The early civilization, the prehistoric, Aegean, Near East, Roman, and Egyptian tried to represent the human form in their art in different ways. The representation was aimed at illustrating their culture, belief and the world around them. They used artworks such as drawing, painting, and sculpturing to demonstrate human forms in the best way they believed. The visual images the early civilization recorded thus passed a critical message about the rich social set up they had and the different spiritual concepts they endorsed.
Prehistoric Civilization
The prehistoric civilization especially those within the European and the African territory demonstrated symbols of human and animals (Kleiner 15). They used the symbols to demonstrate their individualistic characteristics and to emphasize on the animal environment around them. Some of the common drawings included tusks of the mammoths and elephants and horns of rhinoceros. Moreover, their paintings dominated caves and shelters indicating their dwelling place (Kleiner 16). The paintings and sculptures of the early human also indicate they were hunters and gatherers. This is evident in the presentation of the images, which mostly were animals and their hunting tools or weapons. Furthermore, the pictures reveal that the prehistoric people were herders, stock raisers, and crop growers. In this regard, the images strongly reveal their cultural practices of the time.
Egyptian
Egyptian art represented extremely beautiful human features. During this time, art had undergone perfect evolution so that the human form contained well-developed physical features. The images were drawn, painted, and sculpted to represent their cultural, political, and religious beliefs. The image of Nefertiti Bust, for instance, is a strong symbol of respect to leadership (Assmann 53). The image of the king’s wife was painted to give honor to the kingship thus exploring their culture of loyalty to kingship. The beauty with which the painting was made also indicates the value of the Egyptians to the women folk. The Egyptian era is also known for making sizeable sculptures of the human form (Woodfield 21). For example, pharaoh’s statue was sculpted large and beautiful. As compared to other human statues that they made, the one for the king stood out in size indicating his power and authority.
Aegean Art
Like the Egyptians, Aegean art demonstratively showed their cultural beliefs and values. They used marble to make the sculptures because it was readily available to them. Furthermore, the sculptures demonstrated their mathematical knowledge since most of them were made in a geometrical form giving triangular and plane shapes (Kleiner 107). They gave a distinctive feature between the women and men. For example, in most of their sculptures, women were given light skin complexion, as men were painted dark. Moreover, they presented the body in nude form. The difference depicted their belief on the woman beauty and handsomeness in men. They believed that a beautiful woman must be light skin while a handsome man must be dark in complexion. Moreover, the paintings show their socio-cultural practices like bull leaping ceremonies. The paintings also signify power and authority of their leaders. For instance, the palace of Knossos in Greece shows a sculpture of a snake goddess. In the painting, the goddess holds snakes on both hands with a cat on the head (Assmann 25). According to this painting, they express their love and belief on animals. Two, the painting signify the goddess’s power over the animals.
Near East
The civilization in the near east is seen among the Sumerians, Babylonians, Akkadians, the Hittites, and the Persians (Kleiner 116). These people used the art to record their busy daily life. Most of their arts depicted them a committed busy people. Unlike the Aegean art, the ancient near east showed respect to humanity by painting dressed human. The women painted had covered breast while men with bare chest. The faces were also neatly carved unlike the art of the prehistoric period. The images thus, depicted aspects of evolution that had taken place through the ages. They also used the art show leadership and authority (Assmann 33). For example, the Akkadian and the Assyrian paintings portray the king as a god thus imploring the king’s divinity and power. The examples of images in this age include the victory stele of Naram-sin king and male head from Nineveh.
Roman Age
The roman age majorly used sculptures and paintings to portray the human forms. Most of their images depicted good carved features of human body and face (Kleiner 142). They used both nude and covered sculptures of human. The Olympian goddesses for example are sculpted in a fine form of statues that gives a sensual appeal (Assmann 23). In general, the romans depicted fine details of human physical body to demonstrate their religious beliefs as well as their strong culture of humanity.
Conclusion
Through the ages, there has been considerable evolution of the human forms depicted in the artworks from various dominant regions of civilization, both in Europe and Africa. Human civilization is thus evident in the sculptures and paintings showcased herein. Above all, the artworks represent the religious, cultural, and social practices of the early man. From the consistent change in the sculptures, it is clear to deduce civilization as man developed from one stage to another.
Works Cited
Assmann, Jan. Cultural memory and early civilization: writing, remembrance, and political imagination. Cambridge University Press, 2011: 10-87
Kleiner, Fred S. Gardner's art through the ages: The western perspective. Vol. 1. Cengage Learning, 2016: 14-176
Woodfield, Richard. Art history as cultural history: Warburg's projects. Routledge, 2014: 7-33
