Comparing The Old Kingdom Of Egypt And Hellenistic Period Of Greece

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Art has been a defining part of the human experience for thousands of years. People make art for a plethora of reasons, to document history and emotions, to discover beauty,and to express and convey ideals that are prominent in a society. Viewing a statue from The Old Kingdom of Egypt and Hellenistic Period of Greece are two entirely different experiences. In one you see a rigid set of rules, put forth by artists before; in the other you see utter realism and emotion. There is no denying the difference between these two pieces of ancient art, two pieces with entirely different cultures, values, and reasons for creating art.

The two styles stemmed from a difference in values. While Egyptians created art focused more towards religion and the afterlife, …show more content…

The Greeks wanted to explore realism and portray the beauty of the naked human body. In this Striding Figure featured at The Met we see a very rigid figure. The Egyptians were not concerned with emotion or realism, they simply needed to stick to a strict set of rules. We see this through the figures lack of emotion, wide eyes and stiff mouth. His body is not realistic, being out of proportion and with no real knowledge of the muscular system that the Greeks would later study. The Striding Man is very symmetrical, save for his single leg outstretched in a walking position. The Greeks put an emphasis on the perfection of the body. The valued ultimate realism, especially in the hellenistic period they valued an expression of emotion. In this bronze statue of a man, we observe an enormous and beautiful work of art. There are many details that make this