Alexander The Great: Hellenistic Artwork Analysis

The death of Alexander the Great inspired the beginning of the Hellenistic era of the fourth century. The characteristics of this period marked a separation and divide from earlier Greek’s works. Hellenistic artist’s begun expressing their sculptures with such high degree of naturalism contrasting with the earlier religious sculptures that used the idea of realism. Another essential idea that Hellenistic artists used to convey their message on sculptures was the use of emotion, drama, lighting and dynamics poses. The foundation of the Hellenistic era supported many of the works created during the Italian Renaissance. Many of the sculptures created during the Italian Renaissance comprised of religious beings such as Mary or JesuThis paper will …show more content…
The artist created the figure around the early fourteenth century, which was also the time period of the Italian Renaissance. The sculpture presents the Virgin seated gracefully on the ground with one knee raised and the other beneath her. The baby Jesus is viewed tugging on his mother’s dress while simultaneously glancing at the viewer. The subject manner in this piece attempts to illustrate the submission to the divine. The Italian sculptor did not paint in the color of the pupils for both figures; instead he focused on honoring the holy and thus creating an atmosphere of tranquility. The artistic techniques used to create the Madonna of Humility involve Polychromy and some traces of gilding, which is apparent in the hair of Jesus and his …show more content…
First, many of the sculptures created during the Hellenistic era were sculpted in the nude and contained an emphasis on expressing an individual rather than just the divine figures. Indifferently, Italian artists initially created their works with clothes on, with more attention towards a realism point of view while simultaneously preserving the representation of the figures that reside in Heaven. The facial expression on the Dancing Faun is shown with such empathic emotion with the eyes focused on the sky and arms outstretched as if to block light from the face. However, the Madonna Of Humility pictures the Virgin with a static but preserved facial expression along with the blank expression on the Child’s face. Note that not all sculptures remained with static expressions, famous artists such as Giovanni da Bologna sculpted pieces that showed dynamics emotion and twisting bodies. Another key difference between the Madonna of Humility and Dancing Faun is their Medium. Bronze figures, during the Hellenistic Art period, could be made to propose the daintiness of real bodies and development in a way quiet, strong marble proved unable thus contrasting with the Madonna of Humility. Contrary to the differences, the busts share some similarities. One similarity includes the detailing of the hair of the Virgin and the Dancing Faun. Both sculptors curled the hair in such perfect