Aphrodite of Melos

Not all Hellenistic artists followed the descriptive customs. Many actually turned to the past, creating an different style by reexamining and borrowing features from earlier Classical styles and combining them in new ways. By this time, Praxiteles and Lysippos were famous  for their models, so many looked to their works. This was definitely the case with the sculptor of the Aphrodite of Melos, also known as the Venus de Milo. The figure recalls Praxiteles' work, especially with the S-curve composition. The figure has heavier proportions of High Classical sculpture, but the twisting stance and the strong projection of the knee make this Hellenistic art. Similarly, the rich three-dimensionality of the drapery, seemingly in the process of slipping off the figure, adds a note of erotic tension, which is also a characteristic of Hellenistic. "The Aphrodite of Melos is classical in essence, with innovatory features such as the spiral composition, the positioning in space, and the fall of the drapery over the hips (Louvre)." Because she is missing details, like her arms, no one quite knows which goddess she could be portraying. According to whether she held a bow or an amphora, she was Artemis or a Danaid. Because of her half-nakedness and her sensual, feminine curves, many think she represents Aphrodite. She also may have held an apple, an allusion to the Judgement of Paris, a crown, a shield, or a mirror in which she admired her reflection. However, there is also the possibility she might  the sea goddess Amphitrite, who was venerated on the island of Milo. So we might never truly understand who she was supposed to be depicting, but this sculpture definitely represents Hellenistic Classical art.

Works Cited: http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/aphrodite-known-venus-de-milo

Ara Pacis

One of the most extraordinary surviving roman monuments from the time of Augustus is the Ara Pacis. It was dedicated to Augustus for his triumphal return to the capital after three years spent establishing his rule in Gaul and Hispania.The Ara Pacis was originally aligned with a giant sundial, marked out on the pavement with lines and bronze inscriptions, using as its pointer an Egyptian obelisk. The monument itself consists of a rectangular enclosure with an open-air altar, mimicking Greek custom. It is made entirely of marble panels covered with intricate sculptures which presented powerful propaganda, uniting portraiture and allegory, religion and politics, and the private and the public. On the inner walls you can find engraved ox skulls symbolizing sacrificial offerings at the altar during annual commemorations. There are also garlands on the inside showing the continuing peace and prosperity that Augustus brought to the Roman world. On the exterior, natural prosperity continues in lower reliefs of decorations populated by animals. On the front and back are allegorical scenes showing the mythical history of Rome and the divine lineage of Augustus. Two continuous processions are engraved on the long ends representing real historical events rather than myth or allegory. The Ara Pacis was made to celebrate imperial power as part of a larger complex declaring the civic generosity of Rome’s emperors which will bring continuing peace and prosperity since Augustus's successors have already been born.

http://www.learner.org/courses/globalart/work/175/index.html

Temple of Athena Nike

This Classical temple is considerably smaller than the other temples of the Acropolis. It is the first building that greets the visitors who approach the Propylaia and its elegant Ionic features balance the dominating Doric character of the Propylaia. It faces to the east and its entrance is lined with four monolithic Ionic columns that support a shallow porch. The west end is similarly treated with four Ionic columns and a porch, but they preceded a blind wall. The inclusion of a tetrastyle (four columns) at the back of the temple was necessary for this side faced the entrance to the Acropolis.

This temple was surrounded by a parapet or a low wall, faced with sculptured panels depicting Athena presiding over the preparation of a celebration by winged Nikes (victory figures). The parapet no longer exists, but some panels have survived, including the greatly admired Nike Adjusting Her Sandal. Unlike the decorative swirls of heavy fabric covering the Parthenon goddesses, or the weighty, pleated robes of the Erechtheion caryatids, the textile covering this Nike appears delicate and light, clinging to her body like we silk, one of the most discretely erotic images in ancient art.

Early in its history it was a place of worship for deities associated with wars, perhaps Bronze Age “Nike” gods or goddesses, which with time fused with the cult of Athena Nike of later centuries. During the Archaic era a small temple stood on the site that faced an altar to its east. This building was destroyed by the Persians in 480 BCE along with the rest of the Acropolis, and was not rebuilt until 435 BCE.

