Roman Art
...e Landscape Fresco from Akrotiri; its character is very daring and almost fantasy like. This is a painting that is devoted entirely to the environment and it is very wild and uninhibited. This Fresco is a depiction of the sand dunes and is the total opposite of the earlier works done by the Egyptians. This painting is very in tune with the environment and illustrates the Minoans connection to their habitat. The second work on the right is Athena and Alcyoneus from Altar at Pergamum. This sculpture is very dramatic in character; the figures look as if they are flying out of the wall and the high relief creates strong accents of light and dark. The patron goddess Athena is depicted in the sculpture and is a very prominent character in Greek art. This was a very late Greek sculpture it was made between 166 and 156 B.C. The third work on the left is the Spear Bearer by Polyclitus. This is an earlier Greek sculpture than the previous work it was made between 450 and 440 B.C. It has a very harmonious character and conveys complementary opposites. This sculpture is renowned as the standard embodiment of the classical ideal of beauty. It embodies proportion, composition and movement. The third work on the right is Acropolis at Athens, which was constructed in 480 B.C. Acropolis has a very classical character and is less formal than the Egyptians earlier works; it was less axial and symmetrical. The early Greeks were characterized by democracy, so there were no rulers to order that a temple be built for them. The mountainous terrain created city- states because of the natural barriers. This also made travel difficult and created a sense of individuality. Acropolis was a large grouping of individual structures all incorporated into one central city like area. The Greeks didn’t have the luxury of easy travel like the Egyptians did with the use of the Nile. The Greeks used many columns, ornamental statues and classical structure. Acropolis was built in the classical phase of Greek work and was the youngest of the Minoans and the Mycenaeans. The first two works are the Pantheon and the Roman Colosseum. The Pantheon of Rome was built, between 118 –125 A.D. The Pantheon was built in dedication to all of the seven major Gods, and was built in a Roman urban plaza. The inside of the spherical temple was composed of grids and circles and the interior had an open- air oculus. The Pantheon has themes of synthesis and ambition, it resembles the Greek temple façade and the Etruscan -podium, it also reflects a system of empire in it’s interior. The Roman Colosseum was built between 72 –80 A.D. The Colosseum held 50,000 people and this was possible because of the plastic system. The Colosseum had three orders and it conquered peoples use for pleasure. It illustrated themes of ambition and synthesis they u...