1. Portraying the Human Body: Understanding Human history through a journey of ancient Greek

2. Welcome to your exclusive tour on portraying the human body: Understanding human history through a journey of ancient Greek. The different representations of the human body taking into account history from the Geometric era of the Greeks to the Hellenistic period helps us in the understanding of human evolution, but through the Greeks. It gives us the many views of the Greeks in areas such as society, sensuality, and culture. Through this exhibition, you will get acquainted to various development on art featuring the human body based on the examination of different ionic pieces that have been found from the era of the Ancient Greece.
It is advisable that no one should touch the pieces of art, but you are all allowed to have a closer view.

3. Period: Orientalizing
Mantiklos Apollo
Origin: Thebes, Greece
Date: Ca BCE
Dimensions: H 8”
Medium: Bronze
Period: Orientalizing
The trade in Greek that expanded to the Eastern side made them become more aware of art. The time when Greeks where more inspired by art has been named by historians as the Orientalizing period. This Mantiklos Apollo art that was made from Bronx was dedicated to one of the Greek gods named Apollo. Most gods in Greek were portrayed in human form (Sechin 80). This art depicts the Greeks interest in human anatomy. There interest is art identified in the figures hair and arms. As time progressed, the Greeks had more arts with well formed bodies.
Photo Source: Museum of Fine Arts Boston

4. Period: Late Classical
Aphrodite of Knidos
Roman copy
Date: Ca BCE
Dimensions: H 6’ 8”
Medium: Marble
Period: Late Classical
The Greeks mindset was shifted by the Peloponnesian War that happened in the fourteenth century BCE. The Greeks idealism was on the new world and they became more interested in the human appearance. It was during this time when Praxiteles made the Aphrodite of Knidos by showing the nude form of a goddess in human form trying to step into her bath. This art was viewed by many people as some would travel many miles just to have a look. The goddess creation was made to cover her pelvis but the image view of the other body parts and her facial expression was well presented and pleasing.
Photo Source: Evergreen State College Archives

5. Hermes
From: SiphnianTreasury
Origin: Delphi, Greece
Date: Ca. 336 CE
Dimensions: H 2’ 1”
Medium: Marble
Period: Archaic
Photo Source: Greek Thesaurus
This statue is believed to have been the original work of Praxiteles who was one of the talented artist of his time (Sechin 72). This was a statue of a great Greek master. Hermes figure presented him as a strong, graceful, active leader and the his facial expression in the scalp made him appear more caring.

6. The pugilist staue was revolutionized during the Early Classical period, as rigid and unnatural poses of Archaic statues were abandoned, and artists began to portray figures as human beings truly stand. The statue of The Pugilist (pictured) takes a life-like stance with pronounced contrapposto (weight shifting from one leg to the other, as shown by the bicep muscles), his head is turned to the side, his shoulders are tilted, his right arm is away from his body, and his left arm is raised and most likely once held a spear. As the desire for life-size statues grew, artists began to shift to hollow-casting, as solid bronze was impractical. This statue is a great model as it indicated a new era of artistry where people used bronze.
The Pugilist
From: the sea
Origin: Riace, Rome
Date: 1st century BC
Dimensions: H 6’ 6”
Medium: Bronze
Period: Early Classical
Photo Source: University of Michigan Library

7. The dying Gaul From: Rhodes Date: Ca. 150-100 BCE
Dimensions: L 2’ 9.25”
Medium: Bronze
Period: Hellenistic
Photo Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art
By the third century BCE, the transition from the ideals of previous periods was well under way. The drying Gaul or Gladiator (pictured) statue is a magnificent example of the new representations of humans and the life challenges they faced in battle (Beth 745). Unlike Archaic or Classical statues that always appear awake and alert, dying Gaul is shown to be in a distressful situation as he awaits his death. In the piece, dying Gaul is portrayed as a man in distress. The artist carefully portrayed the physical body as well as the sorrow one has when they likely know it is the end of their journey in the world. This art portrayed the difficulties people face in life and what gladiators really felt when they were about to die.

