Ancient Through Medieval Sculpture - AP Art History

Female figures have been nude almost since the beginning of figurative art. They are not new to the Romans, although they are seen less often.

Byzantine art evolved from ancient Roman art, although this transition is not superficially obvious. It is important to remember that the Byzantine Empire is at times referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire, and that the Byzantine people considered themselves to be Romans through the Fall of Constantinople in 1453. The evolution of style of Byzantine art occurred due to the fact that the Byzantine Empire and Constantinople were considered the bridge between Eastern and Western European cultures. The clash and intermingling of these cultures and religions is what created the unique style and appearance of Byzantine art.

Pilgrimage type churches housed large crowds on their journey to Compostela or other pilgrimage destinations. Thus, the churches were expanded to accommodate these crowds. The naves were extended; radiating chapels and tribunes were added to house the extra worshippers. Side aisles were doubled, and everything was built on a larger scale.

"Reliquaries" are the containers of relics, or the fragmented body parts (usually the bone(s) or bodily object(s)) of a saint or other religious figure. "Reliquaries" varied in size and shape, and could range from a small amulet containing a pinkie finger to a large box containing a leg bone. Touch relics -or objects that had come in contact with a saint or other religious figure, such as a piece of clothing- might also be held within a reliquary.

Mosaics are one of the most important legacies of Byzantine art, and remained the envy of Western European artists for centuries to come. Mosaic art included patterns, abstract symbolism, and more realistic images.

A "mandorla" is an oval of light, typically surrounding the figure of Christ. "Leviathans" (sea monsters) were sometimes depicted in Romanesque Last Judgment scenes, ready to swallow up the condemned. The vertical stone between the portal doors is called a "trumeau."

Ancient Greek and Roman statuary was largely based on three concepts: Greco-Roman mythology, statues of political leaders, and exercises on the ideal form. In Greek mythology, Hercules, the half-man, half-god hero, was tasked with various chores to allow him to enter the realm of the gods. One of the most famous ones was that Hercules had to defeat the multiheaded serpent known as the Hydra.

The piece Nike Adjusting Her Sandal is Classical Greek, as it comes from the temple of Athena Nike on the Athenian Acropolis, built in the fourth century. You can see the proportions of the figure clearly, as well, which is a hallmark of the period.

In comparison to earlier examples of kouroi and korai, the Anavysos kouros and the "Peplos" kore (both made c. 530 BCE) are much more naturalistic in their depictions of the human body, especially evident in the softer facial features and the more fleshy musculature.

The Geometric and Protogeometric were periods of Ancient Greek pottery. Sculpture in Ancient Greece consisted of three periods: the Archaic, the Classical and the Hellenistic periods. The first period of Ancient Greek sculpture, the Archaic period, is known as the period in which the Ancient Greek first began to sculpt and carve in stone.

The Dying Gaul is a statue most likely originally cast around 200 BCE by a Greek king to commemorate his victory over the Galatians, a Celtic tribe living in modern day Turkey. The sculpture is remarkable for showing the bravery and humanity of the subject, who is marked as Galatian thanks to his haircut and necklace. The Dying Gaul that has survived is a Roman copy of the Greek original that is currently held in the Capitoline Museums in Rome.

The Siren Vase is a type of vessel known as stamnos and is decorated with red and black images. One of the most famous examples of ancient Greek pottery, the Siren Vase (c. 475 BCE) depicts the hero Odysseus battling sirens, enchanting female creatures who lured sailors to their deaths with hypnotic songs. This hero appears in the Homeric epics The Odyssey and The Iliad; none of the other authors were ancient Greek writers.

One of the most famous examples of ancient Greek pottery, the Siren Vase (c. 475 BCE) is a major example of Attic red-figure pottery. This type of work became common in the mid-500s BCE and is characterized by red figures on a black background (as opposed to black-figure pottery, which depicts black figures on a red or yellow background). Terracotta pottery is similarly red-colored but typically unpainted.

The statue's name is Winged Victory or Nike. In comparison to other statues at this time, this statue is significant due to the fact that the figure is in action or mid movement. The sense of motion and the swift movement of the figure are distinctive to this statue as well as the idea of the Nike brand.

The Etruscans preferred terra cotta over other forms because of the importance to tombs and funeral markers which were made from terra cotta (baked clay). This art form emphasized ornament and display, which was important in their culture along with signifying the importance of the dead.

Roman sculpture was originally derived from Greek sculpture, which was highly refined and desired a pleasing aesthetic of minute detail. Roman sculptors took this to another level, by focusing on an extreme realism, which showed every imperfection in their subjects. Romans believed a person sitting for a sculpture portrait wished an honest portrayal that could show their full virility and nobility.

The ancient Greeks saw the male nude form as the ultimate perfection in aesthetics, making it one of the most common subjects of Greek art. One of the key examples of this thought process is "The Dying Gaul," which portrays a dying Gaul, a man who was not Greek, laid out in perfect tension to show his body. This affection for the male nude was picked up by Renaissance and neoclassical artists, as demonstrated by works like Michelangelo's "David."

The key feature of ancient Greek sculpture was the monumental size of most of their pieces, as well as the dramatic depiction of heroes and gods. The statues therefore needed to be made of an extremely sturdy and dependable material. Marble proved the most durable and popular material among ancient Greek sculptors not just for the mentioned reasons, but because of its abundance in Greek lands.

Ancient Greek and Roman statues and architecture were, in their original form, painted in vivid polychrome colors. These bright colors, which decorated every aspect of 3D art in antiquity, largely faded by the time of a renewal in interest in classical art, during the eighteenth century. As such, many enlightenment-era figures wished to preserve the "pristine," but inauthentic, look of unpainted marble.