Today, we officially delve into the exploration of ancient Greek art. Let’s start by giving credit to the ancients: never assume that ancient people were necessarily backward. The prosperity of ancient Greece far exceeded our imagination.
The Golden Moment of Ancient Greece: The Birth of Foreshortening
- During the ancient Greek period, philosophy, politics, law, and other aspects had already taken on the embryonic forms of the modern world. The prosperity of ancient Greece far exceeded our imagination. In terms of art, the technique of foreshortening was born. For the first time, people used a method based on visual evidence to depict different perspectives of the same object.
- Before ancient Greece, the civilization of ancient Egypt predated the rest of Europe, but the art of the time could not yet be called art; it was created for political needs. For example, ancient Egyptians believed that after the death of pharaohs and nobles, they would still enjoy wealth and honor. This became a political task. In addition to being buried with a large amount of gold and silver treasures, the items that symbolized status were also painted on the decorations of tombs and coffins.
- Under political demands, the most important aspect of ancient Egyptian art was to avoid misunderstandings. The aesthetics of decorative patterns were not important; being recognizable at first glance was the priority. This is why the depictions of ancient Egyptian figures and figures with the heads of dogs were all flat, side-view representations.
- For the artists of ancient Egypt, accurately conveying information was paramount, not the pursuit of individual artistic creativity. Therefore, the works they created were functional products, not artistic ones. The artistic images of ancient Egypt were largely standardized, which had a significant influence on modern art in the early 20th century. Artists like Picasso greatly admired this naive and innocent form of creation.
- Comparing the art of ancient Egypt, one can more deeply appreciate the significant importance of the foreshortening technique that emerged during the ancient Greek period. In simple terms, foreshortening is the application of the principle of objects appearing larger when closer and smaller when farther away in artistic creation. This seemingly simple concept was a huge advancement at the time.
- An apparently ordinary pot unearthed from ancient Greece still has standardized patterns on it, but the left foot of the male figure on the bottom pattern is particularly noteworthy. The toes are represented by five circles, indicating that it was depicted from the perspective of a frontal view of the human eye. Although the pot appears very rough to us today, it is extraordinary because of these five circles. This is the first time in the history of human art that foreshortening was used to record an object, expressing the pursuit of depicting nature.
- The invention of foreshortening during the ancient Greek period symbolizes that artists no longer pursued functionality alone but began to pursue the depiction of nature and their own pursuit of truth. They gradually shifted from serving politics to expressing beauty and reality.
- The birth of foreshortening in ancient Greece is closely related to the civilization of the entire era. Ancient Greek civilization advocated the pursuit of truth and the exploration of natural laws, making it an inquisitive civilization. For example, the many great philosophers born in ancient Greece deeply pondered and explored philosophical questions that we modern people are still discussing. In addition, the ancient Greeks conducted numerous studies in the field of science and achieved significant accomplishments. Therefore, the birth of foreshortening in ancient Greece can be considered a natural development.
In ancient Egyptian art, the accurate conveyance of information was paramount. Therefore, depictions of figures and representations such as those with the heads of dogs were all rendered in profile views on a flat plane.
The toes were represented by five circles, indicating that the foot was depicted from a frontal perspective as seen by the human eye.
Statues from ancient Greece before the invention of the foreshortening technique.
The statue “Aphrodite” after the invention of the foreshortening technique in ancient Greece.
Visiting Ancient Greek Art in the UK
Many ancient Greek artworks that have survived are no longer in Greece but have been dispersed around the world, with particularly extensive collections found in the British Museum. Since Britain lagged behind in artistic creation but had great “taste” in plundering art, if you want to see ancient Greek art, the UK is a good choice.
