GREEK AND ROMAN ART
Various Authors
Edited By: R. A. Guisepi
The art of the ancient Greeks and Romans is called
classical art. This name is used also to describe later
periods in which artists looked for their inspiration to this
ancient style. The Romans learned sculpture and painting
largely from the Greeks and helped to transmit Greek art
to later ages. Classical art owes its lasting influence to its
simplicity and reasonableness, its humanity, and its sheer
beauty.
The first and greatest period of classical art began in
Greece about the middle of the 5th century BC. By that
time Greek sculptors had solved many of the problems
that faced artists in the early archaic period. They had
learned to represent the human form naturally and easily,
in action or at rest. They were interested chiefly in
portraying gods, however. They thought of their gods as
people, but grander and more beautiful than any human
being. They tried, therefore, to portray ideal beauty rather
than any particular person. Their best sculptures achieved
almost godlike perfection in their calm, ordered beauty.
The Greeks had plenty of beautiful marble and used it
freely for temples as well as for their sculpture (see
Marble). They were not satisfied with its cold whiteness,
however, and painted both their statues and their
buildings. Some statues have been found with their bright
colors still preserved, but most of them lost their paint
through weathering. The works of the great Greek painters
have disappeared completely, and we know only what
ancient writers tell us about them. Parrhasius, Zeuxis, and
Apelles, the great painters of the 4th century BC, were
famous as colorists. Polygnotus, in the 5th century, was
renowned as a draftsman.
Fortunately we have many examples of Greek vases.
Some were preserved in tombs; others were uncovered by
archaeologists in other sites. The beautiful decorations on
these vases give us some idea of Greek painting. They are
examples of the wonderful feeling for form and line that
made the Greeks supreme in the field of sculpture.
The earliest vases--produced from about the 12th century
to the 8th century BC--were decorated with brown paint in
the so-called geometric style. Sticklike figures of men and
animals were fitted into the over-all pattern. In the next
period the figures of men and gods began to be more
realistic and were painted in black on the red clay. In the
6th century BC the figures were left in red and a black
background was painted in.
By the 8th century BC the Greeks had become a seafaring
people and began to visit other lands. In Egypt they saw
many beautiful examples of both painting and sculpture.
In Asia Minor they were impressed by the enormous
Babylonian and Assyrian sculptures that showed narrative
scenes.
1
The early Greek statues were stiff and flat, but in about the
6th century BC the sculptors began to study the human
body and work out its proportions. For models they had
the finest of young athletes. The Greeks wore no clothing
when they practiced sports, and the sculptor could
observe their beautiful, strong bodies in every pose.
Greek religion, Greek love of beauty, and a growing spirit
of nationalism found fuller and fuller expression. But it
took the crisis of the Persian invasion (490-479 BC) to
arouse the young, virile race to great achievements. After
driving out the invaders, the Greeks suddenly, in the 5th
century, reached their full stature. What the Persians had
destroyed, the Greeks set to work to rebuild. Their poets
sang the glories of the new epoch, and Greek genius, as
shown in the great creations at Athens, came to full
strength and beauty. It was then, under Pericles, that the
Athenian Acropolis was restored and adorned with the
matchless Parthenon, the Erechtheum, and other beautiful
buildings. (See Acropolis; Athens.) There were beautiful
temples in other cities of Greece too, notably that of Zeus
at Olympia, which are known from descriptions by the
ancient writers and from a few fragments that have been
discovered in recent times. (For Greek architecture see
Architecture.)
The 5th century BC was made illustrious in sculpture also
by the work of three great masters, all known today in
some degree by surviving works. Myron is famous for the
boldness with which he fixed moments of violent action in
bronze, as in his famous 'Discobolus', or Discus Thrower.
There are fine copies now in Munich and in the Vatican, in
Rome. The 'Doryphorus', or Spear Bearer, of Polyclitus
was called by the ancients the Rule, or guide in
composition. The Spear Bearer was believed to follow the
true proportions of the human body perfectly.
The Great Phidias
The greatest name in Greek sculpture is that of Phidias
(see Phidias). Under his direction the sculptures
decorating the Parthenon were planned and executed.
Some of them may have been the work of his own hand.
His great masterpieces were the huge gold and ivory
statue of Athena which stood within this temple and the
similar one of Zeus in the temple at Olympia. They have
disappeared. Some of his great genius can be seen in the
remains of the sculptures of the pediments and frieze of
the Parthenon. Many of them are preserved in the British
Museum. They are known as the Elgin Marbles. Lord Elgin
brought them from Athens in 1801-12.
