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Beauty In Greek Humanism

1530 Words7 Pages
Humans have always defined what we feel is visually pleasing, beautiful. The Greeks exceptionally exemplified this. In the Classical period, Humanism was largely emphasized and sculptors attempted to reconcile their theories of proportion to aid in their pursuit of beauty. While in the Late Classical to Hellenistic period, it explored themes and ideas of the body. Through this, the Greeks had revolutionized the art of sculpture and the ideal body at the same time. This essay will discuss how the Greeks had idealized beauty, how it was implemented in three sculptural examples, and how we perceive bodies in art, in contrast with the Classical Period.

Greeks focused on Humanism. That meant that human experiences were put at the centre of art and literature. One unique point of Greek Humanism was the glorification of the nude and physical beauty, which became the focus for Greek sculptors.

The Archaic period (650-500BCE) introduced the form of Kouros, the free-standing Greek sculpture depicting the nude male youth , and had shown great progression from Egyptian sculptures, though originally influenced by them . The Archaic sculptures portrayed the fundamental features of a human figure and had a geometric style to them.

As it transitioned into the Classical period (500-323 BCE), there was a sudden vast improvement in technical skills, and sculptors were able to achieve a less rigid, more relaxed posture through the Contrapposto. Contrapposto was conceived through the
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