Women In Greek Art Essay

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Women in Aegean and Greek Art During the Aegean and Greek periods of art, women were depicted differently than they had previously been in different parts of the world. In art of the prehistoric period and art of the ancient near east, women had been depicted as fertility symbols. The statuettes such as the Venus of Willendorf, the woman’s features were swollen to show the desired qualities for a woman who was fertile. The statues were also used as a portable tools for luck in fertility, not only an example of the ideal woman (Prehistoric Art). During the Aegean period of art, 1,900 BCE to 1,450 BCE, women were depicted to be freer than in previous periods. The Aegean Islands are islands off the coast of Greece and Turkey. Women were often …show more content…

One example of the depiction of women in Aegean art would be Bull Jumping. Bull Jumping is a fresco showing three human forms, two presumably female and one presumable male figure. The female on the far left is in the process of grabbing the bull by the horns, the man in the middle is in the process of jumping over the bull, and the woman on the right is seemingly just finishing her jump. Another example of free women in the Aegean islands would be Young Girl Gathering Crocus Flowers. This fresco depicts a woman picking flowers which could be used for food flavoring, food dye, or menstrual cramps. This gave a personality to women rather than the previous expressionless images of rulers. Through the art pieces like Bull Jumping there are many different possibilities for the purpose of the frescos. Some of the purposes could be a fertility ritual, display of human courage, or an initiation. This showed that women were seen as equals to men during the time because of the display …show more content…

The Greeks had not yet embraced the nude sculpture. During the archaic period of Greek history, women were seen in static positions, standing upright, same as male counterparts. Women were fully clothed and led the viewer to only see a modest appearance. This is apparent the archaic period of Greek art, from around 700 BCE to 480 BCE, when the kouros sculptures were produced. The statues were made with the arms close to the body and a smile that was present in both male and female sculptures. Another characteristic of these statues were the almond shaped eyes. This style of static sculpture was closely related to the Egyptian sculptures of the same stance. Unlike the Egyptian sculptures, the Greek sculptures began to change (Kuros). The change in Greek sculpture started rather subtle with the appearance of the contrapasso, S curve, in the body of the sculpture. The contrapasso appears to show one foot more forward than the other and a curve in the body. This style of sculpture marked the beginning of classical age of art. During the classical period, around 480-323 BCE, women were being portrayed with wet drapery, a less modest but a continuation of being fully clothed. One example of this would be a woman with wet drapery style clothing. This is seen in Nike Adjusting her Sandal. In this sculpture, Athena is seen clothed but the fabric appears to be sticking to her features,

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