Evolution of the Greek Figure
The evolution of Greek sculpture has been relatively long and quite dramatic. Taking its roots in ancient Egyptian stylization, and evolving into naturalization and clarity of human form, Greek sculpture has made an enormous impact of the art of modern day. The early kouros figures were very similar to the ancient Egyptian male figures. For example the New York Kouros has many of the same characteristics of the Egyptian Menkure. Both are in a stiff frontal pose, hieratic scale, both have the left leg forward, but there is no shift of body weight, and both have their arms down at their sides with clenched fists. Unlike the Egyptians, the New York Kouros, as well as all other archaic sculptures, had what is known as the "archaic smile", which was thin-lipped. The kouros figures were also given hair, which was very helmet like, and not very realistic. On the other hand, the body of the early kouros figure was more naturalistic than ever before. They had a very slight roundness to the muscles, as apposed to the rectangular body forms of the
From the Archaic period to the Hellenistic period the kouros sculpture changed from a stiff, rigid, very stylized figure, to a very naturalistic and moving figure. The techniques and ideas that came from the Greeks, left a huge impact on all future artists, and created some of the artistic geniuses of today. Egyptians; this made them appear more life like and energetic. The transition into the Hellenistic period is a drastic one. This drastic change is due little to the introduction of new ideas, but due to new subject matter. The Kouros figure changes from peaceful, happy, and serene, to painful, stressed, and fearful, from dramatic to melodramatic. Men are depicted as dying, struggling, and killing. There is a sense of chaos that wasn't there before. This chaos is created using new subject matter as well as a few techniques. Deep gouges were cut out of the stone, creating a high contrast between light and dark, and Contrapposto was exaggerated, twisting the body into unnatural posses, and creating intense diagonal lines. Betwe
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Approximate Word count = 703
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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