classical era, emotion was not present in art. Characters had plain expressions on their faces; their eyes told nothing, regardless of what they were doing. The Discobolus sculpture from the Classical era depicts a man who about to throw a disc, which was a common Greek sport. However, instead of competitive or determined look on his face, he is emotionless. The man’s face is blank, as if bored or tired. Another characteristic that remained constant throughout the Archaic era and Classical era was unrealistic features. Kouros, from the Archaic era, is an excellent example of the unnatural features from the two eras. Kouros is a statue of a man with stylized hair and blank eyes. During this time period, hair did not look natural and flowing, but stiff and dramatically detailed. Also, the eyes are blank and do not look as realistic as the eyes seen in later works of art. During the Classical era came around, art began to change and improve. First, the art of the Classical era showed some sense of anatomy. The Three-Seated Goddesses sculpture from the Classical era depicts this sense of anatomy. Although not perfect, the bodies of the goddesses portray the form of a woman through their dresses. Before the Classical era, art from the Archaic era did not exhibit any form such as this. Another change the Classical era brought to art was a sense of movement. During the Archaic era, sculptures portrayed people in stiff, unrealistic poses. In the Classical era, the body became more relaxed and had a more normal position. The Three-Seated Goddesses sculpture shows not only the enhanced sense of anatomy, but also the improvement in movement in the Classical era. The goddesses lounge on a seat, which looks more natural compared to the Kouros sculpture, where the man is standing rigidly with one foot in front of the other. Around the same time as the Archaic and Classical eras, the Zhou Dynasty of China was creating works of art. In 433 B. C. E. , the Bronze Bells were created. The Bronze Bells were created through bronze casting, a significant achievement at this time. Also, each bell can produce two different sounds, one from being hit in the center and one from being hit on the rim. These bells were thought to be used in rituals to communicate with supernatural forces. In conclusion, styles of art continue and change over time. Characteristics such as stylized features and emotionless faces remained constant between the Archaic era and the Classical era. However, in the Classical era, a sense of movement and anatomy was introduced to art. Time will continue to change cultures and their art, just as it influenced the changes and constants of Greek art between the Archaic era and the Classical era.