Roman and Greek Art, Essay Example

The Parthenon (447-438 BCE)

The Parthenon is the most important surviving building of Classical Greece portraying its decorative sculptures at one of the high points of Greek art. The Parthenon is regarded as an enduring symbol of ancient Greece and of Athenian democracy, and is one of the world’s greatest cultural monuments.

“The theme of the east pediment is Zeus’ presentation of Athena to the Gods of Olympus.”[1](Silverman D., 2009). The west pediment portrays Athena’s strife with Poseidon for the land of Attica. This masterpiece of beauty had only two geometric shapes as its foundation, the rectangular basis and the triangular roof. The figures sculpted on the monument are in natural movement. “From afar, the Parthenon would appear to be perfect, but when you take a closer look, there is hardly one single straight line incorporated into the beauty of the art. The columns are bulging out, but from afar it appears to be a perfect right angle. There is a portrayal of daunting yet subtle curves.” [2](Silverman D., 2009). Because of the subtleness of the curves, there is an optical illusion of having perfectly straight line and the grace.

The original monument was built of limestone and was destroyed by the Persians in the war in 480 BC. Parthenon is made of both frieze and metopes which is a continuous band of sculpture and individual panels. The depiction is a delicate balance between austere and delicate visual characteristics. There is a perfect balance of Greek principles incorporated into it especially with the inclusion of the human figure and its symmetry. “Adding an Ionic frieze to a Doric temple was a striking change meant to attract notice to its subject. The Parthenon’s frieze depicted the Athenian religious ritual in which a procession of citizens paraded to the Acropolis to present to Athena in her olive-tree sanctuary a new robe woven by specially selected Athenian girls (the Panathenaic festival).” [3](Silverman D., 2009).

Coliseum (72-80 CE)

Its name is derived from its great size. This was the largest and grandest amphitheatre built in the Roman Empire. “There is a large bronze statute the Colossus of Nero that stands nearby it. It provided spectacular viewing for animal games, gladiator combats and spectacles”.[4] (Sullivan M., 2009).

“It is oval shaped built with tier and tiers of marble seating to accommodate about 50,000 spectators.” [5](“Coliseum”, 2009). Development is culminated by the concept of the Christian Religion. Historically, converted to Christianity by a vision on the battlefield, Constantine ended the centuries-long persecution of the Christians (during which many followers of the new religion had been put to death gruesomely). “While Constantine didn’t ban paganism (which survived officially until the closing of the temples more than half a century later), he espoused Christianity himself and began the inevitable development that culminated in the conquest of Rome by the Christian religion.” [6](“The Coliseum”, 2009).

Lines of the circle, the shape is the circles and arcs, space is the wide opening in the centre and around, texture is the brick-like material they used, there isn’t much value or contrast though, unless there is a shadow cast on it. It definitely has balance, it’s very symmetrical, it doesn’t have variety, again, because it is all very uniform, and that is also why it has proportion. The movement it like ocean waves, because of the arcs, and the rhythm is like that of ocean waves too. The harmony is constant, because of the uniformity of the structure. Colours used were of white, greyscale and sandstone. [7](“Coliseum”, 2009).