8. Dimensions: H 5’ 5” (restored) Medium: Marble Period: Archaic
Calf Bearer
Origin: Athens, Greece
Date: Ca BCE
Dimensions: H 5’ 5” (restored)
Medium: Marble
Period: Archaic
This statue (calf bearer) was a gift to Athena given to him by A man named Rhonbos. This statue depicts Rhonbos bringing his gift of gratitude. Thre was once a similar statue like this known as kouroi but the calf bearer symbolizes an elderly person based on his dressing code and the beards that he has giving him an elderly look. During the time when this statue was made, many people had adopted the use of smile as a facial expression in their artistic work. This broke away greatly from the Egyptian conventions, and it signaled the beginning of the shift away from idealism and toward realism (Sechin 70). Many similar works of showing gratitude followed.
Photo Source: Acropolis Museum

9. Panathenaic Amphorae
From: J. Paul Meusiem
Origin: Athens, Greece
Date: Ca. 740 BCE
Dimensions: H 3’ 4.25”, Diameter 28.5”
Medium: Terracotta
Period: Geometric
The need for rewords during sports arose in the eight century BCE and it also marked the beginning of the Greeks’ economic recovery from the Dark Ages of Greece, and it was a time when the population began to grow, the Olympic Games were established, and the Greeks began to once again trade with surrounding cities (Kleiner, 108). People began making artistic structures for rewords because people valued these arts especially when one was awarded by prominent people in the community. Many well decorated pots were made and this era was named the Geometric Period.
Photo Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art

10. Young Scalping Woman Roman copy Date: Ca. 150-100 BCE
Dimensions: H 4’ 1.63”
Medium: Marble
Period: Hellenistic
Greek was moving into a new era of the Hellenistic period. During this time the Greeks realized that women were also important for the prosperity of their society. To make a representation of the same, a scalp of a young scalping woman (Pictured) was used to indicate that women had the potential to move the community and also perform some work that for a long time Greek’s only though that were meant of men. The young woman seem good in her work and she is looking at a different side maybe used to indicate that there were people interested in her work and watching her scalp (Kleiner, 161). In the ancient Greek women were mostly undermined, but in this new era of the Hellenistic period, things had changed.
Photo Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art

11. Kauros Origin: Attica, Greece Date: Ca. 590-580 BCE Dimensions: H 76”
Medium: Marble
Period: Archaic
During the high Classical period, Pythagoras was an influential philosopher and he viewed things in ratio form. His ideas impacted many people during his time including Polykleitos of Argos, a sculptor, who invented many principles that were required in portraying a perfect man. This made him to create Doryphoros (pictured), as one of his early work in presenting a well proportioned body of a male covering all human parts in his physical (Kleiner, 132).
Photo Source: Evergreen State College Archives

12. Worrier Helmet Origin: Attica, Greece Date: Ca. 590-580 BC
Medium: Iron
Period: Archaic
Following the Orientalizing age was the Archaic period, which lasted from BCE. There a lot of wars between the Greece and their neighboring kingdoms. The worrier helmet (pictured) was made as a symbol of a new discovery in helping the Greece protect themselves. This invention was followed by shield used in war (Sechin 40). It marked a turning point in defense as most Greece were well protected.
Photo Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art

13. THANK YOU This marks the end of the exhibition tour
THANK YOU This marks the end of the exhibition tour. I hope you feel good about refreshing your memory with some history.

14. References
Cohen, Beth. "Deconstructing the Acropolis." (2010): Greek Thesaurus. (n.d.). Archaeological Museum of Delphi images collection - The frieze of Siphnian treasury. Retrieved April 23, Kleiner, F. S. (2014). Art through the ages. Boston, MA: Wadsworth. Sechin, A. "Alleged loneliness of canon: Polykleitos" Doryphoros" in the context of the dialectic of one and plurality." The Phenomenon of Loneliness. Actual Questions of Hygiene of Culture