The Classical temple that has survived was completed in 420 BCE. From several ancient accounts  and by Pausanias we know the statue of Athena Nike in its cella was made of wood and held a pomegrade in the right hand and a helmet in the left. Since it had no wings, as it was customary for Nike statues of the time, the temple acquired the name Apteros Nike (wing-less victory). It is said that the statue was deprived of wings so it could never leave the city of Athens.

The Orator of the Ages

Aulus Metellus

Lovingly called the Orator for the sculpture's decisive stance, this bronze is yet another look into Etruscan art history.  The northern neighbors of the Romans until their ultimate demise by their southern counterparts, these people were incredibly influential on art to come.  Much more realistic than their Greek counterparts, these Italian sculptors were incredibly realistic, portraying the character as he was in life.  Following in this modest realism, Metellus was depicted with shoes.  This may sound simple or odd to point out, but a barefoot character would be compared to a god, while Aulus is being recognized as a great and powerful man, but still only a man. While in roman garb, it is common thought that this man was Etruscan. In fact, the only reason why we know his name is due to the inscription in his toga.  The sculpture was found in Etruria with Etruscan inscription, and is believed to have been made recollecting the beginning of the Roman Republic.  In fact, many believe that this man was in charge of keeping peace during the fall of many Etruscan city-states.  The Romans were taking city after city, and Metellus's mastery of the Etruscan language along with his speaking abilities made him a major asset, vital enough to be forever placed in bronze.  While most likely Etruscan in background, the inscription on the back of his toga states that he was a roman magistrate.  Created during the turn towards the second century BCE, most likely during the time when this man was still fresh in the memory of his people.  His ability to calm the masses during a volatile time is transcribed to the people in his outstretched arm.  However, the truly amazing aspect of the piece is its bronze work.  While notable just as a masterfully done sculpture, this also symbolized a dying use of bronze in Rome.  Marble sculpting became more popular  and the Greek influenced Etruscan culture soon died with their independence.

http://www.anselm.edu/academic/history/hdubrulle/westernciv1/text/generalinfo/gallery/gallery50.htm
http://arthistoryoftheday.wordpress.com/2011/08/19/aulus-metellus-late-2nd-or-early-1st-century-bce/
http://kbagdanov.wordpress.com/tag/aulus-metellus/

Trajan's Greatest Boast

The Column of Trajan

   In order to ensure his continuing memory after his time, Trajan placed this astounding column in the center of his forum.  Sculpted out of a hundred foot tall marble slate, the structure was topped with a bronze statue of the man himself.  However, during the Renaissance  this was replaced, and the statue moved to ground level on the forum, and will be explained further.

   Like most arches found in ancient Rome, this column tells a story.  Trajan used the column, masterfully created by Apollodorus, to remind the citizens to come of his victory in the two Dacian Wars, which took place during the early second century.  Before he became an emperor, Trajan had to prove himself in battle.  By presenting oneself as a dignified warrior, an emperor was usually more able keep a firm grasp of power.  While still a simple soldier, he was positioned off of the Danube River in the year 99 CE.  While there, he began to believe that the Dacians, who dwelled on the other side of the body of water, had great sums of gold.  This was a reasonable belief, since the mountains along this territory were rich in ore deposits.  His ability to have supervised the region for so long was clearly an asset during this war.
By the time he was an emperor, he had hoped that defeating these people and taking the region would fill the Empire's emptying coffers.  Simply put, in order for the Empire to expand, wages must be met for soldiers to go to the ends of the earth.  This column testifies to his handling of the situation and a continuation of the Empire through his work with the Senate.  Generally, Romans felt uncomfortable having any competition for control, so eliminating this threat proved to kill two birds with one full scale invasion.  Incredibly detailed, as expected from an architect such as Apollodorus, commonly thought of as the greatest of his time, this column depicts every single battle and action that occurred in said war, beginning with the first steps onto enemy soil and ending with the capture of the Dacian King Decebolus.  However, what can be described within a moderate amount of time is that the Romans eliminated the advancing threat provided by this Germanic tribe.  In turn, Rome gained the coveted gold mines in the Carpathian Mountains and therefore was able to continue to spread it's dominance throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa.
   While the column now displays a bronze statue of Saint Peter, patron saint and first bishop of Rome, carrying his trademark "keys to the kingdom" in one hand and a book in the other, the column was originally topped by a giant bronze statue of the emperor himself.  Clearly putting himself into an Augustus of Primaporta-esque pose, the man clearly had an assertion to be remembered as one of the greatest emperors alongside Augustus himself.  This near obsession with becoming unforgettable is continued through the incredibly lengthy base he put under the column.  On this base, he lists every single political position that he has held, his relation to Caesar himself, his destruction of various German tribes, and his lasting position as "Patri Patriae" or Father of the Nation, an incredibly boastful title for a man who was clearly going to be remembered through his works alone.