The Parthenon Sculptures
These sculptures are the greatest works of Greek art that
have come down to modern times. The frieze ran like a
decorative band around the top of the outer walls of the
temple. It is 3 feet 3 1/2 inches high and 524 feet long. The
subject is the ceremonial procession of the Panathenaic
Festival. The figures represent gods, priests, and elders;
sacrifice bearers and sacrificial cattle; soldiers, nobles,
and maidens. They stand out in low relief from an un-
detailed background. All are vividly alive and beautifully
composed within the narrow band. The horses and their
riders are particularly graceful. Their bodies seem to press
forward in rhythmical movement.
Around the outside of the portico above the columns were
92 almost square panels known as the metopes. Each
panel depicted two figures in combat.
In the east and west triangular pediments were groups of
figures judged to be the world's greatest examples of
monumental sculpture. The problem of composing figures
in the triangular space of a low pediment was most
skillfully solved.
The east pediment represented the contest of Athena and
Poseidon over the site of Athens. The west pediment
illustrated the miraculous birth of Athena out of the head
of Zeus. The use of color and of bronze accessories
enhanced the beauty of the pediment groups.
Later Greek Sculptures
The 'Aphrodite' of Melos, commonly known as the 'Venus
de Milo', is a beautiful marble statue now exhibited in the
Louvre, Paris. Nothing is known of its sculptor. Experts
date it between 200 and 100 BC.
The works of Phidias were followed by those of Praxiteles,
Scopas, and Lysippus. What is believed to be an original
work of Praxiteles, the statue 'Hermes with the Infant
Dionysus', is preserved in a Greek museum. This is the
only statue that can be identified with one of the great
Greek masters. Most of these sculptors are known only
through copies of their work by Roman artists. The figure
of Hermes--strong, active, and graceful, the face
expressive of nobility and sweetness--is most beautiful.
The so-called Satyr or Faun of Praxiteles, which
suggested Hawthorne's 'Marble Faun', is probably the
work of another sculptor of the same school. Praxiteles'
sculpture is less lofty and dignified than that of Phidias,
but it is full of grace and charm. Scopas carried further the
tendency to portray dramatic moods, giving his subjects
an intense impassioned expression. Lysippus returned to
the athletic type of Polyclitus, but his figures are lighter
and more slender, combining manly beauty and strength.
He was at the height of his fame in the time of Alexander
the Great, who, it is said, wanted only Lysippus to portray
him.
The period following the death of Alexander is known as
the Hellenistic. Greek art lost much of its simplicity and
ideal perfection of form, its serenity and restraint, but it
gained in intensity of feeling and became more realistic.
Two works of the period are the 'Dying Gaul', sometimes
called the 'Dying Gladiator', and the beautiful 'Apollo
Belvedere'. The 'Laocoon' group, which depicts a father
and his sons crushed to death by serpents, illustrates the
extremity of physical suffering as represented in
sculpture.
2
A famous late Hellenistic statue is the 'Nike', or 'Winged
Victory'. The dramatic effect of her sweeping draperies
and the swift movement of the figure are distinctive. In
contrast to previous standing figures, this is an action
pose, giving a sense of motion and wind at sea. The date
of the statue has been disputed. At present it is usually
placed between 250 and 180 BC. It was discovered in 1863
on the island of Samothrace and is now in the Louvre,
Paris. Excavations on the same site in 1950 uncovered the
right hand of the figure. The Greek government gave it to
the Louvre in exchange for a frieze that once adorned a
temple on the island.
The Art of the Romans
From early times the Romans had felt the artistic influence
of Greece. In 146 BC, when Greece was conquered by
Rome, Greek art became inseparably interwoven with that
of Rome. "Greece, conquered, led her conqueror captive"
is the poet's way of expressing the triumph of Greek over
Roman culture. The Romans, however, were not merely
imitators, and Roman art was not a decayed form into
which Greek art had fallen.
To a large extent the art of the Romans was a development
of that of their predecessors in Italy, the Etruscans, who,
to be sure, had learned much from the Greeks (see
Etruscans). Nor were the Romans themselves entirely
without originality. Though their artistic forms were, for
the most part, borrowed, they expressed in them,
especially in their architecture, their own practical
dominating spirit. (See also Architecture.)
In the 2nd century BC the Roman generals began a
systematic plunder of the cities of Greece, bringing back
thousands of Greek statues to grace their triumphal
processions. Greek artists flocked to Rome to share in the
patronage that was so lavishly bestowed, owing to the rich
conquests made as the Roman power was extended. The
wealthy Romans built villas, filled them with works of art
in the manner of our modern plutocrats, and called for
Greek artists or Romans inspired by Greek traditions to
paint their walls and decorate their courts with sculptures.
