How Did The Minoan Influence Ancient Greek Art

As a predecessor of Greek and Roman art, virtually nothing regarding the ancient Aegean civilizations is known, especially from the Cyclades. However, the frescoes hailing from the Minoan-influenced Akrotiri in Thera remain for speculation. Surviving a violent volcano eruption comparable to that of Pompeii, the frescos reflect a preference for highly stylized, abstract depictions of nature, utilizing bright colors and serpentine-like lines for decoration. The frescos, for the most part, are peaceful and colorful, perhaps reflecting the peaceful tendencies of the Minoans compared to their Mycenaean counterparts. Such a style is especially demonstrated in the approximately 16th century BCE fresco, the Boxing Boys. While the Aegean pieces that

Much of their civilization was built on Greek political values, some of which persisted even when Rome became a grand empire. Their admiration for the Greeks manifested even in their art. Like the Greeks, Romans looked to the human body for their art. The Pantheon itself was designed to consider the limitations of the human body, ensured not to make the viewer seem too big or small for the major architectural achievement. Like the Greeks’ slow evolution of natural human form built from their Minoan predecessors, the Romans regularly built on Greek human form. They had made it a habit to copy the previously bronze sculptures of men, like the Doryphoros, into marble. However, the Romans had different priorities than the Greeks had. Just as the Mycenae was war-oriented, the Romans were famously imperial and more combative. Copies of sculptures were not made solely for public enjoyment, but perhaps more to disseminate images of the ruler to establish his rule just as the first Roman emperor, Augustus, had wanted. From an unknown artist, the Augustus of Primaporta marble sculpture draws many similarities to the Doryphoros. Breaking the traditions of veristic portraits where old age was synonymous with wisdom during the days of the Roman Republic, Augustus instead chose to have his youthful portrait in the Classical Greek style. By having his portrait in that style, Augustus links his likeness with the height of Greek civilization, implying that his empire would enjoy the prosperity that era acquired. The sculpture even subscribes to the canon that is the Doryphoros, its proportions following the Greek ideal. However, while the Romans were enamored by Greek culture, politics was integral to Roman art. Many pieces in Roman art were to convey power as Rome continued its imperial endeavors. Rather than being nude in celebration of the human form like the Greeks, the Roman replicas of Greek human form were clothed,