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