The ruins excavated at Pompeii and Herculaneum show us
how fond the Romans and their neighbors in Italy were of
embellishing not only their houses, but the objects of daily
use, such as household utensils, furniture, etc. (see
Pompeii and Herculaneum).
But with the Romans art was used not so much for the
expression of great and noble ideas and emotions as for
decoration and ostentation. As art became fashionable, it
lost much of its spiritual quality. As they borrowed many
elements of their religion from the Greeks, so the Romans
copied the statues of Greek gods and goddesses. The
Romans were lacking in great imagination. Even in one of
the few ideal types which they originated, the 'Antinous',
the Greek stamp is unmistakable. In one respect, however,
the Roman sculptors did show originality; they produced
many vigorous realistic portrait statues. Among those that
have come down to us are a beautiful bust of the young
Augustus, a splendid full-length statue of the same
emperor, and busts of other famous statesmen. All these
have a historic as well as an artistic value. So, too, have
the reliefs which adorn such structures as the Arch of  
Titus and the Column of Trajan, commemorating great
events in these emperors' reigns.
Subject:
In painting--though here, too, they learned from the
Greeks--it seems probable that the Romans developed In a comparison between the Spear Bearer by Polykleitos and
more originality than in sculpture. Unfortunately, as in the Augustus of Prima Porta a shift is evident between the earlier
case of the Greeks, the great masterpieces of ancient classical style and the later Roman style. Although the
painting no longer exist; but we can learn much from the contrapposto stance is used in both statues, their subject
mural paintings found in houses at Pompeii, Herculaneum, matter of each statue is different, as each was created with
and Rome. The pleasing coloring, which in many of the different aims in mind. The Polykleitos is not intended to
paintings still remains fresh and vivid, and the freedom represent a specific person, and thus it is more an image of an
and vigor of the drawing, would seem to indicate that even ideal, general figure, and it is without the specific symbolism
from these ancient days Italy was the home of painters of found in the Prima Porta portrait of the Emperor Augustus. The
great talent. Portrait painting especially flourished at Spear Bearer is from a much earlier period, and is an example
Rome, where hack street-corner artists became so of the 'canon' of Classical sculpture, with perfect proportion
common that one could have his portrait painted for a few and physical detailing. The Romans borrow this ideal form, as
cents. well as the contrapposto stance, to make their emperor look
great and divine. There is more of an attempt at formal realism
though and there is more interest in the individual gesture and
Although the art of Rome loses in comparison with that of expression, as this is a portrait of the emperor as a young man.
Greece, still it commands our admiration, and we owe the There is also a shift in the use of iconography. The roman work
Romans a debt of gratitude for helping to transmit to us is steeped in mythological symbolism, which plays a social and
the art of the Greeks, who were their great masters. political role in deifying the emperor who died a year prior to
the statue�s creation. The statue was also was created for the
In these two sculptures there has been a shift in approach over specific purpose of commemorating the regaining of Roman
4 centuries. The subject indicates also the difference of social standards. The Greek sculpture is more interested primarily
context of the two works. The Polykleitos is a product of Greek with concepts of ideal beauty and perfect physical proportion.
rationalism, an idealised soldier of perfect mathematical
proportions. The Roman work, in the context of the cult of the
Emperors is more concerned with a representation of the
Emperor as connected to society and myth. The form of the
works helps describe this shift. The Canonical approach of
Polykleitos is evident in the delineated handling of the marble
and the attention given to the anatomical proportions of the
nude. Although the stance is more natural than the earlier
kouros the body is still formal and idealised. The Roman
sculpture is more concerned with bodily gestures and
expression, and the sensuous and well-studied treatment of
the marble helps towards the readability of these signs. In
terms of the role of the artist in these works the comparison
follows along similar lines. Both artists clearly had very
thorough artistic training. Polykleitos, however, was an
innovator of his time, setting new standards for the art form.
The Roman sculptor has successfully utilised these Greek
classical forbears to imbue Augustus with a sense of strength
and power through the ideal beauty we see in Polykleitos'
work. Polykleitos is also heavily influenced by the philosophical
context of Greek rationalism, which becomes apparent in his
approach to sculpture. The motive of the Roman is to create a
work filled with political signifiers. The beholder, then, is
effected by these different motivations. In the Polykleitos the
viewer is presented with an example of idealised beauty and
asked to question the intelligence and strength of humankind
more generally. The Roman sculpture demands a more
directed engagement. It is primarily concerned with a language
signifying power; it appeals to state portraiture, idealisation of
the Emperor's person and mythological references supporting
the deification of the Emperor. There is a clear influence of the
Greek upon the Roman in this comparison, yet the distinct
aims of the two sculptors are notable in terms of how the
beholder engages with the work.
3