SmithKali - Depictions of the Human Body
Depictions of the human body can tell an immense amount of information about a time period, culture, or even about a specific person in history. Sometimes artist often use size and posture and positioning of a figure to emphasize the status of and individual and their rank, the proportions usually were exaggerated to portray a hierarchal scale. In the earlier days, ancient sculptors would use canons which was a set of perfect mathematical ratios and proportions to depict the human form. In ancient art, the human body was thought of as the measure and map of harmony in sculptures and pictures. In this digital exhibit, several items were chosen to show the depiction of the human body in ancient history.
Archaic Smile
The Archaic Smile had appeared on many sculptures in ancient history. When you look closely, you can see the smile almost appears as a smirk or a relatively small smile. It was suggested that the smile meant the sculptor was alive and in a healthy state. Some thought that the smile was almost not natural like and many had also thought and interpreted the smile to be “ignorant happiness.” To this day, the significance of the archaic smile is still not exactly known.
Kore (Korai)
The Kore, also known as the Korai, means maiden in Greek. The sculpture has and Egyptian influence that was clearly visible considering the nudity. The sculpture stayed true to the Greeks appreciation of the human bodies natural symmetry. Kore refers to a young female figure, that was either as a ritual or memorial statue. The statue was almost always standing, in a forward pose with the leg extended slightly forward (rarely seen with its feet being together), and which one hand pulling their dress as if they did not want somebody to step on it. The statue was the beginning of finding the value of and independent human being as a distinct person.
Kleobis and Biton
Kleobis and Biton are two sculptures that start the beginning of the pursuit to present a realistic depiction of the human body. These two sculptures show us a good demonstration of symmetry, stiff body, and fists clenched into the sides of the torso. Their left foot is stepping forward, whereas their hands are bent at the elbows, touching the thighs, hands closed in fists. The hair are curly over the forefront and hang on the shoulders. Their eyes are large and almond-shaped, crowned by high eyebrows. Kleobis and Biton are for all intents and purposes nude; they are muscular, conveying the Greek ideal of the male body. These statues are more naturalistic and less formalized.
Doryphoros
Doryphoros, also known as the 'spear-bearer'. Polykleitos sought to capture what was known as the “ideal proportion” of the human body and pretty much wanted it to be perfected. The body language displayed in this statue can be referred to as contrapposto which ultimately mean that his weight was resting on his right leg while his left leg was bent. This was considered to be the natural way a human would stand when at rest. Polykleitus wanted to create a state of equilibrium in a sense.
The Myron Diskobolos
The Myron Diskobolos statue is considered a breathtaking statue for many reasons. The statue shows an athlete bent over about to toss a disk. This piece presents an image of "geometric perfection" (Macaulay). There was said to be some problems with the statue for that its facial expressions were almost too bland and emotionless for the action that he was doing. You can see that there is a balance throughout the statue based off of the lines of the arms, legs, stomach and more. There is an emphasis on his veins and muscles making him have that athletic look and body.
