Imitation is a Form of Flattery

            As the old saying goes “imitation is a form of flattery” well in comparing ancient Greek and Roman art is surely is.  Ancient Greece is known for its astonishing statues and art through out the Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods.  When the Romans started to come to power they were very influenced by Greek culture.  Ancient Greek culture in a way became the rudiments of ancient Roman culture.  The Romans even took on the same pagan gods, just changed their names.  After traveling in Greece and seeing these beautiful pieces of artworks and archeological sites I thought to myself “who could blame them”.   

            The Archaic period of ancient Greece was from about 800 BC to 480 BC. Statues, reliefs, and ceramics were created to adorn temples and burial sites.  The themes of these artworks were either from daily life or mythical.  There was also an Egyptian influence on this art.  This is seen in geometric form of the statues.  They were more concerned with the shape and form, rather than the life like quality it possessed.  This is seen in the statues Cleobis and Biton.  The two statues are brothers and as the myth goes, were granted the gift of death by the gods for being so devoted to their mother.  They are depicted in the Kourus stance another common theme for statues of this period.  This is a flat frontal pose for free-standing sculptures.  The female version of the pose is called the Kore.  The transition between archaic and classical can be seen in Aristodikos Kouros, here the statue does not have the typical Egyptian like helmet head of hair, and the muscular body is less geometric and more realistic. 

            The Classical period was from 480 BC to 323 BC.  This period had the most influence on ancient Rome and later the Renaissance.  The focus and theme was on a more natural sense of the body, rather than the shape and geometric form.  Even the architecture seemed to be less rigid and hard so to speak.  This is seen in the Parthenon and the statues, Zeus of Artemision and the Youth of Antikythera.  The Parthenon was built on the Acropolis of Athens, to worship all the gods in one temple.  The Frieze of the Parthenon depicted many victories of the gods and the city of Athens itself.  One can see the naturalistic approach to the reliefs.  The subjects are muscular, but not box like muscular, it all seems to flow together.  There is one part of it where horses are riding off into the sunset and the god holding the reins seems to compliment the horses’ bodies.  The statue of Zeus of Artemision has the same natural feel towards it.  Zeus is not depicted in the Kourus stance of the archaic period but with his legs apart from each other almost in a lung.  This would be unheard of during the archaic period, to have a front leg slightly bent and a statue’s limbs free from the body.  The statue called Youth of Antikythera really influenced Italian Renaissance art.  Here the statue is depicted in the beginning stage of the contropasto or “natural” stance a typical stance of the Renaissance.  His pose is not completely frontal like that of its archaic counterparts, but turned slightly to the right.  One leg is slightly bent to the right and its arms are free from the body.  One seems to be grabbing the air and the other almost in a fist.  The body is much more realistic sculpting more of the muscles of the body not just the ones in the abdomen and biceps.  Over all the subjects of this period are depicted in a more natural and relaxed state.   

            The Hellenistic period is from 323 BC to 146 BC.  It is sometimes considered to be a “second classical period.”  This period took the innovations of form from the classical period and enhanced them to be perfect “in-the-round” sculptures.  “In-the-round” refers to how the sculptures can be admired from all angles.  This idea greatly influenced the Italian Renaissance art work, such as the David by Michelangelo.  The statue of Aphrodite Eros and Pan does just that.  One can admire this beautiful statue from all angles.  The muscles of the two subjects’ backs are even shown.  Here Aphrodite the goddess of love is being harassed by Pan.  She is shooing him away with her sandal.  No one knows if Eros is coaxing Pan on or defending Aphrodite.  All three of these specimens are exquisitely sculpted.  Aphrodite is standing in a contropasto form with one leg bent.  One can see all of the muscles and strands of hair in all three of the subjects.  The detail is impeccable and emotion is shown as Aphrodite struggles as Pan continues to be a nuisance.  Another Hellenistic statue that epitomizes this perspective is the Laocoon.  This statue is of Laocoon a Trojan priest of Poseidon or the Roman god Neptune.  Here his perfectly muscular body is being strangled by two serpents.  The emotion of his struggle is exquisitely portrayed.  Emotion is the main difference that separates it from its classical counterparts.  Emotion was not depicted in Greece before the Hellenistic period.  In the Laocoon, one can see and feel him fighting for his life.  It connects the viewer to the statue.  No longer do statues have a cold, impassive face.  Now statues have emotion that lures the viewer in closer to make a connection to the artwork.   

            I am so very glad and grate to have seen these pieces of artwork in person.  I must say that photographs do not do any of them justice.  I was just in awe standing in front of all these pieces and many more.  It was also very interesting to see the transition from Archaic, to Classical to Hellenistic and how the ideals of those periods especially Classical and Hellenistic were brought back through the Italian Renaissance in pieces such as the David and Pieta by Michelangelo.  Those periods even influenced the Baroque style seen in the Fountain of Four Rivers by Berninni.  It is no wonder why the Romans imitated the style of ancient Greek art.