“Classical Ideal”
In the documentary, “Art of the Western World-The Classical Ideal”, the narrator provides a history and a perspective on the Greek and Roman creation of the “Classical Ideal” to art and architecture. The narrator infers that the foundation of the two societies, namely their democratic falsifies and religious foundations, along with their focus on fitness, personal strength, calculations and intelligence, drove Greece and later Rome, to perfect their visions of balance, symmetry and beauty in their architecture and art.
Greece and Rome are often held out as the greatest societies to have ever existed. Although this may not be factual, their legacy continues to influence the world through its creations, many centuries later, despite their eventual collapse. However, their rise to rule over the known world can be attributed to the cultural values they held to long before their mark was made on the world.
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Creating an amazingly life-like appearance to its sculptures, not only demonstrated, in my mind, a higher intelligence, but is defiantly a tribute to their focus on superior strength and fitness. Although the realistic style was soon changed to create an even more ideal human figure, the understanding of the human body and how to recreate it through art was only the beginning of Greece’s contribution to the “classical ideal.”
After their rise to power, gained by their triumph over Persia, the Greeks again changed the way we see art. This time they turned to their knowledge of geometry, focusing on the creation of grand architecture as their medium. Their superior understanding of calculations, shapes and symmetry allowed them to create beautifully imposing