Blog #6 ( Greek Art)

Out of all the art I have looked at so far in the chapters that we have read, The Spear Bearer has been the most familiar to my eyes. I believe that this sculpture has stuck to my mind because of the way the sculpture is arranged. The male body figure looks nearly perfect but most importantly it is nude. Not many sculptures and arts were designed nude in early generations. Polykleitos developed this sculpture larger than a life size statue carrying a spear (Stockstand 129). It is interesting to see that through the chapter of Greek art we see so many nude images of men standing like they are posing for a model picture or that they are in a war scene. Polykleitos " was a well-known sculptor and art theorist. His aim in sculpting was to produce the perfect human figure using a mathematical equation to sculpt the body parts." I noticed that as we read the chapters, art is becoming more and more complex and for example this sculpture is very complex and very detailed.

Blog #5

The Lion Gate interested me the most in this weeks reading because it relates to today's description of a border. Every country has their own border in which they allow/disallow people to enter with some sort of proof that they are from that country or they have a permission to enter. The Lion Gate of Mycenae is known for the lions with their feet on the Mycenaean altars. "Some scholars suggest that by extension it becomes the symbol of a king or a deity ( just as we say the "White House" when we mean the government of the United States) and that with its combination of the guardian beasts and divine or royal palace, serves to legitimize the power of the ruler (Stockstad 100)." I believe that the Lion Gate served the same purpose of a border, known today because it surrounded an area to be safe from outsiders. I believe lions were used at the time for protection because they are known as the beast of the jungle. I believe that the lions symbolize strength of what is behind the gate to scare off any predators.