Art History: Comparing the Artistic Styles of Ancient Greece and Rome

This essay delves into a comparative analysis of the art histories of ancient Greece and Rome. It begins by highlighting the distinct characteristics of Ancient Greek art, emphasizing its idealized yet naturalistic depictions of the human form, exemplified by sculptures like the Winged Victory of Samothrace. The essay then contrasts this with Roman art, exploring its diverse range of painting, architecture, mosaic work, and sculpture, with a focus on artworks like the Doryphoros, a Roman copy of a Greek original. The comparison highlights the cultural influences, artistic styles, and significant artworks that define each civilization's artistic legacy. The essay references key scholarly works to support its arguments, providing a comprehensive overview of the subject matter. The essay explores the cultural context and artistic significance of these ancient art forms, offering insights into their enduring impact on Western art history. This essay provides a detailed overview of the art historical context of the time period, and explores the relationship between the two cultures, highlighting how Roman art was influenced by Greek styles.

Running head: History
Art history
Name of student
Name of the University
Author notes

1HISTORY
Ancient art usually explains the culture and description of the ancient society. This
essay is going to compare the art history of Greek and Roman. In around 300 BC the ancient
history came into notice. The Ancient Greek art has a unique identity and stands out among
all the other ancient cultures. The main thing that attracts the most is the artistic development
of idealized but naturalistic depictions of the human structure or body; from which most of
them are nude male figures and mainly describe the innovation of different type. Not all the
sculptures or the classical statues survive today (Havelock, 2018). The Stone statues had
found to be broken, and the metal arts were often melted for reusing. However, many of the
Greek sculptors for example, Polykleitos and Phidias of the 5th century and Lysippos,
Praxiteles and Skopas of the 4th century still exist today and provides deep knowledge about
the artistic culture of the Greece people. Below, there is an example of such a Greek art,
(Winged Victory of Samothrace)
At the end of 200 B.C, a marble sculpture describing the Greek goddess Nike was developed;
the art got famous by the name “Winged Victory of Samothrace”: still exist as the greatest
masterpiece today. Currently it is being displayed at the Louvre and it holds the honour of the

2HISTORY
most celebrated ancient and original statues of the world. The statue is identified as the
symbol of Fortune, Justice, Vengeance and Peace. It also exemplify the gesture, movement as
well as the rich texturing of the greatest Hellenistic sculpture (Stewart, 2016).
Comparing the art of Greek with the ancient art work of Roman, the art culture of
Rome usually explains the painting, architecture, mosaic work and sculpture and territories of
the Roman Empire. However, the Sculptures were perhaps identified as the highest and
popular form of art done by the Romans, yet, the figure paintings were also got higher
attention (Hallett, 2015). Among all, one such famous example of the roman art has
explained below;
(The Spear Bearer (Doryphoros))
Although the above shown masterpiece comparatively reminiscent of the ancient
Greek culture and art; yet the Roman marble statue of the spear bearer (also identified as
Doryphoros) is a remarkable one. Currently, this art is placed in the Naples museum and
viewed as the Roman copy of a Greek art (which is lost). This sculpture approximately stands

3HISTORY
at a height of 6.6 feet tall (Halbertsma, 2014). The particular Roman art got famous due to the
demonstration of the Polyclitus's treatise on the proportion. It mainly considered as an
essential exemplum of the male beauty.

4HISTORY
Reference
Halbertsma, M. (2014). The call of the canon: why art history cannot do without. In Making
Art History (pp. 28-42). Routledge.
Hallett, C. H. (2015). Defining Roman Art. A Companion to Roman Art, Chichester, 11-33.
Havelock, C. M. (2018). Mourners on Greek vases: Remarks on the social history of women.
In Feminism and art history (pp. 44-61). Routledge.
Stewart, A. (2016). The Nike of Samothrace: another view. American Journal of
Archaeology, 120(3), 399-410.