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/imperialfora/trajan/column.html

http://www.stoa.org/trajan/

http://www.aviewoncities.com/rome/trajanscolumn.htm

http://www.unrv.com/five-good-emperors/dacian-wars.php
http://romeartlover.tripod.com/Romanwar.html

The Canon of Polykleitos

Just as Greek architects defined and followed a set of standards for ideal temple design, Greek sculptors sought an ideal for representing the human body. sculptors studied actual humans closely and selected those characteristics they considered most desirable, such as regular facial features, smooth skin, and particular body proportions. They would then combine them into a single idea of physical perfection. Polykleitos's Spearbearer, also known as Doryphoros and The Canon, was probably one of the most well-known sculptures during the High Classical Period. He developed a rules for what he considered creating the perfect human figure. Not only did the artist experiment with proportions, but he also dealt with the relationships between weight-bearing as well as relaxed arms and legs in a perfectly balanced figure, which would be called a contrapposto. The figure pictured here is a Doryphoros Roman marble copy showing a male athlete, perfectly balanced, with all the weight supported by the right leg. This pose evolved from that of the Kritios boy, but is especially known for more of the tilt and an S-curve.

Temple of Portunus

The Temple of Portunus dates from the Roman Republic period, which reflects both on Etruscan and Greek practices. Like the Etruscans, the Romans built urban temples in commercial centers as well as in special sanctuaries. An early example is a small rectangular temple standing on a raised platform beside the Tiber River in Rome, probably from the second century BCE and probably dedicated to Portunus, the god of harbors and ports. This temple acts as the perfect hybrid of Greek and Etruscan temples. The pseudoperipteral plan consists of a rectangular cella and a front porch at one end reached by a broad, inviting flight of steps, but the Roman architects have adopted the Greek Ionic order, with full columns on the porch and  engaged columns around the exterior walls of the cella with a continuous frieze in the entablature. At a first glance this temple may look Greek, but there are two main differences to distinguish it from Roman architecture. First, Roman architects released the form of the column from its post-and-lintel structural base and engaged it onto the surface of the wall as a decorative feature. Second, while a Greek temple encourages viewers to walk around the building to explore its uniformly architecture, Roman temples are defined in relation to interior spaces in which visitors are invited to enter through only one opening, as opposed to many, along the longitudinal axis of a symmetrical plan.

The Erechtheion: An Unusual Ancient Greek Temple

Although the designer of the Erechtheion is unknown, we do know that Phidias was the sculptor under the direction of Perikles. The asymmetrical plan on several levels reflects the building's multiple functions in housing many different shrines. It is also conformed to the sharply sloping terrain on which it is located. Erechtheion stands on the site of the mythical contest between the sea god Poseidon and Athena for patronage over Athens. During this contest Poseidon struck a rock with his trident, bringing forth a spout of water, but Athena gave an olive tree to Athens and won the contest. The Athenians enclosed what they believed to be this sacred rock, bearing the marks of the  trident, in the Erechtheion north porch. 
The Erechtheion also housed the venerable wooden cult statue of Athena that was the center of the Panathenic festival. The north and east porches of the Erechtheion  have come to epitomize the Ionic order, serving as an important model for European architects since the eighteenth century. Taller and more slender in proportion that the Doric, the Ionic order also has richer and more elaborately carved decoration. The columns rise from molded bases and end in volute capitals; the frieze is continuous. The Porch of the Maidens on the south side facing the Parthenon, is even more famous. Raised on a a high base, its sic stately caryatids support simple Doric capitals and an Ionic entablature made up of bands of carved molding. In a pose characteristic of Classical figures, each caryatid's weight is supported on one engaged leg while the fee leg, in contrapposto, rests on the the ball of the foot. The three caryatids on the left have their right legs engaged, and the three on the right have their left legs engaged, creating a sense of closure, symmetry, and rhythm. 

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/artifact?name=Athens%2C+Erechtheion&object=Building